Dragonspell

by Donita K. Paul

Water Brook, June, 2004.
Trade paperback, 339 pages.
ISBN: 1578568234
Ages 12 and up

Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul

Kale Alleron is a young o'rant slave girl who is treated fairly well by her masters in the tiny town of River Away. But when she finds a rare dragon egg, the village leaders send her off to The Hall in the city of Vendela to be trained as a servant of Paladin. But Kale never makes it to the Hall. She is intercepted on her journey and pressed into service by an Emerlinden woman Leetu and Dar the Doneel. The trio must find and rescue a valuable dragon egg from the evil wizard Risto (Kale has the rare ability to find and sense the valuable dragon eggs). Kale and her companions have many adventures and Kale finds out that the reward for doing the right thing is often to be given an even harder task to perform.

Dragonspell is an engaging young adult fantasy in which the Christian worldview is portrayed through metaphor. Also a coming of age story, Dragonspell features a likeable heroine and enough magical and exotic companions to fill three books. Ms. Paul has a lively imagination and her characterizations of the minor and major dragons are a definite high point of the book. The first book in a series raises more questions than it answers, such as the identity of the mysterious Paladin who has called Kale to his service, and the source of Kale's growing telepathic talent. Ms. Paul keeps the pacing fast, making for a fast and enjoyable read.

Dragonspell is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the May-June, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.