It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I have been a massive fan of the Dragon Realm series since gobbling up Dragon Mountain in one sitting during the first lockdown. So, seeing the final book in the series available to read was met with mixed emotions: excitement at the thought of finding out what happens next (Dragon Rising left me wanting to know more immediately!) and sadness that this would be the final one. And so it was, I began Dragon Destiny whilst sat around the pool on holiday in Crete (by the way, there was a child there who was reading Dragon Mountain at the same time!)
The book begins only five days after we left Billy, Dylan, Charlotte , Liu and their friends at the end of Dragon Rising and Billy is being grilled by the British prime minister, American president & the Chinese president (with the support of his friends) during a meeting in Buckingham Palace in order to help them try to deal with the new situation in which they find themselves. Although Billy and his friends are adamant that dragons are friends, the authorities are not convinced and tensions between humans and dragons is rising. Things become worse when it becomes apparent the British government are once again using TURBO technology to catch dragons, and the Dragons of Dawn have declared that they do not need humans and are gathering increasing numbers of dragons to their ranks in order to mark out their territory on Earth. Can Billy, his friends and their dragons find a new home for the dragons before it's too late? And will Glorious Old be prepared to help them with their mission? And if they don't succeed what will the future hold?
The world as we know it has changed with dragons and humans now trying to get used to their new lives; however, as you would expect, there is uncertainty on both sides and tension is building from the very beginning of the book. The team decide to take action to see if they can find solution that will help everyone but involves a dangerous mission that could end in disaster. It is this journey that becomes the thrilling and unputdownable finale of the series.
It has been a pleasure to have watched Billy and the team grow as the series has progressed, and from having a huge secret in their dragons in book 1, their expertise is now very much in demand. But, despite their knowledge, the world leaders still only see them as children and aren't prepared to listen, especially when Billy is clearly feeling uncomfortable in the situation. It is this that leads them to taking things into their own hands.
I like that we see layers to the characters: their worries and concerns as well as their strengths and confidences are seen, each character is unique and children will be able to see themselves in one of the team.
The world building is spectacular again and being able to visualise each part of their journey is a feast for the senses. I have loved journeying through the different worlds with Billy and his friends and this time was no exception.
Dragon Destiny is a heart-stopping, thrilling adventure from the very first page that will have you spellbound (I took my phone out to dinner on holiday whilst reading the book as I couldn't put it down!) There were moments when I was almost scared to read on and I found the ends of chapters only made me want to read more (which made the 'just one more chapter' phrase a little difficult to uphold!). This is a series that has got better with every book and has been a huge hit in my school. I know that there will be huge excitement at the release of Dragon Destiny in school come September and and also sadness that series one has come to an end. However...
Released on the 29th September, Dragon Destiny is a book you just have to pre-order.
No comments:
Post a Comment