Dragon Spell

(DragonLance: The New Adventures - Volume 8)

(Dragon Quartet - 4 of 4)

by
Jeff Sampson

Mirror Stone, July 2005, 239 pp.
ISBN: 0-7869-3744-0

Genre: Young Reader
Subgenre: Fantasy

World: DragonLance
Reviewed: 7/23/2005

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Read Part of the Book

The companions walked single file through the underbrush.

Catriona was in the lead and Mudd taking up the rear. The woods were dark under the foliage. Rain dripped from the leaves and landed with tiny plops in puddles between the logs and weeds.

A small orange frog croaked from the center of a leaf where water had pooled, and Sindri couldn't help but watch it in wonder. So engrossed by this sight, he didn't notice that Catriona had stopped until it was too late. He bumped into her legs and fell backward into the mud.

"Why did we--" He looked up and saw that Catriona had one hand held high to signal the others to stop. Her other hand reached for one of the dragon claws.

Everyone halted. Slowly reaching for the sword strapped to his back, Mudd looked at Cat out of the corner of his eye. "What is it?"

"There's something out there," she said. In a flash, the other dragon claw was unleashed. Brandishing both fiercely, she stepped forward to peer through the bushes and vines that surrounded them.

No longer distracted, Sindri could hear the movement clearly. Puddles splashed. Tree branches snapped.

Catriona was right. Something large and clumsy was coming closer.

"Cat!" Sindri cried out in excitement. "It's coming from over here, and fast, too!"

Before anyone could react, a figure burst between the trees. It was a human male, that much Sindri could tell. Rain dripped from his straggly brown hair and into his eyes. Bright red scratches covered his arms, and his whole body shook as he gasped for air.

The figure collapsed in the mud at their feet. Catriona stepped forward warily as Sindri reached out a hand to touch the boy's shoulder.

The boy looked up at Sindri's touch. Deep lacerations covered his face, and Sindri heard Jirah gasp. It took a moment for the kender to realize that this mangled face was one that he knew.

Davyn had returned.

Review

At the end of Dragon Knight, Davyn heads off to Asvoria's castle to work for her undercover to prepare for the coming of his friends. This is the last chance they will have to save Nearra. Mudd, Jirah, Rina and Maddoc head out to find Catriona and Sindri. Once they are all together, they head off to Valoria, where Asvoria makes her home. As they are traveling through the forest, a hurt Davyn stumbles upon their camp. Davyn claims that he has escaped from Asvoria, but in truth, al is not as it seems. Meanwhile, Asvoria's plan is to reason with a dragon and have them let her take over their body. All of the dragons she summons laugh at her as they look down upon her. Then she captures Raedon with her trickery and she merges with him and becomes the Daystar Dragon, the most powerful entity on the planet. Now that Asvoria's essence is out of Nearra, Asvoria learns that they are somehow still magically tied together and she cannot go very far away from Nearra without feeling a multitude of pain. When Davyn finally joins his friends, they realize that without magic there is no way they will ever defeat Asvoria. The only problem is that Maddoc still claims not to have any power, and that only leaves Sindri, a kender who claims to be a wizard.

Dragon Spell is the eighth book in DragonLance: The New Adventures series and is written by Jeff Sampson. 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, Jirah - Nearra's 13-year old sister, Mudd - a human, boy from Potter's Mill, and Rina - a female, elf and Elidor's sister.

The seven previous books in the DragonLance: The New Adventures series have been leading up to the conclusion in Dragon Spell by Jeff Sampson. I was quite happy to finally get his book in my hands and was very satisfied with the conclusion of this storyline. Finally, all of the main characters are back together and facing off with Asvoria in the final battle. How can this strange mix of character ever defeat Asvoria in her now, powerful form of the Daystar Dragon? Jeff Sampson weaves a wonderfully magical tale in this conclusion to a story arc that we have all been waiting for. For any fantasy lover, I highly recommend all eight books in this series (Temple of the Dragonslayer, The Dying Kingdom, The Dragon Well, Return of the Sorceress, Dragon Sword, Dragon Day, Dragon Knight, and Dragon Spell). I thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to more young adult books in the DragonLance world. Way to go Wizards of the Coast!

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.