Review: Dragon Legend by Katie and Kevin Tsang

 Ready for dragons? Today's review is the second book in a fantasy series for middle graders, which starts out at a summer camp in Asia...at least, in book one. I did read the first book in this series (Wow!) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Believe it or not, this book even surpassed that one in several ways.

So, who's ready to take flight into adventure and fantasy pure?

DRAGON LEGEND

Dragon Realm, Book Two

by Katie & Kevin Tsang

Simon & Schuster

Middle Grade Fantasy

320 pages

ages 8 to 12

The second adventure in the ROARsome DRAGON REALM series for 9+ readers! Perfect for readers looking for edge-of-your-seat adventure.

Billy Chan and his friends are not having a very relaxing summer. Their friend, Dylan, has been kidnapped by the evil Dragon of Death and it's up to them to travel through time, back to the dangerous Dragon Realm, in order to save him. Luckily they have their own dragons on side, but they'll need to collect eight magical pearls if they're to amass enough power to destroy the Dragon of Death and her followers for good. So begins an epic quest that will take them to the depths of the Frozen Wasteland and the imperial palaces of Ancient China. But can good triumph evil...?

DRAGON LEGEND is the second book in the DRAGON REALM series by Katie and Kevin Tsang, co-authors of SAM WU IS NOT AFRAID

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MY TIDBITS

Imagination and creativity abound in this fast-paced fantasy, which proves how important and strong the bond of friendship can be.

I did have the chance to read book one in this series and enjoyed it quite a bit. Book two, thought, took me by surprise and was even a little better. Action switches up another gear as the group of friends is thrown full-force into the Dragon Realm. While book one kept some base in the real world, this one lets the adventure take over...and what a creative world it is! The authors let their fantasies fly and develop rich scenes and sticky situations, which are difficult to see a solution for and keep the reader at the edge of their seat. It was a treat to get lost in the different landscapes and join in with the group of friends. The only thing which suffered, as opposed to book one, was the glimpses into the Asian culture. But this is fantasy and dragons pure, and there's not a thing wrong with that. 

Friendship is key in this book, and good vs evil happens in true, traditional style.  Yet, it's not predictable, but simply makes it clear who to root for...and enjoy doing that. This is one reason I don't see this really for the upper end of the middle grade audience and am going to slide away from the 'official' intended age group, suggesting it swings more toward strong, chapter book readers and the lower end of middle grade. The length might appear daunting for this lower end, but it's an easy read with the vocabulary and writing fitting this end as well. Also, there's a bit missing on the inter-personal struggles between the friends to make this a read for the upper group (not much tension or disagreement thanks to different opinions or personalities). But for lower middle graders, it's an amazing fantasy, and even I enjoyed it.

The book ends with a bang and makes it hard to wait for the next one to appear...because I have no doubt the adventure won't get any less exciting in book three. In other words, fantasy friends will surely enjoy this one.

And here they are...

Katie and Kevin Tsang met in in 2008 while studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Since then they have lived on three different continents and travelled to over 40 countries together. As well as the DRAGON REALM series, they are the co-writers of the young fiction series SAM WU IS NOT AFRAID (Egmont) and Katie also writes YA as Katherine Webber.