Customer Reviews

Red Dragon Codex (Deckle Edge) (The Dragon Codices)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love dragons, so picking up this book was a no-brainer--even though I'm a long way out of the "target age group" (never mind how far). Like all the great quest stories, this book has great characters, mysteries, dangers, and unexpected heroes. Though a super-fast read for me, I was never bored. In fact, as it progressed, I didn't want to put it down. Like with Harry Potter, it doesn't matter what age you are--you will love this book!

I recommend this book to 9+. I noticed some rebellion in the book so it may not be best for children who have problems obeying their parents already. There is magic, dragons, and trickery in this book. What I liked best about the book was how the charectors seem to come alive in your imagination and The way the book's adventure twists and turns.

Red Dragon Codex is a great fantasy story that includes not just dragons, but all kinds of magical creatures. The best part is that it is written specifically for middle grade readers. Girls and boys alike will love that the plot moves along quickly, and the story is full of action, thought and bravery. I grew to love Mudd, Hiera, Kirak, Greenthumb, and Iroden. I highly recommend this book.

Red Dragon Codex follows the adventures of Mudd, his sister Hiera, and Drakecutter as they track down Redclaw the Destroyer, each for their own reasons. Mudd must rescue the village seeress who has been kidnapped by the dragon and her dragonman, Kirak. Drakecutter seeks revenge for his dwarf village, ravaged by the dragon in an unprovoked attack. Hiera follows to keep Mudd safe from his own vision of heroism. Each of them learns to trust and help each other, each learns that together they are stronger than alone. Kirak's story kept me intrigued the most, but I won't spoil it by doing more than hinting he's not quite what he seems.

Red Dragon Codex is an entertaining story aimed at 8-12 year-old children, but good enough to use as a family read-aloud book. I've got the Brass Dragon Codex on my shelf, also written by Rebecca Shelley, that I'm looking forward to sharing with my children along with this one.

Much like the other Dragon Codeces - this book is geared toward the middle school reader, that's not to say that an adult cannot enjoy this. I was completely entertained by this book from beginning to end while pre-reading it before handing it off to my son. Unlike the other two books in this series that I have read and reviewed - the Dragon in this book is an evil dragon (not that the good dragons aren't represented, it just appears in a bit part).

The themes in this book are good for the age groups and this book though told from the viewpoint of the young boy Mudd - should appeal to both boys and girls as his younger sister joins him in the quest and turns out to be a bit tougher then many of the men they come across. The themes that run through the book include the value of friendship, knowing that bad people will tell you what you want to hear to get what they want from you, that doing good will bring you the greatest rewards, and that working together is the way to solve the tougher problems in life.

Each of the characters in the book has their own personal issues to graple with, but as they work together as a team to defeat the Red Dragon that has terrorized their homes, they come to realize what has true value in their lives and who they really are.

Short summary - a red dragon attacks several area towns and kidnaps a little old woman who is the town "seer." The young boy Mudd goes after the dragon to save the old woman who had always been so kind to him. Several others join him on his quest to round out the group.

For those of you familiar with the D&D world - this takes place after the dragon wars (as all of the codex books appear to) and includes a thief, ranger, cleric, dwarf and a fighter - but one of them is not what they seem.

I recommend this book for middleschoolers who are interested in fantasy and dragons but who are not quite ready for the sometimes "lusty" fantasy books that populate the adult shelves.

R. D. Henham (aka Rebecca Shelley) has added an excellent book to the fantasy genre. Its fast pace and many twists ensures that kids hang on every word. In a world where many kids' books seem to be migrating to the "edgy," it is refreshing to have an exciting adventure sans the slime.

A delightful book that I believe will be fun for the middle-school age child, but also a joy to parents who love to read to kids of all ages. With a style that "tastes" of Judy Blume, which is unusual for the normal fantasy story, it's witty, cute, full of adventure and action without getting too "gross" for younger children, and doesn't leave out anything that most readers expect of a sword-and-sorcery story. Beautiful cover, reads fast, and several unexpected surprises right to the end.

Red Dragon Codex is a solid young reader fantasy story that begins a planned series of Dragon Codices (designated by color/metal) set in the Dragonlance world. The story mostly follows the traditional structure and elements: young character (Mudd) starts out on a quest, allies are picked up along the way, various crises ensue, the quest is resolved. The story strays here and there from the usual--one of the best fighters in the group is Mudd's little sister and his dismay at this gets played up for some humor--but not too often.
It's aimed at middle/young readers and is written accordingly.. Violence is present but mostly removed--when a dragon eats someone, for instance, you can be assured it won't be anyone we've met, it'll happen in a flash of a single sentence, and it won't be mentioned again. And when characters are wounded, a simple healing spell takes care of the issue. The pace is fast-moving, not a lot of time is spent on setting, society, etc, but sometimes the pace is forced along too quickly, in too contrived a fashion, such as having a character "accidentally" dislodge a vital book or by having the quest's puzzles worked out far too easily, almost instantaneously, with no chance for the readers themselves to think about the solutions even for a second or two. The characters are mostly a bit flat, with the exception of Mudd's sister who livens things up nicely. One sort of disconnect for a book written for relatively new readers is that because it's set in the Dragonlance universe, there are lots of references to past events involving Mudd or other characters in Dragonlance books. These can be a bit bewildering, though they are only side references and don't hinder following Red Dragon's plot at all.
Young readers, say later elementary school age, will enjoy the story and its fast pace, but the ease of solving the quest's mysteries and the overall flatness of the characters probably mean they won't remember much about the book after they finish it. Older young readers, middle schoolers, will probably find the story a bit too predictable, the solutions a bit too simple, and the danger not dangerous enough and thus want to turn elsewhere.

Magic in the Mirrorstone is an anthology of YA short fiction. As with nearly any collection, there is some unevenness here. A few (a very few) of the pieces feel like knock-off stories, written to fulfill an obligation--short, predictable tales that are quickly forgettable. Unfortunately, the first story falls into this category but readers shouldn't be put off by the weak introduction. For the most part the other stories are much stronger and if none of theme are particularly striking, they more than make up for the few weak entries, resulting in an overall successful collection.
The combination of the short form and the target audience of YA means that there isn't a lot of descriptive detail, world building, complex plots, or lengthy character development. But several of the authors work quite well within these constraints, creating strong characters (the young girl in "Out of Her Element") or a sense of otherworldliness ("Pig, Crane, Fox: Three Hearts Unfolding") despite them.
Perhaps the most consistently strong aspect of the collection is its tone. Many of the narrative voices are distinctive and enjoyable to spend even this short amount of time with. And there is an unexpectedly darker tone to most of these stories than one might have expected, though one whose darkness is perfectly suited to the target audience, from a story dealing with a ring that shows people the wearer cares about but only when they're doing something painful to observe to a Lovecraftian story of high school vengeance to a highly moral but sad story involving a sick girl and a fire salamander.
In the end, if none of the stories in Mirror are homeruns, there are more than enough singles and doubles, and maybe a triple or two, to make up for the few swings and misses.

My son has recently gotten into Dungeons and Dragons in a big way and wants to read all the books. The problem is that many of the books are a bit too 'adult' for him. I love the young reader books that the company is now putting out.