Ah, we once again visit a tale of dragons. Seeing as this is the sequel to Raising Dragons, there are some spoilers for that book. So, if you don’t wish to ruin the first book, go read it now and then come read this later. Okay. Read the first book or don’t care? Then let’s go. Now as I implied earlier, The Candlestone is book two in Bryan Davis’s Dragons in our Midst series. Just before the table of contents, Bonnie Silver gives us a brief recap of what happened in the first book, just in case it’s been awhile. In it, she reminds readers of the dragon slayer, Devin, and a mysterious stone called a candlestone that has the ability to drain the strength of a dragon or half-dragon.
As the reader enters the body of the story, it is soon revealed that several months have passed from the end of the last book. Billy and Walter have been training in sword-fighting with Professor Hamilton, and Bonnie is soon to be adopted by the Foleys. However, the day before the adoption can be finalized, Bonnie’s father, Dr. Matthew Conner, returns, claiming that Bonnie’s mother never died and is in a coma waiting for Bonnie to come back to her. Although Dr. Conner brings enough evidence and is able to convince Bonnie to return to Montana with him, the rest of the gang are still suspicious and look into it further. Things start to spiral from there. Devin and Bonnie’s mother are trapped in the candlestone? Professor Hamilton resembles who?! The dragon Clefspeare was an adopted son of Arthur, and Billy is Arthur’s adopted grandson? Legends of King Arthur’s return possibly coming true? Who is this Ashley Stalworth? And what is the mystery behind the legendary Excalibur? Once again, I must leave these questions for you to discover on your own by reading the book. This is an amazing followup to the first book, and a great lead into the third, the last chapter giving the reader a mysterious riddle that only time will interpret. And if the last chapter is not enough to tell the reader that this has become much bigger than just a few young people, their older guides, and a few dragons, the sneak peek chapter for book three solidifies it. It is in this second book that the reader discovers Bonnie’s beautiful gift of crafting words masterfully on the page. The reader is also introduced to Psalm 139 or Bonnie’s Song as it gradually starts to be called. It is also in this book where a phrase my family and I enjoyed first appeared: “Too much information can make your brain choke.” Again, we receive a flashback to medieval England to see what is happening to two of the dragons-turned-humans and witness the mysterious disappearance of the prophet Merlin.
All the events take part during twenty-four chapters, making it very easy to just slightly go over the hump of 400 pages with the bonus chapter. And in addition to Bonnie’s recap, we also find Merlin’s Prophecy and a map showing a quick layout of Dr. Conner’s underground lab near the front of the book. Once again, I highly recommend this Christian Fantasy book. It holds all the charm and teenaged teasing that the first showcased with Walter appropriately bringing laughter when needed. (Don’t worry, when things get serious, he’s serious.) We also meet some new faces that will soon join the others as familiar friends. Yes, all in all, I really enjoyed this book. Even though there are low points, there are also high points that help to ease the pain of the low points.
Well, I shall be saying adieu for now. Until next time.
Oh, and for anyone interested, here is a link to some fan art that I did for this book. The story behind my version of Billy's Portrait of Bonnie is in the artwork's description.
Other books in the series:
Tears of a Dragon
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