We are back with another Dragons in our Midst book review. WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead if you haven’t read books one and two. If you don’t want spoiled, stop reading now. You have been warned. Hey, you’re passed the warning paragraph. Hope you enjoy a third visit to this world of anthrozil’s and dragons.
Billy and Bonnie have traveled to England for a special meeting and to go on a special mission. But trouble is quick to follow. Billy and Professor Hamilton are attacked in the dead of night. Bonnie and the two dragons, Clefspeare (Billy’s dad) and Hartanna (Bonnie’s mom), are ambushed at the rendezvous. Once they finally meet up with Sir Patrick, Billy discovers that he has a role to play as King Arthur’s heir. For now, he and Bonnie must traverse the Seven Circles, a representation of Hell. Ashley and Walter are invited to come to England, Ashley for her tech skills and Walter as her traveling companion. Ashley introduces the reader to two new inventions: Apollo and Larry, a very human computer. Now, the two of them have to do their best to team-up with Billy and Bonnie through the thin veil that separates the two dimensions they are traveling in. Will Billy and Bonnie survive all the circles? Is Sir Patrick trustworthy? Who is this Morgan? And what does she want with Bonnie? Okay, this was the cover that I first actually noticed of this series. It made me think of your typical knight in shining armor saving his lady from the evil dragon. In some ways, I wasn’t wrong, but in other ways, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I wasn’t even aware that this was the third of a series, a series I maybe noticed in passing beforehand. Upside to that, when my parents bought the series for me and my siblings, we didn’t have to wait forever for the next book. That changed when we started into The Oracles of Fire series, but we aren’t ready for those books yet. This book is the one that shows the reader that there is a whole other dimension to this battle that our beloved characters are facing. I may even dare to say that of all their adventures so far, this may have been the most dangerous. They are venturing into the supernatural realms. They can never be quite sure who to actually trust. Those secrets could easily cost them their lives if they aren’t careful. And trans-dimensional communications can occasionally be troublesome at best.
Thankfully, everything isn’t just tense nerves and high danger situations. There are light moments as well. Walter being his usual, joking self and having to deal with Ashley’s “mind-reading.” Stories of the experiences of King Arthur’s knights as they experience the twenty-first century outside the candlestone. Meeting a character who claims to have such things as camel tongue on his pizza. (Do not worry, faint of heart. It is not true. (-;) Not to mention the clever Larry who can be quite humorous with some of his smart aleck comments. Bryan Davis has succeeded in fashioning a third book that can only be matched by the other three in the series. With twenty-four chapters and a bonus teaser chapter, the story tries to reach the four-hundred-fifty mark, but misses it by about ten. In the front of the book, you’ll receive a recap from Professor Hamilton, a photo of Glastonbury Tor (where many of the book’s events take place, at least in our dimension), a prototype sketch of Apollo, and one of Merlin’s songs. In the back, just before the teaser, five poems that play a key role in the story are all together for easy reference. At least for those who enjoy trying to decipher poetic riddles and figuring things out before the characters.
This is again a highly recommendable book. Things are wrapped up as best as they can, although you see that the world has definitely shifted and the final battle is drawing near. That said, I hope you enjoyed this review. And to rate this ending, I believe that I would give it four dragons out of five, simply because of the looming future danger the characters still have to face.
Until next time. Bye!
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