Dragonborn

Now this is an interesting premiss: that many people are actually dragons and don’t know it!  Alex Evans’ life is so strictly controlled by her mother, in 15-minute sections, that one day she goes into the nearby forest and screams her frustration, and is amazed to find herself roaring.  As she recovers, drained and with a sore throat, she is challenged by a stranger who observes that her behaviour is ‘an odd thing on a Tuesday morning’ and later, at her house – and it’s her 12^th birthday – he introduces her to the idea of the reality of dragons and the possibility that she might BE one, which she, understandably, finds difficult.  When her mother returns from work, she tries to get Alex to pack and leave, but the forest is her link to her dead father, and she calls for help from the person she knows as Oliphos. This results in her joining a special school where young people are trained to make best use of their ability to change into dragons, but life outside classes, especially in the Devouring Hall, is chaotic, and they also have to do Maths…

Alex struggles to make the physical change, but finds friends, including Erik, who does odd jobs around the island, and a new sense of belonging, as well as enemies. When her collection of treasures that bring back memories of her Dad is destroyed, she is devasted, but actually that helps her to look forward instead of back.  Her ability to speak with dead dragons brings suspicion, but also the possibility of finding a special box that the evil dragon Drax Midna desperately wants, but no-one has seen his human form for years – who can he be? Most books about children with special powers show them as instantly brilliant, but this is not the case with Alex, as she struggles to accept her new identity.  There is a huge battle, and Alex in her human form shows resourcefulness and courage that help to bring about the right outcome, though not everyone is what they have seemed…

Struan Murray has created a fascinating parallel world where dragons live, with portals to the human side, and historic tension between the two. The cover by Devin Elle Kurtz, showing a fierce dragon and an even fiercer Alex, is perfect, and this is a very exciting story, which your reviewer found utterly gripping.

The second book is already in production, due for publication in May, so we can look forward to more adventures with dragons!