Dragon Mountain (Dragon Realm)

Product Information

The idea of travelling from California to the ‘middle-of-nowhere’ China for a Summer Camp to help brush up on Cantonese is the worst possible use of holiday time for Billy Chan. Yet little does he know that fate has in store for him a trip like no other and the time spent far up in the mountains at Camp Dragon will turn out to be anything as dull as he had imagined.

Looking at its intended reader in younger middle grade, this book holds a fantastic adventure story where four kids in their early teens meet up for the first time and set soon out onto the adventure of their life. There are dragons and scary moments and riddles that need to be solved and a world that needs saving and all four children learn more about themselves by being thrown together into this adventure. There is some really good representation in this book with breaking up gender stereotypes bit by bit. All eyes are on Billy and his friends after the Dragon Realm collapses and is exposed to the Human Realm. In their search for a new home for the dragon population, they learn of the Hidden Realm, a secret so well guarded that only one dragon knows how to locate it . . . Glorious Old. But convincing her to trust them comes with its own problems, not to mention the introduction of an evil new baddie and their band of human-hating dragons. With trouble round every corner, what destiny is in store for Billy and the group? I received a promotional reading copy from the publisher. I decided to read it out of interest and my opinion will not be influenced by this. Dragon Mountain is such fun middle-grade that really reminded me of everything I love about children's fiction. Adventurous, magical and heartwarming it so easy to fall in love with this story and it's characters!!Writing wise the book was light and simple. I think 7+ ages will all enjoy it, with plenty of flowery prose to sparkle the imagination, especially with the Dragon Realm.

We get to meet new characters (as well as returning to old favourites.) We have two new humans, Lola, a Hawaiian-Chinese surfer, and Jordan, a Brit and son of a scientist. The injection of new humans was another great way of making this entry feel like the start of a new adventure, rather than a repeat of the previous. Plus the reveal of which dragons they bonded with? I was so surprised (in the best way!) Most of the stories are fairly simple, and the animation is a hugely mixed bag, but there are some compelling elements to be had amongst it. Feathers and Alex are two characters who are the most interesting, as having a dragon as a sort of support animal is both a new and rich concept that I hope will be explored further. However, there were also parts of the story I did not get along with as well as expected. First of all, there is the overall impression that everything needs to be harmonic, nearly at all times. If there is any kind of conflict popping up, it is immediately smoothed out. And yes we accept each other as we are. We never get upset with each other. And, yes, we co-operate at all times, we understand, even as children, how important team work is. And so we co-operate at all cost. Instead they search for a new home for the dragons, which involves invoking the ghost of the first dragon that ever existed, which leads to danger, frustration, adventure, superpowers and a twist that will change the world forever....

The Dragon Realm continues its slow (but dangerous) collapse into the human realm, and now humans and dragons have to learn to live with one another (and deal with things falling from the sky, like mountains...) Unfortunately, not everyone wants to live together - and humans and dragons are trying to control the situation and each other. As the children quest for access to the Hidden Realm, to see if they can translocate the lost dragon refugees who don't want to be around humans. They seek to summon the spirit of the first dragon who was slain by humans to win her over to their cause, and help them solve the problem of Dragons having been thrown into conflict with humans. eARC received from Simon and Schuster UK Children's via NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This title releases on the 16th March 2022.

DRAGON MOUNTAIN has all of my favourite things! A rich mythology and a tale of friendship, snarky dragons and daring deeds...this is the kind of breathless tale that leaves you hungry for the next instalment' – Roshani Chokshi, author of the ARU SHAH series But fear not, the new DRAGON FORCE series has launched with Infinity's Secret . And don't miss A Dragon Realm Adventure, the special World Book Day story! The dialogue between the characters is also obnoxious af. The kids talking amongst themselves is one thing, but the ANCIENT DRAGONS sounded just as inexperienced and came across as childish themselves. Don't even get me started on Billy's acceptance of death. In the midst of him constantly questioning what they're doing he somehow comes to terms with his own death. "This might be the last thing that he ever did. He thought about his life at home, his life before dragons. And he realized that even if this was the end, it would be worth it. To get a chance to experience magic in the world. To be a part of something epic." What is he? 12? And he's known about dragons and magic for less than 24 hours. How did he go from speculative to full on I WILL DIE FOR THIS SHIT? The fourth adventure in the ROARsome DRAGON REALM series for 9+ readers! Perfect for fans of nail-biting mysteries and cinematic battles. We follow Billy as he goes to a summer camp in the "middle of nowhere" china, and there he befriends Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei (which first of all these four have the best friendship and was such a joy to read about!!) and they discover they can enter a magical mountain where they meet 4 dragons, who they bond with and have to team up with them to help prevent the dragon of death from taking over the world!!

Table of Contents

Dragon Destiny , the fifth and final instalment in the Dragon Realm series, is available. But fear not, the new Dragon Force series has launched with Infinity's Secret . And don't miss A Dragon Realm Adventure, the special World Book Day story! The adults are not impressed when they find out that the children are not so much "in control" of the dragons, and that the dragons cannot be hobbled, captured or enslaved. I find the writing of the adult characters frustratingly silly, but this is a book for 9 year olds... I just wish it was a little more realistic, because making it so silly feels like talking Down to kids.

There are some classic fantasy tropes that I love but are rarely seen these days (or at least it feels that way.) The one that had me squealing (and in a coffee shop just to maximise how many confused stares I got!) was the fact there is a magical sword complete with riddle-bound instructions. The constraints on and the consequences of using the sword works so well within the book.We also see the children off on another quest - this time to find a new home for the dragons to ease tensions. Which means finding the first dragon ever to be betrayed by humans, and hoping she'll be amenable to helping. We get to see some very cool new locations on this quest (as someone who can get claustrophobic, that cave was awful!! really cool but *shudders.*)