Review: Great read, cool world!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2012
First of all, let me say this was a very fun, absorbing, well-written, nicely paced book!! Ford is one of those characters that we all think we know--the picked-on kid who has super special powers--but Campbell makes Ford far more real and complex than you might expect. The book also has a plot we all think we know--kid with strange powers has to save the world--but again, Campbell introduces unexpected elements and real-world grittiness that make Ford's struggle to find himself even more interesting and poignant. Not to give too much of the story away, but Ford's "parents" have really good reasons to feel weird about him and those reasons are handled well. And Ford has really good reasons to be seriously conflicted about his new identity as a draconic and I felt for him very much!Her re-visioning of dragons was on the whole a very satisfying one for me. I loved that dragons are greedy and self-important and not the least cuddly. And nobody is riding one. This is a major plus. I didn't quite buy her origin story, but she put in enough really cool details that I just let it roll! After all, these are shape-shifting dragons. I really don't care how they ended up as such. The fact that they are and that they are so incredibly bad-ass is sufficient for me! And they are bad! So Ford has some serious choices to make!Great book! Can't wait to see even more from Stephanie Campbell!