Dragonflare

Jamie Hammond’s previous book, Grumpfort, was awarded Children’s Book of the Month by Waterstones, and Children’s Book of the Week by The Times, so this looked promising, and so it proves.

Flynn is a thief, trying to make enough money to look after his little sister, as they are orphans.  On the day of the Wingrider Trials on nearby Dragonflare Island, with the town full of people, he is escaping an irate market trader when he accidentally ends up in the right place to enter, and a dragon sweeps him up. Flynn is cross at being whisked away from Faye, is definitely not a natural rider, and the dragon, River, is tetchy, so they get off to a bad start, but soon realise that they need to work together if they are to get anywhere.

Jamie Hammond has evidently enjoyed inventing creatures, and the trials are fun:  in the first, they have to catch a flasilisk but avoid the tentacles of a gorgopus. This reviewer particularly liked the idea of evading the Granshees:  first seen as elderly women laughing in their rocking chairs. Their shapeshifting abilities cause much confusion, though there is usually a cardigan or another clue to their real identity!  The reader has the opportunity to solve various puzzles and work out some of the clues as the trials continue.  Flynn and River fall out at one point, and Flynn tries to go it alone, unsuccessfully: they need to be reconciled.  Rivals in the competition to find the dragons’ treasure are not always who they seem to be, and accusations of being a ‘Hornstinger’, a thief of dragon artefacts, are aimed at more than one person. Eventually, the real reason for the trial is revealed, and an enemy is identified: all ends well.

Jamie Hammond is the designer of many children’s books, notably the Loki series by Louie Stowell. His own cartoon illustrations are, of course, perfect for the characters, and this action-packed story will be great fun to read and to work out the challenges.