Read this book and grow in the process!

This book was fantastic. I read her first dragon series (The Dragonkeeper Chronicles) several years ago--which simply made me hungry for more! I was thrilled to find that she has begun another series, related to the first one. This is third third book of her new series. So I wouldn't become confused, I bought copies of "The Vanishing Sculptor" (Renamed "Dragons of Chiril"), and "Dragons of the Valley", the first two books in this new series. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them both.

"Dragons of the Watch" is fascinating. Most of it takes place in an ancient city sealed by something akin to an invisible bottle. People can enter, but cannot exit. Ellie and her beloved goat, Tak, unfortunately get lost and end up inside this bewitched city together. Bealomondore, a young servant of the Creator, also ends up trapped in the city. We find out eventually that "maybe" them being trapped together was by purposeful design instead of unwanted happenstance.

The main message I came away with after reading this book is that many times in life, when something happens that we feel is either bad news or just something terrible occurring, it may really be a "blessing in disguise". God can take the absolute worst happenings and turn them around to make incredible good come about because of the unhappy occurrences. ( )

I greatly enjoy Donita K. Paul's books. They are thoughtful, well-written, and humorous, and Dragons of the Watch is no different. I recommend that you buy the previous two books in this series first, though.

This was a good book. It's the newest book in the Dragon of Chiril series and it focuses on Bealomondore, the artist turned warrior turned statesman. This book added new elements to the overall plot, and introduced a new character, Ellie. The two of them become trapped in a magical city and they must work together to find the librarian and wizard who each only remember parts of the story. Ellie and Bealomondore must piece together the pieces, bring civility to a group of perpetual 6 year olds, and learn to trust each other in order to discover how to break the spell and escape. ( )

Excellent book! The story was detailed and very engaging! Only trouble was the names. They were a bit hard to pronounce at first but you quickly get used to them. ( )

As a fantasy, this succeeds brilliantly. Watching how Ellie (and her goat, Tak) react to the fantastical world in which they find themselves is incredibly fun. The story of adventure and compassion even in the face of those who seem at first to be enemies is surprising and adorable.

As an allegory, however, I'm less certain. There's a clever little "play within the play" moment where we are reminded that fantastical stories can serve as ways to teach lessons... but while some of the parts of the story that revolve around the God, Wulder, fit beautifully into the tale of self-discovery, I have to admit that by the end of the story I felt like some of the references were a bit bolted-on.

I still definitely recommend the book and fully enjoyed it despite this, but beware that you may feel like the religious aspect becomes a bit heavy-handed towards the end. ( )