Dragonspell

Time for another book review!

This time, it's Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul. It's the first book in another fantasy series, so you can expect to see more reviews of Paul's books here in the future.

Dragonspell is the story of a young girl named Kale who goes on a quest. At first, she believes her mission is simply to bring a dragon egg she's found to the city of Vendela. But she soon discovers that she has a unique talent: she can sense where dragon eggs lay. She actually finds seven others.

This gift sends her on a new quest, given to her by the mighty Paladin: she must recover a meech dragon egg that's in the clutches of an evil wizard.

I really enjoyed this book. Paul weaves a very fun world to explore with unique creatures. One thing that always bugs me about fantasy books is the fact that they're often retreads of the characters you find in The Lord of the Rings: elves, dwarfs, goblins, orcs, etc. Some of the creatures in Paul's book (such as the tumanhofers) are all-too-familiar, but others, like the emerlindians and the kimen are fresh and unique only to her stories.

The story of Kale is engaging as well. I never tired of hearing about Kale's adventures and I look forward to seeing who else pops out of the eggs she's carrying. Gymn the fainting green dragon and Metta the singing purple dragon were delightful characters.

The only minor complaint that I have about the book is that the allegory wears thin at times and you can catch Paul preaching a little. There are definite "moral" moments where Paul, a retired teacher, makes sure that her reader catches the lesson. It didn't so much annoy me as make me want to start skipping sentences and paragraphs to get back to the adventure. But given the fact that this book is likely targeted for readers younger than me, it's not a deal-breaker by any means.

So there you have it. Go check out this book when you have the chance. And expect a review of Dragonquest, the next book in the series, in the next couple of weeks.