The Dragon's Eye (Erec Rex) [Hardcover]

Kaza Kingsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2006 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Erec Rex (Book 1)

Enter Alypium, a hidden world within our own where our old knowledge of magic is kept and strange and fantastical creatures abound. It is a beautiful and mystical place, but things are caving in. The king is hypnotized and his castle turned on its side. The very Substance that holds things together has gone awry, and whispers tell of evil plans to destroy everything. Twelve year old Erec Rex has been yanked out of the world as we know it and thrown unwillingly into this mess. As he learns how to get by in this strange world he also discovers some truths about himself ... and must learn the power of trust and love in order to save his mother, and all of Alypium. In this stunning tale packed with action, humor, a colorful cast of characters, and a riveting plot, debut author Kaza Kingsley brings us into a world of danger and excitement. For Erec, it is a world that is eerily familiar and inevitably intertwined with his future. To the reader, it is a fantastic escape that shall be taken again and again.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is an action packed fantasy filled with rich characters kids will really relate to. Erec Rex is poised to take over Harry Potter's long reign. --Maria Schneider, Senior Editor, Writers Digest Magazine

Dragon's Eye is a fantastic tale of a boy who gets caught up in a world he never knew existed and finds out he is part of something much bigger than he knew. It is a magical story filled with suspense, intensity, heart and courage. I loved this book . . . and I'll be waiting for a sequel. --Devon Werkheiser, Actor starring as Ned in Nickelodeon's daily sitcom, "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide."

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye is a terrific book to encourage children to read. They will love the element of fantasy and suspense, and teachers will appreciate the complexity of logic and problem solving and the inspiration for creativity within the story. This book will be added to my recommended book list. --Barbara Hilb, Middle School Gifted Intervention Specialist

About the Author

Kaza Kingsley is a writer, artist and singer who loves travel and adventure, especially in dangerous and mystical realms. Kaza is also a movie buff and loves to read on those rare occasions that she has the time. When she is not off exploring, she can be found in Cincinnati with her loving family . . . although she may be dreaming of the stars.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 345 pages
• Publisher: Firelight Press, Inc.; 1 edition (October 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978655567
• ISBN-13: 978-0978655563
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly Creative, November 5, 2007

By 

Daanon P. Decock "Reading Young" (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dragon's Eye (Erec Rex) (Hardcover)

I read a lot of young adult fantasy. My wife is an elementary school librarian and I run a book group for grown-ups that read kids' lit. I saw the Erec Rex books on the shelf at a book store recently and was instantly drawn in by Melvin Grant's beautiful covers and was surprised I had never heard of the series before considering how closely I follow the genre. My first thought was there must be a reason that I've never heard of Erec Rex before, that perhaps it was just a cheap Harry Potter knock off and sure the are correlations, but Erec Rex definitely has his own story and it's wonderful and exciting.

What's familiar? Erec is 12 years old and has been hidden away from the world of magic and his true place in the world. Upon entering the world of magic he quickly finds himself in a tournament that is supposed to give every young person in the Kingdom of Keepers the chance to become one of the next kings, the kingdom has three rulers; King Piter, Queen Posey, and King Pluto. King Piter's triplets were the rightful heirs to the throne, but they and their mother died at age three. Ten years have passed since then, King Piter has fallen ill and is slowly slipping away , and after almost 500 years of ruling Posey and Pluto are ready to pass on their magical scepters and let somebody else rule. The tournament will definitely draw some comparisons to the Triwizard Tournament from Goblet of Fire, especially considering one of the challenges is underwater. Erec has Bethany the ultra smart math whiz as a sidekick and is competing against Balor Stain who's father is a famous magician, who could be compared to Hermione and Draco Mafloy. It may sound like a lot, but it's not. Erec's life in Upper Earth may be hard because his family is poor and has to move a lot , but he has an adoptive mother and family that love him. Bethany is on the run from her oppressive uncle Earl and is just as new to the world of magic as Erec is.

Erec's adoptive mother has been kidnapped and is being held in the Kingdom of Keepers and Erec is only there to find a way to rescue her and bring her home. He's in the tournament because contestants get to stay in the castle with free room and board during the competition and it allows him a place to stay while he searches for his mother. Though he soon learns he has a stronger connection to the magical world than he ever would have guessed and the same dark force that is threatening this new world is also present in Upper Earth and has likely been illegally using magic for personal gain and power in our world.

Though the plot stands alone on its own merits, what really sets Kaza's writing aside is her amazing imagination and her brilliantly creative details. You keep thinking to yourself, how does she think of these things, and that's so cool. It's little details such as when Erec and Bethany search out the castle laundry and a surprised when all the washing machines start jumping up and down and coming towards them when they enter the room like a pack of eager puppies or ducks at the pond clamoring for the stale bread you're tossing out, Erec figures out their snapping their lids open and closed because their hungry for laundry. It's these little touches that make this new world colorful, vibrant, and interesting. Each person has an inherent ability, such as the girl who lives in the infirmary because her ability is that she comes down with whatever ill or ailment that somebody else will get, but only 24 hours earlier.

The books are definitely written for younger audiences and contain a great deal of foreshadowing that may make them feel a little too predictable for older audiences, but the characters are all so wonderfully written that even knowing how much it will turn out, it's still such great fun watching how they handle the situations and interact with each other. The fun is in the journey and it's a journey filled with such a hefty dose of adventure and excitement you don't want to put it down. I was afraid that book one was a fluke and Kaza couldn't possibly follow it up, but the sequel may be even better, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next six installments of the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good (not amazing) beginning., December 4, 2010

By 

Rajesh Motie "Xanatos Planned This Signature" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dragon's Eye (Erec Rex) (Paperback)

In Kaza Kingsley's debut novel, twelve-year-old Erec Rex has lived a weird and uneasy life for a while now. He only has one eye (the other is glass), his foster mom can barely support all her adopted kids, they've moved into an incredibly small apartment, and while the strange, life-like objects the kids grew up with (like the pesky alarm clock or the dancing coat rack) are endearing, they can also be very irritating. Even worse, Erec constantly experiences what he calls "cloudy thoughts". These are thoughts that suddenly take over his mind and force him to play out certain actions. One morning, Erec's mom is missing, and he gets a cloudy thought ordering him to go find her. He sets out, and he eventually stumbles into Alypium, a hidden kingdom where magic is used. Here there are contests being held to decide new rulers. Anyone who enters gets free food and a place to stay at the Castle Alypium. When Erec finds out that his mom is in Alypium, he immediately joins the contests, and from there, he's going to have to rescue her.

When Erec starts discovering a whole new world of magic, I was awed. I enjoyed the world Kaza Kingsley has created. In this world, anyone can use magic; magic is essential to life and flows through everywhere in channels, and it is often combined with technology. The sense of discovery while reading Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye is one of its key strengths. It's fun to wonder what'll be around the next corner. It's the kind of world you'd want to see for yourself, one that I can't wait to learn more about in future books.

Still, there are a bunch of problems that could get worse as this series progresses. First, the way mythology is used. There's Greek mythology, but that's not the main focus, actually, nothing is. I guess all myths are true...or some parts of some myths are true...what's this fictional world going for again? As the series progresses, more and more myths could be added to the mix, and then in the end, it'll be one big mess. I'd prefer if Kaza just stuck with the things she made up herself (ginglehoffers FTW!). Second: Magic doesn't appear to have any structure/rules, anything can happen. It's just magic. There are things you have to suspend your disbelief for, like magic powder that grants wishes, a guy with the magic gift to grant his own wishes, orbs that answer any yes or no question, and a girl who has the magic curse to contract any sickness someone around her will get twenty-four hours before they get it. Just like with the mythology, this sort of boundless magic could make everything get really muddled, and eventually the reader won't be able to trust Kaza because they know she can just make up some crazy new thing as a plot device.

The reader may be awed, but apparently, not Erec Rex himself. Seriously, no matter what this guy encounters, he's amazingly passive. I myself would have been ecstatic with wonder and excitement. I would hardly be able to wait to learn everything there is to know about this grand new world. I'd want to do magic, I'd want to travel, and I'd want to reveal everything to all the people who are missing out. But not Erec, he's relatively indifferent. Actually, Erec is a really bland protagonist. I mean hey, his back-story is intriguing enough, I sure do want to know more about his shady past. But he himself at present? He's not at all engaging. This is exploited by the contests, since Erec has no defining traits he could use to come out victorious, he usually wins by the help of his friends or dumb luck. Worse, his emotions are usually told instead of shown. I just couldn't really buy into the surprise, betrayal, or disbelief he was supposed to feel at various points.

The supporting cast contained various characters, among them a character I loved who happened to be non-Human, some friendly, charming, strict, and mean adults, dull bullies, and some friends. Early on in The Dragon's Eye, Erec meets a girl who is really quirky, lively, and fun, but eventually these characteristics disappear and she becomes very plain. She is Erec's closest ally, so I would've liked her to be funny all throughout. Erec makes two other friends, one of which was kind of funny. Bullies sometimes came along to mess around with the protagonists, they were your average uninspired meanies. One member of the cast turned out to be a traitor, this wasn't entirely fleshed out and we're not totally sure about their reasons, but that's the least of my concerns; I can wait until book two. What did bother me was that there was no emotional impact on Erec. The relationship between the character and Erec isn't built up enough, and when the final reveal comes, Erec has very little reaction.

The narration is mostly good and occasionally charming, however sometimes there just wasn't enough detail. This made some sections kind of hard to understand, or they felt a little unfinished. Sometimes it can be hard to envision what's being described, and some parts feel downright sloppy (the end of the chapter "Really, Really You" comes to mind). It's a good thing we have Melvyn Grant's illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. They were awesome and they created a distinct atmosphere. I kind of didn't like the way Grant draws Erec in-book (spiky-haired) compared to how he draws him on the cover.

This book does indeed have a big bad, though their actions and motives are sort of contrived. To explain this, I'd be giving away some major plot points. Beware.

SPOILER ZONE BEGINS

Thanatos Argus Baskania needs a dragon's eye, but magic doesn't work on dragons, so he can't just rip one out by force, and he can't trick a dragon into handing one of their eyes over, because they know who he is. In the past, Erec's dad (whoever that is) rescued a dragon from certain death, and when he wouldn't accept treasure as payment, the dragon gave him one of their eyes. Erec's dad took the dragon eye and had one of baby Erec's eyes taken out, having the two eyes combined as a gift that Erec was to put in his empty socket on his fourteenth birthday. In the book, Erec gets the eye before he's supposed to and finds out that Baskania has been after it for a long time. This is pretty unrealistic to me. Just because magic doesn't work on dragons doesn't mean Baskania couldn't use magic to cause an EVENT where a dragon gets injured and is vulnerable to anyone who wants their body parts. Then Baskania could send one of his minions to save the dragon, and the minion would ask for one of their eyes. The minion would just hand the eye over to Baskania. Why can't that be done?

SPOILER ZONE ENDS

I like the world, and I can't wait to read more. It's not like there aren't any problems with Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye, but when it gets it right, it's pretty entertaining.

7 out of 9

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Erec Rex: Excellent, August 5, 2007

By 

Du Weldenvarden (MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye (Erec Rex) (Paperback)

I picked Erc Rex up at Barnes and Noble for no real particular reason. I started reading it after I had finished the last Harry Potter book. Though it took me about three chapters to get into the book, after I did it really flowed. Ms. Kingsley is quite talented and imaginative. I had never heard of someone using remote controls for magic in place of say a wand. When you look at her world she created as a whole it makes a person smile, in her world anyone can use / learn magic. Even though its fantasy its nice to think of such a place.

Erec is a boy of 12, and he has 5 siblings. The family is quite poor and has to move around. The day Erec's mother goes missing is the day his life changes and his adventure starts. I look forward to reading the 2nd installment in Erec's adventures this fall.