Dragon Day

(DragonLance: The New Adventures - Volume 6)

(Dragon Quartet - 2 of 4)

by
Stan Brown

Mirror Stone, March 2005, 239 pp.
ISBN: 0-7869-3622-3

Genre: Young Reader
Subgenre: Fantasy

World: DragonLance
Reviewed: 6/23/2005

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

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Lost at Sea

"That's a shame," Sindri thought while tumbling headlong away from the railing. "Things had been going so well, too."

Sindri wasn't certain what had happened, though he felt pretty sure that he'd been knocked overboard by a wave--either that or a giant octopus. Whichever it was, the kender wished he'd been looking the right way when it happened. Not that he wouldn't have been able to get out of the way, in fact he probably wouldn't have even tried, he just would have loved to see either one of those things close up. The chances of him getting hit by another giant wave (or giant octopus) were remote at best. But Sindri was more bothered by another nagging thought.

"I can't swim."

And with the sea rushing up toward him so quickly, that was sure to be his biggest problem very soon. Cat has just finished telling Sindri that she was tired of rescuing her friends. And he'd just finished telling her that a wise warrior needs to know when to run away. Why did she have to pick this time to listen to him? She'd ignored him so many times in the past.

But Sindri was almost out of time. The wave below was rising just as quickly as he was falling. It looked so angry. The sea had always seemed a peaceful thing to Sindri in the past, but this wave seemed to be reaching up for him, trying to grab him the way so many merchants and constables had, angry and accusatory.

If it was a merchant, I'd be able to slip away, he thought. I'd find a quiet spot to sit until he'd calmed down. That's what I need, a quiet spot of water until things blow over.

As if in answer to Sindri's thoughts, the patch of water directly below him grew calm and still.

Perfect, he thought as he hit the water headfirst. Sindri didn't notice that the water was not only calmer, it was also bluer and it seemed to be glowing slightly. He also didn't notice that instead of a splash he broke the surface with a bright white flash like a lightning bolt.

However, as he looked around the surrounding water hoping to see a giant octopus, Sindri did notice that there was no trace of the ship, whose hull should have been bobbing in the water nearby.

"Now this is interesting!"

Review

After losing Nearra, and having Elidor killed, the three remaining companions book passage on a ship. Davyn decides to go his own way, not being able to stomach Catriona's overbearing attitude and does not get on the ship. Catriona is confused by Davyn's opinion of her and struggles to understand why he won't listen to her and how he could abandon her and Sindri. During a massive storm, Sindri is washed overboard and using his magic ends in a pool of water in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas and is rescued by Raistlin, a powerful mage (see the DragonLance Legends series). Raistlin admits Sindri to the Greeves Academy, where mages are trained in the ways of magic. Since kenders are supposed to be devoid of any magical talents, and well known to be thieves and liars, no one, not even the teachers, cares anything about Sindri. Meanwhile, Catriona, who dived in the water to save Sindri, is found washed upon the beach by Adyn, a devote follower of Paladin. He is heading to Palanthas to take his vows of ordination, but has recently been attacked for his beliefs. Catriona agrees to accompany his to keep him safe from others who no longer follow Paladin. In Palanthas, Sindri is blamed for the theft of a holy crown to be used in an upcoming ceremony. The mages and the clerics have been looking for an excuse to start a magical war, and Sindri and Catriona find themselves stuck in the middle of it all.

Dragon Day is the sixth book in DragonLance: The New Adventures series and is written by Stan Brown. It is a young adult fantasy story that takes place in the DragonLance universe and is intended for readers ages 10 and up. This story has the following main characters: Davyn - a human, male teenage ranger, Catriona - a female warrior who has failed at becoming a knight, and Sindri - a kender wizard.

Let me just say this from the very beginning, "I love kenders." They are one of my favorite fantasy races because they are so much fun. Finally, a book in this series focuses on my favorite character: Sindri. What is unique about Sindri is that he is not the typical kender, but one that believes that he has the ability to cast magic. I can't wait to see what becomes of him in the future. Does he really have magical abilities? I sure hope so. As for Catriona, the other main character in Dragon Day, I am glad to see that she is finally dealing with her attitude issue. Her problem is that she doesn't trust anyone else but herself. In this book, she does some soul-searching and finally comes to grasp with her problem. Of course, with this band of adventurers breaking up, it leaves me to wonder what Davyn is doing, or if Elidor is really dead, or if they will ever get back together and rescue Nearra. I sure hope that these questions are answered in the books to follow. I can't wait for more of them to hit the bookshelves, as DragonLance: The New Adventures is a fantastic fantasy series for young readers. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in Dragon Knight by Dan Willis, which will focus on Davyn.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.