Reeve seems to want to tell kids not to trust people; all the important adults in this story are deceitful or irresponsible, though not necessarily without some redeeming qualities. The children have to look out for themselves, which is as it should be in a children's book, of course.

Parts of the book are well written - particularly during the ascent of the mountain - but there are fleeting passages that inflict disorienting head-hopping on the reader. The view-points of all three main protagonists in less than a page is a violation of a fairly basic rule of novel writing...

It feels like Reeve can never get it absolutely right unless he's working in his Mortal Engines world. ( )

This is a special entry in the dragon genre, I think, especially for kids. It's about a boy realizing that the terrifying creature he's afraid of is really just an animal. I think there's a line toward the end, "nod the devil's animal, but just an animal." I loved the way it dealt with that, with the old-fashioned "Christian knight going to fight an evil beast" narrative, without making the dragon really any [i]less[/i] for being an animal. It's still magnificent and strange.

All the emotions were surprisingly realistic -- the boy calling himself "selfish" because he saved someone to avoid having to live with running away, rather than because it's a noble or heroic or right thing to do. All the feelings he has were slightly unexpected for me, not just what you'd expect, but rang very true. I'm not sure how I feel about the situational mutism plot, I think that's a bit overdone, but it does do some work in the story, not really for Ansel's character arc but to allow him deeper observations and limit his ability to affect others, keeping the story fairly short. It's a good length for younger readers, not any longer than it needs to be, but feels really complete as a story. ( )

I got this recommended from a list of straight sword-and-sworcery fantasy novels.

There is too much of what I call "scenery porn". That's when the author spends a lot of describing the trees and the forests and the desolate wind and the chilly night air and the warm fireplace. They have long passages of what the character sees. It's so obviously filler, meant to establish mood and atmosphere. But it stops the plot dead to rights. Especially in a rural setting like this. I know what a friggin' forest looks like, ya see me?

It's unfortunate because the plot is fairly interesting. The two are shysters who go into towns which think they have a dragon bringing bad luck. Then they go and "kill it" and collect the reward. Because everyone knows dragons don't exist... OR DO THEY? And if you're smart you've guessed the plot by now.

It's somewhat satisfying to read, but it's also a plot I've seen many times before, and ends in no special way. That plus the scenery porn means it's entirely skippable. ( )

Not as good as [b:Fever Crumb|6839020|Fever Crumb (Fever Crumb, #1)|Philip Reeve|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1272412604s/6839020.jpg|6508348] but still a good read for middle schoolers who like fantasy. I like how the author implies in the beginning that there are no such things as dragons, then makes you believe that there are in fact dragons, then wipes away all the evidence at the end and leaves you still unable to prove whether there were ever dragons. In cases like this of mythical creatures, ghosts, miracles etc. there are always people who swear up and down that they witnessed something but then the evidence disappears. ( )

Ten-year-old Ansel, a mute boy, is sold by his father to Brock, a self-proclaimed dragon slayer who needs someone who will keep his secrets safe. They travel town to town on horseback searching for food and shelter in exchange for protecting villagers from dragons. In Drachenberg, his master accepts a quest to climb the steep mountain and rid the village folks of a wickedly, fearsome dragon rumored to live there. But are dragons actually real and is Brock really a dragon slayer? There is much in this wonderful multi-layered story to touch our hearts and keep us guessing; for ages 8 and up.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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