Frequently bought together. The Dragons of Chiril: A Novel (Dragon Keepers Chronicles). +. Dragons of the Watch: A Novel. +. Dragons of the Valley: A Novel.
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It's basically a race of short, broad people: D So I didn't read this until the very day I had to return it, when I flew through this a chapter book in four hours. I'm still impressed with myself here, because I was doing a lot of other things at the same time! It turned out a lot better than I expected, actually. I mean who doesn't want to read about people trapped in a lost city, mind-speaking dragons, orphaned six-year-old hooligans bigger than the main characters, and grumpy librarians and wizards?
I found it quite unique and interesting. Also Bealomondore and Ellie were really adorable together - and you don't hear me say that often. Maybe it has something to do with me having a thing for people of small races? Like, I automatically think they're cute? It was like watching one of your dear friends Bealomondore get married. See, usually you think of the love interest character as the love interest character. But in this case, Bealomondore was so much more because I already knew him so well from the previous two books.
Let's be honest here, I was waiting for it for the entire three books of the series. But otherwise, it was quite excellent. Jul 14, Linda rated it it was amazing Shelves: Ellie, on her way to the coronation of Princess Tipper and the marriage of the Princess to Paladin finds herself lost and afraid in a city of giants.
The city is empty it seems, except for a large group of unruly 6 year olds who threaten to eat her. When Ellie discovers she is not the only adult who is lost and fearful she is relieved but can she and her new ally find their way out of this dangerous and large scale city. Bealomondore has been stuck here for two months but he has learned a great Ellie, on her way to the coronation of Princess Tipper and the marriage of the Princess to Paladin finds herself lost and afraid in a city of giants.
Bealomondore has been stuck here for two months but he has learned a great deal about the city and how to avoid the monstrous children. He has also found the only other adult but he is uncooperative. The "Old One" lives in the library and is quite uncooperative. In order to solve this puzzle Ellie, Bealomondore and the "Old One" must learn to get along and then teach the unruly children to do so also. A fun read with themes of forgiveness and love for one another. Feb 13, Dexter rated it really liked it Shelves: Definitely my favorite of the trilogy. Bealomondore has always been my favorite character, and I've always been itching for him to get a proper lady friend who's awesome enough to do him justice.
An lo and behold, I meet Ellie! Ellie is a sweet, determined little tumanhofer who gets trapped in a giant bottle encompassing a giant city of eternally six-year-olds. There she meets Bealomondore, and together they have to tame the children and escape. The idea itself is more original than the other two Definitely my favorite of the trilogy.
The idea itself is more original than the other two books, and it focused on my favorite character, so of course I enjoyed it more. But it's still not amazing, and often I sit for a while thinking of better ways to write it. It'll never be a favorite, but it's an enjoyable fantasy adventure with a Christian base. Mar 03, Gail Welborn rated it it was amazing Shelves: Dragons of the Watch, by Donita K.
However, their trip is interrupted when Ellie sees her beloved pet goat on a nearby hillside and climbs down from the carriage to take him home…Full Review: Aug 29, Nikki rated it really liked it Shelves: This is the most adorable romance story I've ever read. Whenever I sat down to read, it only took about half a page before I was filled with warm, fuzzy hope for humanity and felt like everything would be okay no matter the circumstance.
Oct 14, Beka rated it really liked it. Since this is the last book in the Valley of the Dragons series, I wish it had gone just a bit farther showing us what happens to the children. I was a bit thrown off when the book started with a new character, but I quickly fell in love with Ellie. Overall, another wonderful story from Ms. Sep 04, Rebecca LuElla rated it it was amazing Shelves: To date it's my favorite by this talented author who specializes in the "cozy fantasy. But enough with the introduction. On to the review.
In the imaginary world where Wulder is the One Supreme Being, Creator of all, seven high and seven low races people the various continents. In Chiril, however, there are few urohms--gentle giants reaching as tall as fourteen feet. When Princess Tipper sends out invitations to her wedding to all citizens of Chiril, a young tumanhofer country girl named Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl she goes by Ellie wants to attend in the worst way. Her aunt agrees to take her, but as the trip begins, Ellie must corral one of the family goats, her favorite. Her aunt instructs her to meet up with their carriage after she takes care of her responsibility.
After capturing her pet amid inclement weather, Ellie gets turned around in the fog. She heads toward a shaft of light and walks, or is pushed by her goat, through a shiny surface. When she turns to look for the trail, she can no longer see the countryside she left. Instead, she is in an enclosed city founded by urohms from another part of the world. Now she is the only tumanhofer, and perhaps the only person, in a place built for giants. That's really just the set up. The story is all about what happens in Rumbard City, and it's good, oh, so good. But I don't want to give any spoiler.
As always, Donita's strength is her characters. I was very quickly caring for Ellie, longing with her to attend the wedding, exasperated at the delay she faced, fearing as she did that she might miss it all, that she might never see her home again. Ellie, it turns out, had never heard of Wulder, but she isn't an ugly, mean-spirited, or unkind girl. She is pleasant, wise though she thinks herself quite unsophisticated and therefore the target of mockery , industrious, and compassionate.
The other characters are either equally likable, or they are interesting. In other words none in the entire cast drags the story down or makes it uninteresting. The plot is quite good, too. Ellie has a clear goal, but when there seems to be no way out, she makes new plans and works to carry them out. The story, therefore, moves forward at a good pace, and I found myself cheering for Ellie to succeed. There are lots and lots of good thematic threads in the story, all placed very naturally, rising from the circumstances and the character needs.
I'll add that I think in the current climate in Western society, these truths are especially important.
I'll give you a hint--they center on child-rearing. The story is light and fun. It's hard to imagine that tragedy will strike, though it threatens in such a believable way, I had to remind myself a time or two, This is a cozy fantasy. I'm a fan of twists and there is one significant twist toward the end that I didn't see coming at all.
It added another layer of tension to the story and provided a perfect set-up for the climax and resolution. Toward the end I thought there was a plot point that could have been developed more. Late in the story the characters discover an underground system of tunnels that connected to an ancient, abandoned city. However, the reader was not privy to the first efforts to explore this area. Instead, through narrative one character discloses that there have been daily trips searching out the tunnels.
Soon after, the reader does enter the tunnels with the main characters, but all that happens there could just as easily have taken place in Rumbard City proper. Furthermore, I don't recall any explanation of how the underground city came to be or what its connection was with the urohms who lived above. I found one element in the story to be predictable, but it fit well with the cozy fantasy genre--where danger is an arm's length away instead of in your face--so I didn't mind the way this particular event played out.
Others might think it was too obvious. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy a light fantasy--not light-weight in substance, but not dark or filled with angst. It's an uplifting story, a book I looked forward to pulling out when I had time to read. Originally posted at A Christian Worldview of Fiction Paul, is by far my favorite so far. To start out, my favorite character, Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore, is one of the two main protagonists. This really pleased me, given how the first two books lacked a really good plot and focus for the character.
To make clear, the first two books made Bealomondore one of the main characters, and he was in most of the adventurous and dangerous scenes, but not in a way that furthered his own story. Even his character development in the second book was more about how it supported the main plot of his friends Princess Tipper and the Paladin Jayrus. This book corrects that. Here Bealomondore takes center stage.
Our favorite Tumanhofer winds up in a lost city, whose inhabitants he must save from the plight that their rebellion against Wulder God has landed them in. In this strange metropolis, he is joined by a young fellow Tumanhofer, a girl named Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl, or Ellie, for short. The sweet thing of the tale is that the two very markedly different characters fall in love. Well-educated, upper-class, war hero, artist, and veteran Bealomondore on the one hand, and educated for a farm girl meaning far less than Bealomondore , rustic, hard-working, very isolated, but naturally kind-hearted Ellie on the other hand.
When the two of them interact, the sparks fly, but in a good way. The sense of magic, wonder, and Providential timing in a romance were truly special to behold, both in the Christmas book and in this one.
Dragons of the Watch
The story delves into some strange ideas. I can't tell if the references are to a time in their history similar to our own, or to our world. I got lost on that point, but it's not a major plot thread, so that makes little difference, really. Now for the other important part, the Dragons. Det and Laddin are back, and join other dragons who are also trapped in the enchanted lost city.
They each have his or her own name and personality. This is another great thing about Paul's books. She doesn't make them pets, but explains their thoughts. To make a comparison of sorts, in too many Star Wars books, Chewbacca is portrayed like a family pet. His growls are for laughs. They are fully-fleshed out characters. Indeed, speaking to them is a gift of Wulder to His children. There are some wonderful lessons about pride, and love, but also trusting in God while being prepared.
These lessons are not in your face, but very subtle, and all the easier to accept for it. There is also a wonderful conversion scene, but instead of hitting us over the head as some authors do when penning such scenes, Paul does it quietly. We see not the prayer or such that you see in most books. All in all, a great fantasy novel, for both Christian and secular audiences, with wonderful little gems and nuggets for the attentive reader. The best in the series so far, and Highly Recommended. Mar 02, Denae Christine rated it liked it Shelves: Some things weren't explained why did the Tumanhofers shrink in the bottle?
The characters were not idiots. Too many times in too many books, characters act like 2. Too many times in too many books, characters act like idiots. Sure, Ellie was too nice to the hooligans, but it fit her personality. The plot acted like a mystery and a quest but the conflict had to do with gigantic children and being stuck in a bottle. I wanted actual bad guys I'm picky like that, I guess and a clearer sense of what the characters were supposed to be doing they kept trying things but never knew what would work. Oh, and the end was disappointing because view spoiler [ I wanted to hear more about Yon, more about adult Urohms, and more about Ellie suddenly being engaged to someone famous.
It seemed a little bit like, "Bring in the wizards; they'll fix this whole mess" hide spoiler ]. Jun 18, Arwen rated it it was ok Shelves: Dragons of the Watch is the third and final book in the Chiril Chronicles series. The whole series is a prequel to Donita K. This book is okay. My biggest issue with it is that it completely abandons Tipper, the main character of the first two books.
She doesn't even have one line of dialogue. Instead, a brand new character--Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl--is introduced. I'm very fond of Ellie, but I'm not a fan of the "introduce a new character so I can make a tr Dragons of the Watch is the third and final book in the Chiril Chronicles series.
I'm very fond of Ellie, but I'm not a fan of the "introduce a new character so I can make a trilogy" scheme. Also, there's too much romance for a children's book. I don't mind a little, but we don't need to know how Ellie feels and delve into her mind about her romantic daydreams. The story is also very slow; I feel like it could have been cut in half and we wouldn't have missed much. That being said, it is an okay book. The story, though slow, has some redeeming points. It was good to see Bealomondore back. Overall, it's good for the series; I just wish it could have been done differently.
Jul 07, Deborah rated it really liked it. I really liked this book.
3-Book Series in Amara
I like real romance, where the couple show their love for each other in their acts of service and compassion. The author did a great job showing us a developing and deep love between Ellie and Bealomondore.
I also like the Christian theme which reminded me a lot of the Chronicles of Narnia a big favorite of mine. However, the author wasn't as subtle about her message. It is a great message and made me look up her biography and want to read more of he Give it 4. Often, the choice is made by the state of mind but if choosing Light or Dark during Initiation, a Watch can attempt to steer the powers of someone into what they need at the time.
An Other can exist without being initiated as part of a Watch, still independently capable of entering the Twilight and becoming Light or Dark. The choice of becoming light or dark, even what specific powers you gain is usually final. The division of Light and Dark had always existed between the Others. Those of the Light believed it was their duty to help the weak and the helpless.
Those of the Dark shunned all obligations. They did what they wanted, regardless of morals and consequences. For many millennia, the two sides fought a vicious battle. Both were willing to use any means necessary to achieve victory. Eventually they realized that if they continued their battle, neither side would survive.
The leaders of both sides forged the Grand Treaty—a set of laws to govern the way the Others used their powers. The Inquisition, a group composed of both Dark and Light Others, was created to arbitrate. If they spend them too quickly, the Others can use the feelings and emotions of the humans surrounding them to recharge their powers. The Dark Others use negative emotions such as pain or anger, the Light Others use positive emotions such as joy. Feeding on pain causes pain to increase, feeding on joy causes joy to wane. Because negative emotions are much easier to achieve in humans, this arrangement creates a situation where the powers of the Dark Others are easier to recharge and are much more readily available than those of the Light Others.
Since the signing of the Treaty, the Night Watch and the Day Watch have kept their eyes on each other, diligently policing every violation. The old leaders continue to plot, using humanity and the Others as their pawns. Only time will tell which side will prevail. Each story is subdivided into a prologue followed by eight chapters in the first story, and seven chapters in each of the following stories. Except for the prologues, the majority of the events in each story are written in a first person narrative using the voice of the Light Magician character Anton Gorodetsky, a member of the Night Watch.
Events in each of the prologues, as well as intermittent other events in the stories, are written in a third person narrative and take place entirely outside of Gorodetsky's presence.
Dragons of the Watch by Donita K. Paul
The entire novel is written in the past tense. A Mage recently reassigned to field work in the Night Watch, Anton Gorodetsky is tasked with tracking vampires who have been hunting and killing humans without a licence. As he follows a young boy Egor , who has been magically lured by two vampires through the Metro, he notices a young woman, Svetlana, who has a huge vortex of damnation above her. Trying to free her from the vortex he uses up the power of an amulet he has been given to use against the vampires, but only succeeds in temporarily reducing the curse upon her.
He finds the vampires who have been calling Egor, and in the struggle to arrest them, because he has used up the amulet trying to do good elsewhere, is forced to kill one while the other a female gets away. He returns to the Night Watch headquarters, where his boss, Boris Ignatievich, informs him that he could be in danger as Zabulon head of the Day Watch might want revenge for his actions in killing Dark Others and gives him an owl called Olga, to be his Watch partner. Anton initially rejects the offer, then finds Olga in his apartment and reluctantly agrees.
The next day he carelessly and illegally uses his powers for good by changing a person's morality, a spell called "remoralization" and clashes with a Dark Other from the Day Watch, Alisa Donnikova. They agree that Alisa can use her power to do a minor evil act of her choice in compensation for his own act of goodness.
As events unfold he discovers that Olga can speak and appear briefy as a human, and is a sorceress trapped in an owl's body as a punishment. Anton goes to Egor's apartment to protect him from the vampire, then nearly loses him as Egor inadvertently slips into the Twilight for the first time. It transpires he is also an Other, with the potential for magical powers himself. Meanwhile, Boris Ignatievich sends an incubus, Ignat, to the cursed woman, Svetlana Nazarova, as an undercover agent to try to help her and discover who could have cursed her, but to no avail. Anton, who is still involved in trying to calm Egor and persuade him to join the forces of light, is urgently called away to assist with Svetlana, and in the meantime, the vampiress again calls to Egor who joins her on the roof.
Anton manages to find out that Svetlana is another unaware Other who had unknowingly cursed herself because of guilt for something she did to her mother, and manages to defuse the situation. He returns to Egor's roof to find the vampiress and Egor, as well as other Light and Dark operatives, including Anton's neighbour, Kostya Saushkin, who is a vampire.
Zabulon joins them and attacks Anton. But when he does, one of the minor Light Mages, Ilya, reveals himself to be Boris, who'd swapped their bodies, and blocks Zabulon's efforts. While Zabulon's plans seem compromised, and Egor is still considering his choice for Light or Dark, Alisa uses her agreement with Anton to perform a spell on him making him tell Egor everything. Anton reveals to Egor that he was a pawn used by both Boris Ignatievich and Zabulon in their intrigues.
Angered, Egor leaves the roof, feeling misused but veering towards the dark. A Dark Other, Galina Rogova, is killed by Maxim, a mysterious murderer using an enchanted wooden dagger, referring to himself as "The Judge". Boris Ignatievich announces that the Day Watch suspects one of the Night Watch operatives of this and previous murders.
Everyone seems to have an alibi except Anton. Boris Ignatievich thinks that Anton has been set up by the Day Watch, and uses his powers to swap Anton and Olga's bodies so that anyone tracking him will be misled about his true whereabouts, and ensure any future murders will take place when he has a firm alibi. In Olga's body, Anton then goes with Svetlana to her apartment to hide, where he reveals that he is in fact Anton, making Svetlana furious as she just told "Olga" she loved Anton.
They go to a restaurant so as to have clear witnesses of their whereabouts and there spot an inoffensive Dark Other with his family. The Dark Other goes to the toilet, where Maxim was waiting and kills him. Anton, curious why the Dark Other had not returned from the toilet, briefly leaves Svetlana and discovers the body. An investigation ensues involving police and both Dark and Light forces, where Svetlana is able to give Boris a telepathic image of Maxim's wife's aura, but is unable to recall Maxim, who had also been dining in the restaurant.
Zabulon recognises Anton in Olga's body, charging him with the murder. Anton flees, pursued by Zabulon and grabs a lift from a passing car whose driver sees the magical events as a gangland shooting. What Anton doesn't know is that the couple in the car are Maxim and his wife. Walking home, Anton calls Olga and asks to switch back bodies. Waiting in the subway for Olga, Anton stumbles upon Egor and has a brief conversation with him. Olga arrives and Anton and Olga switch bodies using an incantation that reveals Boris's real name as Gesar. While talking to Olga, Anton realizes that the Day Watch is only chasing him in order to make Svetlana angry and use her powers illegally, which would allow them to use the law to neutralize her as an agent of Light.
There is no crime in the Dark eliminating its own agents, only if the light does so. Anton then takes a ride in the metro where he is chased by a dark other. An apparition indicates that he should go to the Ostankino Tower , but Anton cannot tell whether it means to help or harm him.
He kills the Dark mage chasing him and disguises himself as the mage. Arriving at the tower he finds that the Day Watch has established their temporary headquarters there. Secretly penetrating inside, he sees a bunch of incompetent Dark mages directing the search for him. Suspicious that Zabulon is taking revenge on him by setting him up still more, he leaves the tower and goes to Egor's house. Meanwhile, Maxim feels the presence of a Dark being and goes on a hunt. He finally finds the Dark being and is astonished when he discovers it is young Egor. Anton spots them and talks with Maxim, explaining the Treaty between Light and Dark, but Maxim doesn't comply, pointing out that Egor will grow up to be a dark mage, and it's better to kill him now.
Anton intervenes when Maxim tries to kill Egor, and they fight in the Twilight. Anton realizes that killing Maxim would mean that all witnesses proving his innocence would be dead, and is stabbed by Maxim. Gesar then comes over and suggests that Maxim should become a member of the Inquisition, and when Anton brags about how he outwitted Zabulon again, Gesar reveals that Zabulon has nothing to do with it and that all of this was planned by the Night Watch to raise Svetlana's magical level.
An old man arrives from Uzbekistan and is intercepted by a team of Dark Others led by Alisa, who attacks him thinking he possesses a coveted artifact. As they fight, his son slips away unnoticed with the artifact. All of the Night Watch operatives go to Tiger Cub's house to relax, but Anton doesn't manage to have fun, as he is concerned with Svetlana's growing powers influencing their relationship and the reason Gesar sent them off.
He finally leaves, and when he gets back to his apartment, he discovers Zabulon calmly reading a newspaper and waiting for him. Zabulon reveals that Alisher, the young man from Uzbekistan, brought with him an artifact, a piece of chalk. Anton's research suggests that it is the Chalk of Fate and that it could be used by the Light to rewrite destiny, allowing someone to change the world to establish a new world order. Discussions with Olga and later Gesar reveal that Svetlana in fact is to use the Chalk to rewrite a destiny. Walking outside, Anton drains the Light power from all of the passers-by he sees, taking their joy away.
Anton joins Gesar, Svetlana, Zabulon, Egor, and Maxim on a rooftop where Svetlana prepares to rewrite a destiny, while a storm is gathering around them. Svetlana then opens the book of destiny. Gesar supposes Anton could use all the energy he has drained to stop the storm, but Anton uses it instead on himself via a simple remoralization spell. Astonished, Svetlana stops rewriting Egor's destiny and asks Anton for advice, but Anton says that she must decide what to write herself. The Book disappears, and Gesar notices she didn't write anything, she only erased things.
Egor reverts from a potential Dark Other back to an unaffiliated state. Zabulon notices that their planned operation failed because of Svetlana's indecisiveness and, triumphant, leaves. Anton then notices the Chalk Svetlana used is not whole. Gesar reveals that Svetlana rewriting Egor's destiny was just a distraction, and in the meantime, Olga rewrote the destiny of someone later revealed.
Gesar reveals the true nature of this plan was to save his love of Olga. Without her full powers, their love was doomed. Within the Night Watch universe there are several different races with different characteristics and levels of power. Bromfield's English translation translates the Russian word " sumrak " [2] as "twilight", although "sumrak" actually refers to a state of coming darkness in singular visible in one place, not the whole sky ; " sumerki ", which would usually be translated as "twilight", is its plural form.
Note that the Russian word sumrak does not have the negative emotional connotation of the English word gloom; sumrak has a lighter connotation, characterised by Nabokov as a "not infrequently pleasurable and poetical gloom. The Twilight, although a realm of existence beneath the human or ordinary world and therefore not sentient, indiscriminately absorbs energy from whomever enters it.