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Robin McKinley

Dragonhaven Mass Market Paperback – September 30, 2008

by Robin McKinley (Author)

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Think of yourself out of your comfy chair and your nice house with the roads and the streetlights outside—and the ceiling overhead low enough that a fifty-foot dragon can’t stand on her hind legs and not bump her head—and think yourself into a cavern full of dragons. Go on. Try.

Jake lives with his scientist father at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining Draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild.

There are five million acres of the Smokehill wilderness and the dragons rarely show themselves. Jack’s never seen one except deep in the park and at a distance. They stay away from the Institute—and the tourists. But dragon conservation is controversial. Detractors say dragons are much too dangerous and much too expensive, and should be destroyed. Supporters say there is no record of their doing anything more threatening than eating sheep, there are only a few hundred of them left at best and they must be protected.

But they are up to eighty feet long (plus tail) and breathe fire.

On Jake’s first overnight solo in the park, he meets a dragon—the thing that he would have said he wanted above everything else in the world. But this dragon is dying—dying next to the human she has killed. Jake knowns this news could destroy Smokehill. The dead man is clearly a poacher who attacked first, but that will be lost in the outcry against dragons. But then Jake notices something even more urgent: the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive…

Reading age

12 - 17 years
Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Lexile measure

1160L
Dimensions

4.2 x 1 x 6.7 inches
Publisher

Ace
Publication date

September 30, 2008
ISBN-10

044101643X
ISBN-13

978-0441016433
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A sharply incisive, wildly intelligent dragon fantasy involving profound layers of science and society, love and loss, and nature and nurture.” –Kirkus Reviews

“McKinley renders her imagined universe so potently that readers will wish they could book their next vacation in Smokehill.” –Publishers Weekly

“An exercise in fantasy subjected to the rigors of science, a close psychological portrait of human and alien minds, and a helluva good read.” –Locus

“McKinley offers a seamless, believable world, a self-deprecating narrator whose voice never hits a false note, and a poignant message.” –VOYA

“Robin McKinley has built an admirable career on taking familiar fairy-tale tropes, or long-loved stories, and skillfully combining the architecture of wonder with convincing, realistic detail so that the reader feels she can live inside the story. McKinley has never settled for doing the same thing over and over, but with each new book has experimented with voice, form, and tone, as well as character and plot…[Dragonhaven] is powerful, absorbing, and exquisitely rendered. McKinley makes those dragons real.” –SF Site

“Compelling.” –Booklist

“Insightful about emotion, biology, language, and the intricate love/hate relationship between science and humanity. Quietly magnificent.” –Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Robin McKinley has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown and a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword. Her other books include Sunshine; the New York Times bestseller Spindle's End; two novel-length retellings of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and Rose Daughter; and a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, The Outlaws of Sherwood. She lives with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ace; Reprint edition (September 30, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 044101643X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0441016433
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 17 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1160L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.2 x 1 x 6.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #823 in Teen & Young Adult Boys & Men Fiction
- #2,046 in Children's Environment Books (Books)
- #2,635 in Children's Dragon, Unicorn & Mythical Stories

Customer Reviews:
206 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		64%
4 star		19%
3 star		8%
2 star		4%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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LA in Dallas

The voice of 14-year-old Jake Mendoza is a little TOO authentic.

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2020

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** spoiler alert **

I began Dragonhaven thinking this, "In principle, it must sometimes happen that Robin McKinley writes a book that is less than totally awesome. However, if she has done so, I can't name it." However, I think now I may have found it.

This is a boy-raises-baby dragon book. I marked the review as a spoiler so I could say that, but I don't think it will spoil the book for you to know that. Retelling stories that others have told is a thing that Robin McKinley does. And she does it VERY well. For instance, she has published two novels, Rose Daughter and Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, that are retellings of "Beauty and the Beast". So, even before you start reading, you know the main outlines of the plot. Yet, even so, I read and reread them with pleasure. And others of her books retell other stories: Spindle's End, Deerskin, and The Outlaws of Sherwood are all retellings. And there are more. Sunshine, for instance, tells the "sorceress falls in love with vampire" story, in a way you have never read before. (Seriously, if you haven't read Sunshine, get it and read it. Now.)

How does she do this? Mainly, I think, she gives the story a voice. Beauty, for instance, is told from Beauty's point of view. You come to know her and her family from how she tells about them.

In Dragonhaven McKinley does this, but a little too well. Dragonhaven is told from the point of view of teenage boy Jake Mendoza. Jake is 14 when the story begins and 17 when the main story ends (although there is an epilog written five years later). He is, at the start of the story an amazingly self-centered little prig. (This, by the way, is not just my opinion, it is also Jake's own later opinion of his younger self.) If you've ever spent time in the company of a whiny 14-year-old boy, you know it is not necessarily the world's most enjoyable experience. And if you read this book, you are going to spend hours in the presence of young Jake Mendoza. I will say it is very well done. But because it is so well done, the reading experience is like the authentic experience.

Now, let me add that Jake is in most ways a thoroughly admirable young man, or becomes one. He is brave, generous, open-minded, and resourceful. He also passes through hard times. For most of the book he is a single mother to a baby dragon. He suffers through this in pain and unceasing terror. Indeed, the long oppression of Jake's suffering is, aside from Jake's grating voice, a thing that makes this a difficult book to read.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jay Dominguez

The plot is a mess, and I'm loving it!

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

When I look down the comment section for this book, I think I know why there are so many people who didn't like this book. Its because its not a "Robin McKinley" book, as in, its not written in her usual, enchanting style. But that doesn't make it a bad book. I found it funny and engaging!
The story is about a boy obsessed with dragons, mostly because he grew up around people who were obsessed with dragons, who comes across a dying mother dragon and her . . . clutch? litter? . . . what's the proper term for a group of baby dragons? Normally I would say clutch, which is the term you would use for reptiles and birds, but the dragons in this universe are marsupials. You read right, Robin McKinley has done it again. The thing I really love about her books is the way she takes a theme, say dragons, or pegasi, or your average Beauty and the Beast narrative, and changes it a little so that the story becomes new and refreshing. Marsupials, who would have thought it!
But I digress, and that's the other thing I like about this book, the completely disorganized writing style. After our main character takes in the last surviving baby dragon from the . . . clutch/litter . . ., determined to keep it alive, his whole thought process goes out the window and the book becomes a mess of tangled plot threads until it reaches semi coherency at the end. In most books this would be a major problem, but somehow McKinley pulls this off well because there are reasons WHY Jake is disorganized. First, HE IS A TEENAGE BOY. Second being around dragons give people headaches, I wont explain why because I want you to read the book, but if I had a perpetual migraine that NEVER GOES AWAY, my thoughts may be a little disorganized too. And finally, Jake, our cute little teenage hero, becomes a middle aged mom overnight. He changes his whole life around the needs and whims of the baby dragon, like a lot of moms do, and I think the sudden change is hilarious!
In any case, if you like Robin McKinley's masterful way with words this book may not be for you. But, if you love the way Robin McKinley takes boring old tropes and make them her own, you might want to pick Dragon Haven up. Just don't expect a cohesive plot line till the end of the book.

18 people found this helpful

Helpful

lholbrook

but he talks/writes like a fourteen year old when he's 21 and writing ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

I get that he was fourteen years old when this started....but he talks/writes like a fourteen year old when he's 21 and writing the story. It is disjointed, flips all over the place and can't seem to hold a coherent thought, and I finally gave up and skimmed the last 75 pages because it was the same overdone mishmash. I will always treasure The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown....written in the same style, this book could have been awesome. Instead, it's totally forgettable. Bummer. I wanted it to be so much more.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Teresa Cheatham

Disappointing book

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

I wish I could give a zero star rating! Very disappointed by this purchase! I got sucked in by the description and reviews. I couldn't get past the first few pages because it's so unnecessarily wordy! This author needs a good editor to cut out all the added fluff! I can't believe this is considered a book for teens! I'm also very upset that Amazon won't let me return the book! I didn't know they've changed their return policy. You have to return a book before 7 days after purchasing it!

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

I love Robin McKinley's work. This is not one of her best; her main character spends too much time chattering in the initial chapter, and not enough time telling the story. That said, once Jake finds the dead dragon and her baby, the story becomes highly engaging (it sags into chattering again at the end, but that's easier to get through, since you care about the characters by then). I found Ms. McKinley's take on dragons very intriguing. I do recommend this book, but you may need to skim a bit at first. If you do, you'll be rewarded by an enjoyable read.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Sakerfalcon

Good story, but tough prose for adults!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2008

Verified Purchase

I wanted to give this 4 stars because it is by Robin McKinley, but I just couldn't because the teenage boy prose style was a continual barrier between me and the world of the story. I really enjoyed the way McKinley used the dragon reserve to highlight issues of species conservation versus human rights, but I couldn't immerse myself in the book the way I do in her other works because Jake's voice was just too dominant. I wasn't sure that a teenager would be quite that over-articulate anyway, and the constant asides and parentheses just annoyed me.

I would recommend reading an extract from this book before buying it, to see if the style suits you. The characters, story and themes are all good as you would expect and deserve 4 stars (because even with a different narrator, this book still would not be Deerskin or The Blue Sword :-))

I've lent my copy to a friend, and shan't chase her if it doesn't come back to me. I'd give it another try, but am not sure I'll finish it a second time ... we'll see.

10 people found this helpful

Jane Wolfe Ta Press

A superb addition to dragonlore

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2010

Verified Purchase

Smokehill National Park in the U.S. is dedicated to protecting dragons, which are an endangered species, but the visitors who come to the park never see the dragons. The park is staffed by dedicated scientists and wardens, but they don't know how many dragons they have or where they can be found. All this changes when Jake, the director's son, inadvertently adopts a new born dragon and tries to raise her. Jake's struggle to keep her hidden, to understand dragon biology and to make sure she is raised to be a proper dragon is funny and touching. He and Lois' inevitible contact with other dragons is the stuff dragon dreams are made of. McKinley is a wonderful writer and this book, which is aimed at young adults, is meant for any reader fascinated by these awesome creatures.

One person found this helpful

sue P

not quite up to scratch?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

Although a lovely idea, I struggled with the young lad's viewpoint and it felt a bit laboured, whereas the best YA offerings i find are fine for adults... Lacked the pace of her Damaria series.

Ms. S. Pettinger

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

yes

jen

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

Good book

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