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Dragon Rider

Cornelia Funke

The Chicken House/Scholastic, 2004

ISBN 0-439-45695-9

Started: Jan 6/Finished: Jan 10 (emu)

emu's review: I've loved Cornelia Funke since reading The Theif Lord, and was quite happy when I saw a a new one of hers sitting on the shelving cart at work, so I grabbed it. I wasn't a bit disappointed. The story is about a dragon named Firedrake, who teams up with a brownie named Sorrel and a boy named Ben to find the Rim of Heaven, a place where dragons can supposedly live in peace, because he and his fellow dragons are being driven out of their home by humans. Firedrake, though he seems like he should be the main character from the beginning, isn't really the focus of the book... He spends much of it asleep, actually, or just not saying anything. I liked him, however, as his gentle and quiet nature hides a strong determination... I alwyas like characters who know what they want and will withstand anything until they get it. He goes against what the other dragons want to do (which is just hide... these dragons are a pretty cowardly lot) and leaves the valley they live in with Sorrel, who is probably my favorite character in the book because of her cantankerous nature (but she has a good heart). They meet Ben, an orphan, in a city where they went to get a map from a rat and he comes with them as well. Along the way they meet quite a few allies... but they also find an enemy. Nettlebrand, the Golden One... He isn't much of a bad guy, really. He reminded me of a rather pathetic Capricorn (the adversary in Inkheart). He is a huge golden dragon, created by an alchemist long ago to hunt dragons, and he is the main reason all of the dragons are in hiding in the first place.
Despite the uninteresting enemy, the book was fun. I think the thing I like best about Cornelia Funke's books is their settings. I'm so used to books like this being set somewhere in America or Britain, but Funke is German and her books tend to sprawl across Europe. This one went from way up North to Egypt to somewhere on the Arabian Sea, to Tibet. Unfortunately, her books also don't have much in the way of any realism at all... you have to suspend your disbelief about nearly everything. If you can't do that, I doubt you'd manage to enjoy this book much.

Dragon Rider	Cornelia Funke
The Chicken House/Scholastic, 2004	ISBN 0-439-45695-9
	Started: Jan 6/Finished: Jan 10 (emu)
emu's review: I've loved Cornelia Funke since reading The Theif Lord, and was quite happy when I saw a a new one of hers sitting on the shelving cart at work, so I grabbed it. I wasn't a bit disappointed. The story is about a dragon named Firedrake, who teams up with a brownie named Sorrel and a boy named Ben to find the Rim of Heaven, a place where dragons can supposedly live in peace, because he and his fellow dragons are being driven out of their home by humans. Firedrake, though he seems like he should be the main character from the beginning, isn't really the focus of the book... He spends much of it asleep, actually, or just not saying anything. I liked him, however, as his gentle and quiet nature hides a strong determination... I alwyas like characters who know what they want and will withstand anything until they get it. He goes against what the other dragons want to do (which is just hide... these dragons are a pretty cowardly lot) and leaves the valley they live in with Sorrel, who is probably my favorite character in the book because of her cantankerous nature (but she has a good heart). They meet Ben, an orphan, in a city where they went to get a map from a rat and he comes with them as well. Along the way they meet quite a few allies... but they also find an enemy. Nettlebrand, the Golden One... He isn't much of a bad guy, really. He reminded me of a rather pathetic Capricorn (the adversary in Inkheart). He is a huge golden dragon, created by an alchemist long ago to hunt dragons, and he is the main reason all of the dragons are in hiding in the first place. Despite the uninteresting enemy, the book was fun. I think the thing I like best about Cornelia Funke's books is their settings. I'm so used to books like this being set somewhere in America or Britain, but Funke is German and her books tend to sprawl across Europe. This one went from way up North to Egypt to somewhere on the Arabian Sea, to Tibet. Unfortunately, her books also don't have much in the way of any realism at all... you have to suspend your disbelief about nearly everything. If you can't do that, I doubt you'd manage to enjoy this book much.