Customer Reviews

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Sixteen-year-old Alexander Cold, and his partner in adventure, Nadia Santos, are back, only this time their journey takes them someplace a lot colder, and much less wet. The two of them are traveling to the frosty peaks of the Himalayas. Using their acquired power from the totemic animal spirits, the Jaguar and the Eagle, the two of them are forced to not only locate, but to also fight to protect the kigdom's sacred treasure, the Golden Dragon, before it is too late, and it is destroyed by a greedy, power hungry individual, who is an outsider to the Himalayas, and a threat to everyone occupying the frosty peaks.

After reading CITY OF THE BEASTS, I had doubt in my mind that Allende would be able to caupture the essence of another adventure featuring Alexander and Nadia. However, I will admit, I was very wrong. KINGDOM OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON was an amazing book, filled with mystery, mayhem, and adventure, that will have readers clinging to their seats in anticipation of what is to come next, and unable to put this gripping novel down at all. Fans of Allende's previous book in the series, CITY OF THE BEASTS, will find that KINGDOM OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON is an enchanting thrill ride. I'm only sorry to see it end, and I hope to be able to read more about Alexander and Nadia's adventures in the future. Great work, Ms. Allende!

Erika Sorocco

This Book was great. It was a book a I never expected to read but I did and it was amazing. I always wanted to keep reading it when ever I could and it was so nerve racking to wait for the next part. I thought that it was great in every way you could possibly think of. The part that was my favorite was when the yetis and Tensing attack the Blue Warriors and defeat them. I highly reccomend this to anyone one 6th grade and up.

When I picked up the first part of this trilogy, City of the Beasts, I didn't know what to expect, but was soon enchanted by the spiritual ideas that presented in an easy-to-read novel. The second part, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, continues to take the reader on a spiritual journey into different cultures, and different ways of thinking. In an age where most people are obsessed by material wealth and technological advances, it is nice to see a novel for young readers that puts this western thinking into contrast with tribal (in City of the Beasts) and spiritual (Buddhism in Kingdom of the Golden Dragon).

Like in the first book, the main characters are Alexander, a youth from California, and Nadia, a young girl Alexander met on his first adventure in the Amazon. Together, with Alex's grandmother Kate, who writes for the International Geographic, they venture to the Forbidden Kingdom. Nestled in the himalayas, this kingdom is cut of from civilization as we know it, and is run by a wise buddhist ruler. Legend says that it is home of the Golden Dragon, a statue said to be able to tell the future.

Meanwhile, the second richest man of the US, a computer genius, hires "The Specialist" to steal exactly this dragon, hoping to become the richest man in the States. During a ceremony for the king, 6 girls, among them Nadia, are kidnapped. Alexander, who has a hunch that it may be connected with the Golden Dragon, ventures out to find the girls.

What unfolds is an adventurous battle between the two young heros with the king's son and master as well as an army of yetis, against the sect of the scorpion and "the Specialist."

The book is a beautiful introduction into buddhism as well a shamanism (the two heros are able to separate their spirit from their body and turn into their totemic animals). The only complaint I have is that the main villain was too easily to identify, especially after reading City of the Beasts. Instead of spinning a new plot of the mastermind, Allende basically re-used the villain of the first part.

This book is pretty good, but not as good as its presequel, City of the Beasts. It has just as much magic, possibly more action, but it isn't as focused, and has too many points of view and different stories.

The book Kingdom of the Golden Dragon is a fasinating book about greed and the values of some cultures. Kate Cold along with Alexander Cold and his friend Nadia go on a crazy adventure to recover a kingdom's lost, stolen, golden dragon. This dragon represents a country's history and way of life. The dragon is thought to have special furture seeing powers and a wealthy man is on a quest to get it and use it to better his worth. The way that Isabel combines fantasy with reality is really amazing. By the end of the book I was questioning whether Yetis could really exist and can people really reach a level of total mental control and have strange mental powers? This book is probably aimed more at the middle school students but for me as a junior in high school I believe it is an intersting read for all ages. This book that will grab you and take you on an adventure and I recommend it to all.

This book was extremely creative. I greatly suggest you read the first book in the series before reading this one, just to help with lots of connections Isabel make between this book and City of the Beasts. Isabel added twist after twist to the story making you want to read more and more. Every night you could see the light on in my room since I could not keep my eyes of the book. Suspense fills the book so high that you fell as if you have to read more and more just to find out what will come with a flip of the page.
The story is about Alexander and Nadia, two spontaneous teens, going to the Himalayas with Alex's grandmother, who writes for the National Geographic Magazine. After meeting and having an adventure in the Amazon (City of the Beasts), Alex and Nadia have another adventure together with some new characters.
Each character has their own distinct personality, which you get to know better and better through out the book. For example, Alex is a bit of an outcast who has really mixed emotions. He rock climbs, which helps him multiple times throughout the story. Nadia is always very calm, can think things through and is very spiritual. She has two very special talents that help her through all their encounters. She has the ability to turn invisible and to talk to animals. One other interesting thing about these two teens is that they have totemic animals, Jaguar and Eagle. Together they make a great team.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good book that is educational, fictional, adventurous, magical and suspenseful all in one.

Kingdom of The Golden Dragon was my homework assignment. It wasn't what I expected but turned out to be a very good book. It starts with a young prnice and a lama(teacher)on the himalayan mountains going to a yeti village. Throughout the book you get introduced to some charters like; the Collecter, Nadia ,Alexander,and his gradmother. The Collecter wants to obtain a rare stautue that can "tell" the future, and the stautue is called the Golden Dragon. The statue is at the kings temple so he calls the specalist to do his dirty work for him. It's not so easy to make it tell the future. To do this you need to learn a sercret lengeague that only the king and prince know.If you want to find out want happens next read it for yourself.

This follow up to the City of Beasts is a great book because it keeps the theme of adventure throughout the book as it did in the City of Beasts. This book starts with a lama and his disciple, Prince Dil Bahadur from the forbidden kingdom (Kingdom of the Golden Dragon). In New York, Kate Cold, a writer for the Times magazine, and grand-mother of Alexander Cold, is sent to India to write about the forbidden kingdom. Alexander Cold and his best friend, Nadia, whom he met in the Amazon jungle went to India as well. The plot centers around the theft of the priceless golden dragon and the subsequent kidnapping of the king. Alexander and Nadia get deeply involved in what transpires soon after they arrive in India. It is a fast moving plot with lots of twists and turns and new characters being introduced to the story. I could not put the book down. It is a unique adventure. I spent a good summer's day or two reading this book. As a ten year old, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good adventure novel.

I enjoyed reading this book because of Isabel Allende's ability to recreate and capture the desolate and harsh environment of the Himalayas. This is present at the beginning when the two Monks are traveling about the mountains and discover the Yetis for the first time. I also liked the idea of having the protagonists evolve in terms of their courage and attitude towards protecting the statue. This is important because you should always fight for what you believe in and sometimes making the decision to go on is difficult, but in the end, it can make a huge difference.One of the few things that I disliked about this book is that sometimes the story moves at a slow pace and the plot becomes predictable to the reader. Overall, I would highly recommend this book.

Soon after Alex Cold gets back from the
Amazon, he gets ready for another trip with his
grandmother, Nadia Santos, and the rest of the
International Geographic team. This time they
are going to the Forbidden Kingdom to research
their way of life. When they get there they
become interested in the Golden Dragon, a statue
that supposedly has mystical powers. Soon, Nadia
is kidnapped, drawing them into a plot to save
Nadia and the Golden Dragon.
I liked this book as much as Ms. Allende's
first book in this series, City of the Beasts.
At the
beginning of Kingdom of the Golden Dragon there
was a part that
included the legendary Yetis. This was very
interesting and I expected Ms. Allende
would continue to include this legend in other
parts of the book, but
she only used it again in the last part. I found
this disappointing. Unfortunately, some of the
action dragged on in the first half of this book,
but in the second part there was a much faster
pace, which made for a great ending. The ending
nicely brought the whole book together, leaving
no loose ends. I recommend this book especially
if you enjoyed City of the Beasts. FROM FLAMINGNET.COM
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