Customer Reviews

The Dragon's Eye (Erec Rex)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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

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.

This book was fun and exciting up until the end. Instead of leaving me breathless with anticipation for the next book; it left me befuddled with a great big, "HUH?" The book was so well paced until the end and then we jumped from the party, to home, to the past...boom, boom, boom...too many scenes, too little information.

I found myself leafing back through the pages to see if any had stuck together and I had missed something important. No luck.

My 12 year old is reading it next. Maybe he can explain it to me.

Welcome to the world, Erec Rex. Your readers have long awaited you.

Now for the lowdown on Erec Rex: he's about 13 years old; he has a glass eye, a menagerie of adopted brothers and sisters, and a mother who's on the run for some strange reason.

When Erec's mother goes missing, it's up to him to find her. And find her he does--thanks to Bethany, the girl who witnessed Erec's mom being kidnapped. The big problem--Erec can't get to his mom when he does find her; she's locked in King Pluto's dungeon in Aorth, and Erec has ended up IN ALPIUM. Okay, so you're wondering where Alpium is. It's hidden somewhere beyond the Statue of Liberty.

Once in Alpium, Erec and Bethany find out they are real LOSERS, but these Losers end up in a contest that will decide the next three rulers--one each--for Aorth, Alpium, and Acaena; these are all kingdoms we regular Losers from Upper Earth generally don't know about.

Once in the contest, Bethany and Erec are in it to win. Yet the competitions are often rigged. And Erec still has to figure out how to get his mom out of prison . . . and why she was put there in the first place. And, Erec's mom has told him he was born in Alpium. What the hey? It's yet another mystery for this long-lost Rex to solve.

While Erec faces all these obstacles, he must also help the present ruler of Alpium, King Piter, out of a mysterious funk. All the while, evil maligns against the good of the three kingdoms. But who are the culprits of this evil? And what exactly are these baddies up to? Erec's on a mission to find out!

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye is a fun, fascinating book that makes you want to chill out for a while and just read. Plus, this book's brave new world is chock full of nifty magical gadgets; cute, dorky, and even scary magical critters (fluffy pink kitten, anyone?); and spellbinding people who are mean, magical, or possibly dimwits. These lively creations found a platform all their own. In other words, the Harry Potter books may have inspired Kaza Kingsley in writing The Dragon's Eye, but this book bloody well stands on its own!

Strangely enough, the beginning of The Dragon's Eye was its ending. "What? Come again," you say. It's last chapter (the epilogue) serves as a bit of backstory rather than end-of-story and gathers interest like no other ending I've yet read. How horrid, how ingenious, and how dare you, Ms. Kingsley! I hate waiting for sequels!

So, you're probably wondering what's up with "The Dragon's Eye" part of the title. Right? Well, don't expect me to spill that detail. You'll have to read the book to find out.

At first, I thought this book was a little too much like Harry Potter but the author creates a complex reality and mythology that captured my imagination. It whetted my appetite for the sequel as it left many unanswered questions to ponder. This is just the book I needed to relax and get away from the everyday cares. I will definitely read the next installment!

I don't read fantasy books, however something made read this. From the frist chapter through the last, the book pulls you in deeper and deeper. I had a very hard time putting it down. It is full of suspence and surprises. The ending is great and not what you would expect at all, even if you cheat and read the chapter titles.
If you like fantasy at all, buy this book. Just be careful when you start reading, if you didn't have the time to finish it, you will refocus your priorities and finish the book. You can always skip work or dinner.

My 10 year old daughter loves to read all kinds of book, especially fantasy books. I bought this book or her and she didn't think she would like it, but she devoured it and is looking for Book Two.

"Erec Rex" is an amazing new book by Kaza Kingsley that was such a fast read, I could barely put it down! With hypnotizing contests, magic, suspense, and a whole lot more, the story made for one of the greatest books ever! I liked it more than "Harry Potter." -- CEJ, Chapel Hill, NC

I don't have a problem with Potter-like books, because while Potter was wonderfully well-written it didn't exactly create the magical-orphan-finds-himself-and-battles-evil story line. I guess the real question is whether something is novel but "Potter-like" or is just a bald knock-off.

Here, we have a book with a slew of unique and creative touches, a hero with a different back story, and a more cheerfully adventurous feel. Most importantly, the book is clearly targeted to a younger group of readers. It sets up fast and reads fast. Chapter and episode length is manageable. There are occasional scenes that serve to summarize important earlier action and information. It is, in a sense, reader/user friendly, without ever being simplistic or silly. It does, after all, tell a good story.

All of that is to the good for a younger reader, and I can't come up with a much better book suggestion for an introduction to this particular branch of young fiction.