DragonLight
Donita K. Paul
Reviewed by Mary Aycock
Donita K. Paul is a
retired teacher and award-winning author of seven novels. When not
writing, she
is often engaged in mentoring writers of all ages.
She lives in Colorado Springs CO,
a setting that
should inspire any writer to greatness!
DragonLight is the wonderful and breathtaking conclusion to
the DragonKeeper Chronicles, which includes the following books:
DragonSpell,
DragonQuest, DragonKnight and DragonFire.
Here is where I reluctantly admit that I have NOT read any
of the books that came before DragonLight!
I agreed to take this book on without reading the prior stories
because
I wanted to find out if I could pick up at the tail end of a series and
still
be impressed with the story and characters and not be totally lost
because I
hadn’t read what came before. I
questioned whether a final episode could “stand alone” as a complete,
well-written story.
On opening the book for the first time, I found that Ms.
Paul had listed all of the characters in the book, describing how they
all “fit”
together and she even gave bits and pieces of WHAT they all were. By this I mean that there are seven low
races and seven high races in her series, a notion that took me by
surprise,
and totally delighted me! I
immediately
flipped to the back of the book to see if she had included a Glossary
to
explain more about what each of the races were.
She not only included that information in
the Glossary, but so much, much more! I
was hooked before I even read the first line of the STORY!
Kudos to Donita K.
Paul for filling in all of the blanks in a way that gently leads you
into the
story without letting you get lost in the terminology.
It made it so much easier for someone like
me, who hadn’t read what came before, to get more enjoyment out of a
wonderfully
written story.
Here there be Dragons!
Yes! There are dragons of all
shapes, colors and sizes; with all sorts of amazing abilities. Dragons who fly and dragons who ride the
flying dragons! Dragons who
heal,
dragons who kill, dragons who protect and defend! Mot
Angra, the evil dragon of very old and
vague legends, lurks throughout the story, in what is supposed to be a
time of
peace and recovery. When it is
determined that the legend is actually a reality, they turn to Kale,
the Dragon
Keeper for help. Kale, at this point
declares, “Look, I have a tiny blue naughty dragon who bites me. I can’t control all dragons.”
The fun of this book is beyond words.
I caught myself looking around to see if
anyone had noticed me laughing out loud at the fun parts!
But, it is not all
fun and laughter! There are many
deliciously chilly parts, scary parts, gnaw your knuckle parts that
keep you
coming back for the next line and the next.
It was very difficult to put the book down for any length of
time.
Ms. Paul has an imagination any author should be proud
of. She delights you with concepts and
characters, fills your mind with beautiful scenery one minute and
darkens it
the next. As you are reading, you
catch
yourself straining to look beyond the words you just read, trying to
figure out
what is around the next bend. Just
when
you think you have all the ends tied in a neat little bow, she
surprises you
once again with a new twist and turn!
There are plots and
sub-plots, weaving their way into your head, as the Dragon Keeper and
her
entourage travel on their quest. The
author colors her characters with brilliance and depth of field. She leaves you with a desire to read on,
because
she keeps holding back that ONE bit
of
information you think you need to figure out the whole story. Slippery, sneaky and totally delightful, that
is what she is!
Did I get lost,
reading the last book before any of the ones that came before? Not at all!
What it did was make me hungry to go out and buy ALL
the books that came before this one in the series so that I could read
them,
slowly, from first to last! Did
I feel
she left out any information that would have made this last book easier
to
understand? Again, I say, not at
all. The way she explained all of the
characters
and had such extensive information in the Glossary, if I found myself
not
remembering who was who or what was what, I just had to take a quick
peek at
one or the other and then jump right back into the story.
Not an inconvenience at all! I
wish more authors would do this, so that
the reader could easily catch on, especially in Sci-Fi or Fantasy
stories,
where it is SO easy to get lost in all the “new jargon.”
Was the final episode
able to “stand alone?” Absolutely! Hats off to Ms. Paul for being an
excellent
story weaver! Her characters steal
your
heart, especially the Dragons! The
Dragon Keeper is strong and capable, yet you get to see her gentle,
vulnerable
side. There is a wide cast of
characters, each with their own agenda, which just makes the story that
much
more interesting!
I am SO glad I didn’t turn away from this book, simply
because I hadn’t already read the other stories in the series. Ms. Paul has peopled my head with a
wonderful cast of characters and an amazing story line.
Makes me sad that our world doesn’t have
this colorful cast of dragons! They
would make daily life so much more FUN! Thank you, Ms. Paul.
Now I have to go hunt for the first four
books in this series so I can get to know everyone better!