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Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke

In the present day magical creatures, referred to as “fabulous animals”, must hide away in order to avoid detection and subsequent extermination by humans. In a valley the last of the world’s dragons live, but their way of life is about to changed. One day news comes that the humans are planning to divert a river and build a dam, these plans will flood the current home of the dragons and force them to seek living arrangements elsewhere. In a world heavily populated by humans there seems no place for the dragons to go, except for the Rim of Heaven.

The Rim of Heaven, a mythical place to the dragons, believed to be located in the highest peaks of the world and complete inaccessible to humans. It seems the ideal place for them to go except that no one believes in this place anymore. No one but the oldest dragon, whose memory sometimes fails him, and a young dragon named Firedrake. With a few warnings and vague directions Firedrake, Sorrel the brownie girl, and a human named Ben set off on a course fraught with peril, adventure, and even a prophecy. Children will thrill at this tale and fantasy fans will smile while reading this delightful story.

This book is clearly geared towards a young audience despite it’s significant length (523 pages including illustrations) and it shows at some of the most inopportune times. There are certain catch phrases that get repeated over and over that become redundant and bothersome. I suppose children might find this cute or helpful but I believe it does detract a bit from the tale. Really, I doubt even the youngest of readers (or listeners) needs to hear “…in the language of fabulous animals, the language that everyone can understand” two or more times per chapter. I understood just fine the first five times that was said that anything any of the “fabulous animals” said in their language could be understood by all. I’m sure the majority of the readers did too. Little things like that detracted from the tale as it made the reader want to roll their eyes and flip to the next page.

Another thing I found odd is that the story is called Dragon Rider, yet despite the tale of the dragon rider and the fact that Sorrel and Ben are riding Firedrake, there really is no need for the title be such. In fact I found the title to be very misleading. It isn’t until more than halfway through the book does Ben begin to be addressed as a Dragon Rider and then it’s by other humans and not the fabulous animals them selves. As Sorrel the brownie so aptly says on page 319 “I’m a dragon rider too, you know! I’ve been a dragon rider ever since I can remember. But no one’s making a big fuss about me.” Indeed if it hadn’t have been for the fact that the book is called Dragon Rider I would have otherwise felt that the prophecy and addressing of Ben as a dragon rider was a bit left field. Indeed despite his assistance to the voyage Ben seems to have more of an impact and influence on Twigleg the homunculous rather than Firedrake himself.

In all honesty there isn’t much in interaction between Ben and Firedrake besides idle chitchat here and there. Ben has more interaction with Sorrel the brownie and Twigleg. Perhaps a more apt title would have be “Dragon Chariot”? Since for all the attention and characterization that is given to Firedrake he might as well be no more than a mode of transportation and a weapon. Sadly after finishing this story I could not describe to you the personality or thought process of Firedrake, a main character, of the story. Firedrake spends most of his time flying while Sorrel and Ben talk, sleeping, “gazing thoughtfully”, or occasionally admonishing Sorrel for her behavior. Very disapointing.

Over all I think young children will be able to enjoy and marvel at this tale while older readers might find it a bit more droll than your average fantasy read. Poor characterization of the main characters and significant development on their bonds leaves readers with a lot of loose ends they have to tie together themselves. While the story does have it’s high points, and the large cast of fantasy creatures will amaze and delight readers, the flaws previously mentioned will detract enough to keep readers from considering this as anything more than fun (but disposable) read. Dragon fans will no doubt be sadly disappointed.

Joana’s rating: