The Color of Dragons

From School Library Journal Gr 8 Up-Maggie is nothing more than a magician's assistant until the day she stumbles across a dragon and is drawn into its magic. King Umbert's soldiers have captured the creature and are taking it to the Walled City, where Sir Griffin, the King's champion, will face it in the final battle of this year's tournament. The King is desperate to find and control a source of magic that will fulfill prophecy; Maggie and her adoptive father soon learn that they had better succeed in demonstrating their magical ability, or it will be their last failure. Maggie, haunted by thoughts of the captive dragon, convinces Griffin to take her to its keep; there, more of her innate magical ability is revealed, along with flashes of the backstory that ties her to the creature. Time is running short…will she come into her full power in time to save herself, her romance with Griffin, and the dragon? The story is filled with action, violence, and romance, although the worldbuilding is sketchy; the Walled City would be an interesting construct if more time were spent on it, but as it is, the city and indeed the entire country could be any generic medieval fiefdom. Although the ending is rushed to make this into a stand-alone novel, avid readers of dragon-themed fantasy will enjoy the plot-driven adventure and may not care that the characters are fairly standard-issue types. VERDICT Buy where fantasy stories about dragons are popular. For those short on budget money, however, Cinda Williams Chima's "Shattered Realms" novels are a better purchase.xadElizabeth Friend, Wester M.S., TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. "Breathless, blood-soaked, and brutal." — Publishers Weekly “Lauded adult fantasy author Salvatore ventures, with Lewis, into young-adult fiction with this standalone title… Hand this to your diehard dragon fans.” — Booklist Praise for R.A. Salvatore: “All readers will find pure, often heart-racing enjoyment as they are drawn into Salvatore’s beautifully crafted world.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Salvatore fans will rejoice.” — Kirkus Reviews “Engagingly written, inclusive of those outside the lore, and leaving much to be discovered in future installments. Timeless is a fantastic place for newcomers to the Drizzt series to onboard as well as a continuation of a beloved and iconic character’s story.” — Nerds on Earth “Packed with fighting, intrigue, suspense and thrills [...] It is a compulsively readable fantasy novel. Readers of fantasy novels will simply rejoice.” — Washington Book Review Praise for Erika Lewis’s Game of Shadows : “A fantastical journey that I didn’t want to end!”xa0 — Sherrilyn Kenyon, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author “It’s impossible to put this riveting page-turner down!”xa0 — Stan Lee, Author, Actor, and Former President and Chairman of Marvel Comics “One of those thrilling tales you can’t put down…the perfect blend of imaginative world-building and nonstop action wrapped up in a compelling mystery.”xa0 — D.J. MacHale, New York Times bestselling author of Pendragon and The SYLO Chronicles “Riveting from the start.”xa0 — Steven Gould, author of Jumper Thirty-four years ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, the Crimson Shadow, the DemonWars Saga, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. He considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him! R.A. lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their two dogs, Dexter andxa0Pikel. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWars: Reformation RPG and Dungeons & Dragons 5exa0games. Salvatore can be found at RASalvaStore.com Erika Lewis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she spent most of her childhood riding her dirt bike through Fort Ward, the Union Army Civil War stomping grounds. She graduated from Vanderbilt University and went on to earn a master’s degree from Georgia State University and an advanced certificate in creative writing from Stony Brook University. Game of Shadows is her debut novel, and The Color of Dragons is her young adult debut. You can visit her online awww.erikalewis.com. Read more