This week's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday reminds me of the late Anne McCaffrey, only without the sexy. ;)
DRAGONSDALE starts out slowly, but the characterization and world building are excellent. I'm sure I'm not the only reader to note the similarity between the dragons and horses. The dragons are kept in stables. They're trained, raced, and shown in competitions. Even the way they tease and bond with people reminds me of experiences I've had with horses. At least one of the writers has to have spent time around horses. So, it's Dragon Riders of Pern meets one of those girl and her horse stories. And it's grand.
Cara's father owns Dragonsdale, but he hasn't let her ride a dragon since a broken harness resulted in her mother's death. And Cara obeys him until riding a dragon saves her life. This forces her to choose between bad choices that get worse as the story goes on.
Salamanda Drake is an obvious pseudonym, so I went digging and found the real writers. Actually, reading the bio they created reminds me of this Simpson's episode with Neil Gaiman.
So funny.
If you'd like to read about more Marvelous Middle Grades, the following people would love to oblige you:
DRAGONSDALE starts out slowly, but the characterization and world building are excellent. I'm sure I'm not the only reader to note the similarity between the dragons and horses. The dragons are kept in stables. They're trained, raced, and shown in competitions. Even the way they tease and bond with people reminds me of experiences I've had with horses. At least one of the writers has to have spent time around horses. So, it's Dragon Riders of Pern meets one of those girl and her horse stories. And it's grand.
Cara's father owns Dragonsdale, but he hasn't let her ride a dragon since a broken harness resulted in her mother's death. And Cara obeys him until riding a dragon saves her life. This forces her to choose between bad choices that get worse as the story goes on.
Salamanda Drake is an obvious pseudonym, so I went digging and found the real writers. Actually, reading the bio they created reminds me of this Simpson's episode with Neil Gaiman.
So funny.
If you'd like to read about more Marvelous Middle Grades, the following people would love to oblige you:
Shannon Whitney Messenger (our founding mother)
Have a Marvelous Monday!
Sounds like a great book. I love the cover.
ReplyDeleteLove your opening line, Myrna! I haven't read this book, but how intriguing that the dragons are treated like horses. Cool review.
ReplyDeleteAnd nothing is funnier than The Simpsons!
Interesting. I haven't seen this one but it sounds good. I think my daughter would like it. :)
ReplyDeleteI love Ann McCaffrey's dragon series, and I didn't know about this one!
ReplyDelete=)
Darn it! That Simpsons video won't play in Canada! Curses!
ReplyDelete"Dragon Riders of Pern meets one of those girl and her horse stories" - love that.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was never into horse stories as a girl. But a horse story with dragons I would definitely pick up.
Thanks for exposing the authors. I'm going to go in search of more things by them, they sound like an interesting duo.
Another book to add to my to-read list! Thanks! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I will check it out, anything with dragons...and I am not familiar with this one!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was totally toying with the idea of doing a "Middle-Grade Monday" on my blog, but I see it's already alive and kicking! So cool! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLiesl, you're welcome to join.
ReplyDeleteGreat rread thanks
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