Dragon Run
Author: Patrick Matthews
Pubdata: Scholastic Press, March 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780545450683
Juv Fantasy: Medieval western fantasy world where multiple sentient races (human, earthfolk, "windwalkers," merpeople) believe they were created by dragons as servants. At age 12, the population are divided into 7 classes which indicate their ability to be of use - from the low caste 1 (considered untouchable) to the rare 7 who is fated to work directly for the dragon gods. Our protagonist is about to discover that 1 isn't the lowest caste.
I have a hard time with juvenile fantasy. So often I get bummed out about the lack of depth in the worldbuilding, which detracts from an otherwise nifty plotline. I did feel the lack of depth here also, but the story was quick and interesting enough that it was more of an after-the-read pensiveness, rather than a during-the-read confusion or disinterest.
First things first: We have lovely "fantasy" names throughout. Nice inventive names like Bird and Wisp and Trillia and Lord Archovar... and our hero? His name is Al. Not short for anything, no frills - just Al. Dragged me right out of the story every single time it came up. (What really got my goat is that at one point he needs an alias, and came out with Ul. While still abrupt, at least that's interesting. Nope - dropped like a rock after a page.)
I can't tell if the author left gaps to provide openings for future installments, or if they are just left hanging. They're nice minor things that can be left unsolved without driving readers crazy, but do offer interesting tangents into further stories if they're picked up. That's a hard skill to master (judging by all the failures out there) and so I have to give credit there.
I am a little perplexed by the unevenness of the worldbuilding explanations. There's a whole sunken district near our hero's childhood home that is shrouded in mystery - to the characters and to the reader. A fantastical magical college town exists to be a plot device. Likewise the plot McGuffin is totally unexplained (to character or readers) as to provenance or methodology, yet it's still used effectively despite no instruction on usage.
I liked Bird, and his people seem very interesting. I would have liked him more if there were any sort of character growth in his storyline. The sidekicks (and the bartender) were very nicely realized, and had their own problems with family and friends and adventuring which I appreciated.
The interactions with the Magister were a little too easily laid out and solved, despite every indication that lingering suspicion should be an issue. Again, I'm mostly blaming this on writing for the audience, but it could have been a little more fraught than it actually was.
Likewise the solution to the dragons. That was... very easy. Also seems like it should have been something that was guarded against a bit more effectively.
Finally, the resolution is left ambiguous - what do the "ranks" mean now? How is the political and economic (especially the magical economic) situation going to work out? What about the other peoples?
Because this one is relatively new, and seems likely to be popular, I've done my best to avoid overt spoilage. I may revisit to harp on specific plot/character details at a later date.
