290. Dragon Seer's Gift by Janet McNaughton

Dragon Seer's Gift by Janet McNaughton. (Canada) only
Sequel to Dragon Seer

Pages: 282
Ages: 11+
Finished: Dec. 27, 2011
First Published: Aug. 16, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins Canada
Genre: YA, fantasy,
Rating:  4/5



First sentence:

Safe in his red-brick lair in the heart of the city, the dragon dreams, nose to toes, his tail draped over his neck like a scarf.


Acquired: Borrowed a copy from my local library.

Reason for Reading: next (and last) in the series.

I really enjoyed Dragon Seer and was thrilled to find out McNaughton had written a sequel.  This is a sequel with a finite ending, not just another book in an ongoing series so the two make a nice companion read.  Dragon Seer's Gift takes place centuries after the first book and only contains one continuous character.  Events from the first book are heavily mentioned and integral to the story, so it is important to read them in order.  This time the book is set in the present, and two teenage siblings who are ancestors of the characters from the first book have had the dragon legend carried down to them.  When they start to research the family history for a school project they find an old key that unlocks an ancient secret that puts them next in line for the prophecy to save the world.

This was a fast read and I must say I enjoyed it even more than the first book probably because the obscure history is missing this time.  The first book is more about the dragons and a historical fantasy, while this one is more of a fantasy quest where the heroes must race against time to save the world.  The historical element is still there through the family research and a family friend who is an archaeologist.  Mostly we are looking at the Vikings and the Picts.  I found the two main characters 12yo Gwyn and his older sister Maddie to be interesting, likable and real teens.  Each had their own problems and yet they were from a close knit family keeping the usual sibling squabbling out of this book, as they looked out for each other.  The issue of bullying was also met from four different angles as both Gwyn & Maggie are bullied in different ways, as well as a Norwegian immigrant and we get to know one character who starts off as a bully. 

Set in Newfoundland, I enjoyed the Canadian flavour to the story.  The mixture of history, dragons, magic, science and the environment made for a page-turning plot while the memorable characters were endearing and made one care how things would turn out.  I also enjoyed how the book ended realistically with the plot tied up, but also with the characters' future lives left to the imagination.

Comments

  1. Glad you liked this. I haven't checked to see if my library bought it lately but will so now. :)

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