On Wings Of A Dragon [Paperback]

Cora Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

On Wings Of A Dragon is published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-Kour'el, a winged being from a distant world, has been carried by a dragonlike creature, Api'Naga, to King Vassill's kingdom. There the monarch is in thrall to the wicked queen Mariah, and Maighdlin, granddaughter of the king's former huntsman, has been taken to serve as a palace slave. Alternating chapters follow the travels of Kour'el and Maighdlin until they meet in a violent climactic moment. The story opens with both young women ignorant about their identities. Kour'el is imprisoned and has been badly hurt; the past comes back to her slowly, in dreams. Maighdlin is living simply in a peasant village; her work with wool becomes a metaphor and recurring image in the story. As the threads of the story are spun, the setting moves from the village and outlying tower to the castle and the surrounding city, where her grandfather attempts to get messages to her and to his old friend, the king. Kour'el escapes and, with Api'Naga, also journeys to the city where, she believes, her task is to rescue the king. When all the characters are in place, in Part Two, the threads are twisted together ever more tightly into a solid yarn. Unfortunately, there are loose ends and knots in the string: characters stumble into locations all too convenient for the plot, and the relationship between Kour'el's world and the world of Vassill's kingdom is never adequately explained. Still, readers who enjoy identifying with heroic female characters will not let the occasional plotting lapses get in the way of their enjoyment of this interestingly constructed fantasy.

Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

A new fantasy from an award-winning author --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside; 1 edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550417827
• ISBN-13: 978-1550417821
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,309,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So close and yet so far, June 22, 2005

By 

Angela R. Gottfred "agottfre" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Wings Of A Dragon (Paperback)

Although I'm an adult, I started to read On Wings of a Dragon with great interest. The plot was thrilling, the characters intriguing. Unfortunately, it all spins out of the author's control in the final chapters. The explanations that one is looking for from the very first chapters--Who is Kour'el? Why did she come? What is the vessel?--are either answered very weakly, or not at all. So what should have been a satisfying climax is instead a disappointing letdown. And it sounds like a sequel is not planned (or possible?) either, so there is no chance that my many questions will be answered in some future book. How annoying...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fully engaging fantasy novel for young adult readers, March 10, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Wings Of A Dragon (Paperback)

Cora Taylor's On Wings Of A Dragon is a deftly written and fully engaging fantasy novel for young adult readers of Kour'el, a young woman and her immortal dragon companion Api'naga. Kour'el is bereft of memory; and the dragon only knows that they have an unknown mission. The story of their journey and awakening is an entertaining and enthusiastically recommended fable of self-discovery, adventure, and inner strength.