A young friend saw the book on my shelf and asked me about it.

Because he is an avid reader, and we have "swapped" books several times, and he is, indeed the one who introduced me to "fantasy" books, I described it to him as "CS Lewis meets Christopher Paolini."

The story, an classically allegorical with a good vs. evil theme, takes place in a land that seems to be far away, in the distance past. The characters must use discernment, wisdom and magic to keep the dragon eggs safe, keep the statues out of the wrong hands, and stay alive.

It is an easy read in that it flows well, the characters are developed well, and the action, while a bit draggy in places, is enough to keep the reader interested. This is a latter book of a series, and I am thinking it may have been a bit more understandable had I read the first one before this. I had read some of Danita Paul's work, so I was familiar with a few of the characters. Some of my initial lack of understanding may have been because I was trying to make "Dragons in the Valley" a sequel to the one I had read, but it is does not seem directly related.

I would highly recommend this book to any middle school or high school student who enjoys reading and enjoys reading fantasy. Likewise, any adult that appreciates the genre will probably like it as well.

Find this book at amazon.com -- Dragons of the Valley

Or the Waterbrook Multinomah page


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I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review