Dragon Girl and the Awakened Flames

All the best stories begin with a knock at the door, starts this story, teasing readers a little as Emba Oak has no door, living as she does in a cave. The knocking is real, though only Emba can see the huge dragon that seems to be bringing her a message, and the dragon’s arrival heralds or triggers a series of events that take Emba and her friend Odolf on the sort of adventures that definitely mark out the best stories. Emba’s adopted mother, Winifred, aka the Wise Hermit of Witchingford Wood, reveals to Emba for the first time that she wasn’t born, but rather hatched out of a dragon’s egg, which probably explains the scales on her arms and legs. Having dropped this bombshell, Fred is then kidnapped in the night. Emba and Odolf set off to rescue her despite prophecies warning Emba to stay hidden or risk capture by the ominous-sounging Necromalcolm, who is searching for dragon’s blood. Their journey in search of kidnapped Fred is full of incident, the real dangers they face nicely lightened by the comic relief provided by hapless would-be-hero Odolf, and the reassurance of the steady, thoroughly convincing nature of their friendship. The nearer they get to Fred, the nearer they get to Necromalcolm, and the tension builds splendidly to a thoroughly satisfying climax which leaves the stage set for another episode. It’s a pacy, well written and thoroughly enjoyable quest adventure, with a great cast of characters, and a proper sense of its other world; readers will be keen to find out what happens next to this Dragon Girl.

Read our Q&A interview with Jenny Moore.