Customer Reviews

The Dragon's Lair (Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme (Hardback))

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The Dragon's Lair is the third book of Elizabeth Haydon's new series for young adults, The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. The story opens up with Ven helping Char gather the food that is being dropped-off at The Crossroads Inn when a farmer helps him unload. The farmer turns out to be King Vandemere from the Castle of Elysian in disguise, who warns Ven that the Thief Queen is out to capture him and his friends. Understanding the warning of the King, who advises Ven to take his friends and run beyond the Great River, he agrees with his advice and a plan that he assigns him and is greeted by the King's forester, Tuck, a Lirinved (the in-between) who will guide them and protect them from the Thief Queen and her spies, huge flocks of Ravens that hunt them wherever they go.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of the Nain and Lirin are against each other, threatening to disrupt in war. Even worse, a Dragon by the name of Scarnag is terrorizing the Nain to get back his treasure that was taken from him by the Nain. It is up to Ven to avoid the dragon and find out what exactly was stolen, and to trade with the Lirin/Nain to get something that King Vandemere wants, even if it may cost him the throne!
When Ven heads back to Kingston with Tuck, he sets-out to get Amariel to come along with him, the Merrow that saved him from the Fire Pirates. He is also greeted by Madam Sharra, who gives him one of the cards of her deck that is tucked-away in Black Ivory, a dragon scale from the Primeval Wyrm spoken of in The Symphony of Ages series and the first book of the War of the Known World trilogy (Requiem for the Sun/The Assassin King).
This is a nice treat for any of the legions of fans for the Symphony of Ages, which is a World Wide Bestseller series, but is also a nice introduction and "sugar-coated flavor," for any one younger who are just experiencing Elizabeth Haydon's enchanting world for the first time. I highly recommend this book to anyone, young or old, who enjoy a good story, or who enjoyed J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series or J.R.R.Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I acclaim Haydon as the best fantasy author of this age, don't let her books slip you by! And if you read some of Haydon's Lost Journals, than try her Symphony's on for size if you haven't already! Elizabeth Haydon is right up there with the best fantasy authors known to date!

I loved the first two, but this one is even better!

I have been a fan of EH since I read the Symphony of the Ages books, and thought I would try 'The Floating Island' on a whim to read to my 9 year old. We did and he loved it and so did I. Ven's struggles with events, with his friends, and with his enemies make for great dinner table (or School Room) discussions. She even has suggested topics for discussion in the back of all three.

These are fun, fast moving books. They can be read individually, but it is wonderful to read together - many events are inter-related and build on each other. Fun to read aloud and very entertaining.

One of the greatest YA and adult fantasy writers out there today is Elizabeth Haydon. I fell in love with her Symphony of Ages series years ago, mostly because of the beautiful crispness of her writing and the amazing characters she portrays, with humor showing up in many unexpected places. I found these books last year and have read them with my kids. They are now a favorite family discussion.

This most recent book is a jewel, although I don't think I will ever be as fond of a book as I am of The Floating Island. In thise book we begin to see that each of these tales is like a piece of the puzzle that King Vandermeer uses to help him figure out the ways of the world. While every book's story is self contained, when strugn together they seem to be forming another tale, a riddle within a riddle. We can't wait to see what this turns out to be.

This, by the way, contains my favorite dragon character ever. I used to wonder why there were dragons on the covers of the first two books, but none in the stories. Now I get it. Highly recommended

The Dragon's Lair (2008) is the third Fantasy novel in the Ven Polypheme series, following The Thief Queen's Daughter. In the previous volume, Ven and his friends escaped the Thief Queen and the Raven Guild by climbing down into a well. There the Rat King showed them an underground world and then a way out.

Ven and friends returned to the Crossroads Inn and were welcomed by Mrs. Snodgrass with food and chores. Then Ven reported to the High King and finally understood the tale of the light amidst the dark. He also found that he had grown another hair in this beard.

In this novel, Ven Polypheme is a Nain, a short person with hairy feet. His family has been living on the surface for three generations, but every other Nain lives underground. All Nain grow slowly and live much longer than humans.

Vandemere is a human and is the High King of Serendair. Naturally, he is not the only king on the island. Other species have their own kings. He has appointed Ven as his herald to continue the explorations that he had to forgo when he became king.

Char is a young human and Ven's best friend. He was a cook's mate on the Serelinda -- where he got his name -- but now he lives in the Hare Warren at the Crossroads Inn with Ven.

Clemency is a young human, a curate-in-training, and the Steward of Mouse Lodge. Clem has the ability to communicate with the Spice Folk -- who are very small invisible flying sprites -- and is the assistant pastor to these creatures.

Saeli is a Gwadd, a very small humanoid who talks with animals and has mystic powers over plants. She lives in the Mouse Lodge with Clem.

Ida is the Thief Queen's daughter. She resides in the Mouse Lodge when she is not in jail for theft. She is a very annoying person, but has done many favors for Ven.

Tuck is a Lirin and the King's chief forester. He was responsible for planting the topiary hedges on the castle grounds.

Amariel is a merrow, who saved Ven from the shipwreck. She followed him to Serendair and they talk from time to time.

In this story, the High King comes to visit the Crossroad Inn to tell Ven and his friends to leave very soon. The Thief Queen is trying to break out of the Gated City to find them. Moreover, the High King also has an errand for Ven.

Ven goes to town with Tuck to talk Amariel into changing into her land form and coming with them. She removes her lacy red cap and hands it to Ven. Then she begins to change.

Then they walk back to town and look for Tuck. Ven is distracted by Madame Sharra and Amariel wanders off. Madame Sharra gives Ven an oval stone to take with him and then he learns that Amariel is gone.

Van finally finds Amariel and takes her to the wagon. As Tuck drives out of town, the scale explodes with color from the rising sun. Tuck looks at the stone and says that it is Black Ivory. Then Ven examines it and discovers a dragon scale contained within.

On the way to the Crossroads Inn, Amariel asks questions about things that she sees on the way. She had been born in the sea and had never before been on the land, so everything is new and different.

At the Inn, Char is outside waiting for Ven to return. Ven introduces him to Amariel, but he doesn't tell Char that she is a merrow. He does the same for Saeli, Ida, and Clem. That secret is not his to divulge, but it causes many problems with his friends.

As they are leaving the Inn, twenty raven appear and start attacking Ven and his friends. They grab Saeli and try to carry her away, but Ven and Clem catch her hands. Another slashes Char across the head.

Tuck shoots most of them with his crossbow, but one raven gets away. The albatross chases it and herds it back to the wagon. Tuck shoots it and then they flee eastward toward the Great River.

This tale takes Ven and his friends across into strange territory, where they meet new and unusual people. Ven even finds other Nain and ventures into their caverns. Then they find the dragon.

This story leads them into more adventures. The next volume in this series is Tree of Water. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Haydon fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, fantastic creatures, and strained friendship. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Floating Island.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Once again this series hits a homerun with my son. Very rarely am I able to get my 15 year old to read, but when this pre ordered book finally came he read it in 2 days flat. Believe me when I say your boy will love this book and this series. Wonderfully captivating for imaginations of all ages.

I truly loved this series, it is well written. The characters are well developed, you really get to know them and feel for them through story. Ven and his gangs journey together is fun and exciting. They get into quite a predicament as they try to solve the mysteries the King sends them on. It gets very intense ,couldn't stop reading. Haydon's story telling is wonderful ,I can't wait to read the next.

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Haydon since her first publication of the Rhapsody series and jumped on the young adult book when my daughter was 7 and son 5. This is the third book in the Ven Polypheme series and is wonderful! My children love all of the characters even after 2 years and still beg me to read these to them as often as they trade them back and forth across the hall! Also, these are AR books for those who have students in those programs. Haydon also provides thought provoking questions at the end of all 3 novels and questions on comprehension. I know that there is a website with a curriculum for the first novel The Floating Island that we have exhausted endlessly. WONDERFUL and we are looking forward to the next installment Tree of Water.

The book had a wonderful storyline and Elizabeth Hayden, once again, out did herself. The only thing I felt the book was lacking was more action. I also felt like the book didn't go into depth as much about the characters like the other books did.
The best thing about this book is the ending. It sets the next book up so well, I can hardly wait to read it.
Defiantly a good book. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a book to read on a rainy day.
Happy Reading!