Author: C.J. Hill
Enjoyment Rating: 7/10
Referral: Whitney Finalist
Source: Library Copy
Books I've read this year: 27
What if dragons really exist? What if pregnant women who come into close proximity to dragon eggs eventually bear children who grow up to become dragon slayers? C.J. Hill explores these questions in her book Slayers, where the dragon slayers, now sixteen and seventeen, gather together at summer camp so they can channel their inner powers and learn to whop some dragon booty.
I'll admit to being skeptical about Slayers. It's not a genre I typically enjoy, it's a book about dragon fighting, and the cover reminded me a lot of that open-mouthed shark that scares the crap out of my kids at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point (random, I know, but Maren kept making me hide the cover under other books). When I sat down yesterday, I figured that this would be a book to be endured, not enjoyed. But it surprised me. The writing is tight-- probably the best writing I've come across in the Whitneys this year (whoever this C.J. Hill is-- it's a pseudonym, knows how to move a plot along and which details are relevant to a story). Even though the book is almost 400 pages long, I read it in less than a day and thoroughly enjoyed it.
That said, I'm not sure it's a book my kids would love, but I think that has more to do with my particular kids than with kids in general. I do think that young teenagers would really enjoy it. It is the first book in a series, but I'm not sure how many books are planned for the series-- it's probably the first of a trilogy, if I had to wager a guess.
1 comment:
CJ Hill is Janette Rallison who is competing against herself in this category with My Unfair Godmother. So you can look forward to that one, too. It's silly and fun, but again, tight.
Post a Comment