The Dragon's Eye: The Dragonology Chronicles, Volume One (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
http://readfantasybooks.wordpress.comPlotThe plot of this book is pretty simple and would be very easy for children to read, but adults will enjoy it as well. Daniel and Beatrice are siblings who, when their parents cannot come home after 4 years as expected, they are taken under the care of Dr. Drake (a family friend). Daniel and Beatrice have no idea what they are doing there and are not sure about it first, but a short time later they realize they are going to be going to school (taught by Dr. Drake) to learn about dragons! How exciting! I wish I could go!The first 120 pages or so spends time with Daniel and Beatrice before and during classes. We learn about dragonology as they learn about it, first by going out into the field and doing some observations. All of these observations must be kept in their journal. There are plenty of other things that the children get to learn, but I don't want to give it all away. Even though this consumes half the book it is still very interesting because we get to meet a couple of interesting dragons while learning all about dragonology. It moves at a great pace and I never found any part to be uninteresting because it was so fascinating. Any child you adores dragons will love this!The second half of the book begins their adventure! Daniel, Beatrice, and Dr. Drake have to stop Ignatius from recovering the Dragon's Eye. There is plenty of action, interesting scenes, lots of dragons, and they encounter many problems along the way. For a children's book it moves at a great pace, but I would have preferred it to be a bit more detailed and move more slowly but children may not prefer this.I thought the ending was great! It wraps up pretty nicely so you don't actually have to read any of the other books if you don't want to. However, there was one character who got away with some things and this could lead to problems later. I would assume this would be their next adventure.CharactersThe reason why I am not giving this book five stars is because of the characters. Throughout the entire book, even though their were plenty of good opportunities, we know next to nothing about Daniel and Beatrice. Because of this I wasn't able to connect with them and care about them they way I should have been able to. They just weren't developed enough. With other books left in the series I hope I get to know them a little more.Dr. Drake was my favorite character. What we learn about him isn't much either, but it is more than the children. At first I wasn't sure what kind of person he was because when first encountering the character he seems harsh and rude, but then we learn that he is a loving and caring person. He adores dragons and does just about anything to ensure their safety and he knows a lot about dragonology. By far my favorite character so far in the series, though there are not many to choose from. Dr. Drake could have been more interesting.Though their are glimpses of the evil characters in this book we don't know too much about them other than what Dr. Drake has told us. Ignatius Crook believes that the Dragon's Eye is rightfully his and that he should be the next Dragon Master but many others think otherwise. He is an evil, horrible person and there doesn't seem to be any good in him whatsoever. He is your run of the mill bad character. I wish he would have been a little more interesting.WritingI loved the writing of the book! I don't have any complaints! There were even some charts provided so we could see what the children were writing in the journals, and I loved the illustrations even though there were only a few. Perfectly written and I believe that younger children won't have a hard time reading it.Overall ThoughtsThis is an interesting book and a great beginning to what looks like an amazing series. Anyone who loves dragons will love to read this book and it can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. Although some parts weren't detailed enough for me and I wish others would have moved more slowly, and the lack of character development, it is still a great, interesting story that will be enjoyed by all.
Daniel and Beatrice have been staying with an uncle and are waiting for their parent's ship to dock (not sure where the uncle is but they are alone). The two haven't seen their parents in four years. While waiting, they get a note from their parents saying that the Prince of India still needs their help, they won't be coming home, and the two need to go stay with a Dr. Drake. Beatrice and Daniel arrive at Drake's place only to be kept waiting in his shop. Daniel hears a noise in the room next door and thinks he sees a dragon. Drake won't talk to him about it and the two find out that Drake runs a school in the summer on dragonology. The two become members of a secret society that keeps dragons a secret from humanity. Drake is in conflict with Ignatious who wants to be the Master Dragon and have the power to rule the world. He's in league with a Russian dragonologist who also has plans of her own. We never find out her goals. When Ignatious starts stealing artifacts it is up to Drake, Beatrice, and Drake to stop them. Younger readers might be more forgiving of this book and swept up in the adventure but it fell short in many ways for me. As a character Drake is a dweeb and he's supposed to be the wise mentor or teacher. Problem? He's lousy at both. He is unfair with his treatment of Daniel whom he punishes for snooping around when Daniel hears a dragon flapping around in the room next door. Duh! Who wouldn't look in a room if some exotic creature was there. I was willing to buy it except he makes him spend an entire week reading inside. That didn't fit the crime. Drake is never upfront with Beatrice and Daniel and the author uses him to force the plot along. For instance, Daniel reads, The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, and learns about natural selection and his study of dragons on the Galapagos islands. By punishing him for the week the author was able to get in his information about dragons. Beatrice starts out as this fearless tough girl who isn't going to get her hat stolen but then she won't even check out the wild creature flapping in the room with Daniel. That seemed contrary to her character when we first meet her. The adults avoid talking about things and this type of suspense building drives me crazy. Once used in a plot I can take, but when it is done time again by multiple characters then I get irritated by the lack of plot development. The author also reveals too much or not enough in the plot and it disrupts the pacing. When Billy meets Beatrice and Daniel an avalanche of information is provided. It could have been trickled out with the adults. Then they wouldn't have looked so inept. For instance, Daniel reads a long list of 12 treasures that are needed for the story's plot, but it was boring, and at that point all we needed to know was number 12. Fifty pages or so later when the other items are introduced than the information could have be given. The setting needed more about the kids in boarding school and why their parents would leave them for 4 years. The uncle wasn't developed either. Why wasn't he with them at the beginning and then why was he the concerned uncle at the end getting the police involved so he could have the children? It wasn't consistent. More information is given later in the book that makes sense of the parents and why they couldn't see their children but I thought it should have been moved to the beginning. I kept thinking, why didn't the parents just bring the two with to India? The dragons aren't very scary which made it somewhat boring and there wasn't a resolution at the end of the story. Maybe the sequel will be better. I'll never know.
What do You think about The Dragon's Eye: The Dragonology Chronicles, Volume One (2006)?
Reviewed by K. Osborn Sullivan for TeensReadToo.comAs I read THE DRAGON'S EYE, I kept getting a feeling of deja vu. It took a while to figure out why, but then it came to me. THE DRAGON'S EYE reminded me a little of the SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS books. There was that familiar emphasis on conducting research, and recording findings in little notebooks, and solving problems. Only instead of three orphans dodging Count Olaf, THE DRAGON'S EYE focuses on a brother and sister trying to escape the evil designs of the inferior dragonologist, Ignatius Crook. Unfortunately, this one didn't have the same humor in it that I enjoyed so much in the SOUE books. Overall, I have mixed feelings about THE DRAGON'S EYE. In the plus column, the novel was heavy on dragons of various types. They all have names and unique personalities. Also, it had an element of boy versus girl competition that seemed to resolve itself reasonably well. On the other hand, the frequent references to dragon diaries and research methods disrupted the action. Doubtless that was the point -- to identify the importance of learning about a subject before jumping into it and conducting a poor study. But still, the execution was a little heavy-handed for my taste. For young dragon lovers, this would probably be a popular title. I emphasize the word "young." THE DRAGON'S EYE seems geared to a younger audience than many of the books reviewed here at TeensReadToo. My 14-year-old son read it, too, and he was disappointed because it definitely felt "too young" for him. But for budding fantasy lovers who can't get enough dragons, this one has the potential to be a winner.
—Jennifer Wardrip
Bought and read this with one of my oldest grand-daughters, who loved anything about dragons, seven years ago. We wanted the sequel so bad but finally gave up and forgot about it. Now there are four volumes and I am purchasing them for my youngest grand-sons. If you have grade school children, or grand- children, who love dragon or adventure stories this is is an excellent story about 12 year old Daniel Cook and his sister Beatrice who are about to find out about the existence and secret protection of dragons. They will also learn that their parents, who they have not seen for some time, are working In India for the colonial governmen, to care for and protect the secrecy of Dragons. They will also meet the evil, Ignatious Crook.
—Christine Woods
I have to be honest, I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait to hunt down the rest of the series and get stuck in with my dragonology education. Steer's style reminds me of the Lemony Snicket series (which btw I also loved) with its easy humour and lighthearted take on life and the way its adapts real life to fit into the story. The story itself is very well written and thoroughly engrossing and I just couldn't put it down once I read the first line, never mind the first chapter. Steer writes with vivid and descriptive words that conjure up amazing images that even the most mature reader will want to believe (and many will...me included). I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this series.
—Sam
