Sunday, August 12, 2012

Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis - A Book Review


WARNING! SOME SPOILERS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS REVIEW!

Action, adventure, inspiration as two teens meet their dragon past...

A boy learns of his dragon past; a girl has known of hers for years. They combine their faith, courage, and love to overcome an evil slayer who seeks to bring an end to dragon heritage, forever.
    The kids at school call Billy "Dragon Breath" for good reason. His breath is bad! It isn't normal, morning-mouth bad; it's hot-as-fire, "don't-you-dare-get-near-me" bad. Trouble erupts when his hot breath sets off the fire sprinklers in the boys' restroom at school, and his parents learn that they've kept their secret for too long.
    Billy finally discovers the secret. His father was once a dragon! Now that's a piece of news a guy doesn't deal with every day! Billy feels betrayed, alien, lost. When the dragon slayer traps him on a cold mountaintop in West Virginia, Billy learns to battle with weapons of steel and spirit while relying on a power he doesn't understand, a power that helps him learn to trust again.
    Bonnie, an orphan, tries to find a home, someone to lover her, even though she feels like a freak because of a body feature that she calls a deformity. But this unusual feature becomes a life-saving attribute as she discovers that her love for others and her faith in a creator hold the answers she's looking for.

    When I took the first step to reading the Dragons In Our Midst series and borrowed it from my cousin, I was slightly wary, considering I didn't have a perfect experience with the first book of his that I read, Beyond the Reflection's Edge (you can read my review here). But once I started the book, my attitude toward his writing changed. I couldn't believe the skill and grace Bryan Davis showed in managing to intertwine a Godly, Biblical message with an contemporary fantasy story about dragons and dragon hybrids! Unlike Beyond the Reflection's Edge, Raising Dragons, was in no way confusing to me. I was able to understand the entire story and I was able to put myself in the character's shoes. That is a rare trait that I hope to see more of as I continue to read Bryan Davis's works and the Dragons In Our Midst series, Oracles of Fire series, and Children of the Bard series, among others!
    No inappropriate content. No language whatsoever. There was mild gruesome content, Bonnie is beaten by the dragon slayer, "knights" are repeatedly burnt to a crisp by the dragons, Billy's head is sliced open by a sword, Bonnie's wing is injured as well as other injuries. Bonnie is manhandled by the slayer.

5 of 5 stars!
God bless,
Brian

1 comment:

  1. I want to read these books but my library doesn't have them...well, they have one. I don't like to read just one of a series in case it is very good and then I can't find the second. But I've heard they are very good books.

    ReplyDelete