Yep, Laurence - Dragon of the Lost Sea quartet
Thu, May. 21st, 2009 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceter(Dragon of the Lost Sea, Dragon Steel, Dragon Cauldron, and Dragon War)
I read the third book a very long time ago as a kid and still remember being affected by its ending. It's nice to finally read the entire thing!
Shimmer is a dragon princess of the Lost Sea, so called because the evil witch Civet boiled it away. She's on a quest to reclaim her home, although she's not particularly in the good graces of her uncle, the king of the dragons. On her way, she meets the poor boy Thorn, and together, they look for the cauldron. But unfortunately for them, they do as much wrong on their quest as they do right.
This reads a little young for me now: it's probably aimed toward 8-12 year old readers, not the high school YA I usually read. Because of that, some of the difficulties are solved faster than I would have liked, and some problems are less in depth than they would be. However, as noted before, I remember reading the third one as a kid and loving it. Part of it was because books 3 and 4 are narrated by the irrepressible Monkey, who is as mischievous as always and having fun while his master the Old Boy (kind of like Xuanzang/Tripitaka but not quite? hard to tell).
Still, I love the relationship between Shimmer and Thorn the most. She's arrogant and prickly and not inclined to accept help, and he's always there for her, but underappreciated. The group dynamic also changes when they add people later, although for me, the Shimmer/Thorn friendship is at the heart of the series.
Yep uses a lot of Chinese mythology in this, from the dragons to Monkey and possible the Snail Woman and the Lord of the Flowers. I don't think the last two are from mythology, though I could be wrong, but I do think the Snail Woman's fan is out of Journey to the West. There's war and betrayal and sacrifice and sibling rivalry and lots of shapeshifting, and I would very much give this to lots of kids, particularly if they're looking for non-Western fantasy.
I read the third book a very long time ago as a kid and still remember being affected by its ending. It's nice to finally read the entire thing!
Shimmer is a dragon princess of the Lost Sea, so called because the evil witch Civet boiled it away. She's on a quest to reclaim her home, although she's not particularly in the good graces of her uncle, the king of the dragons. On her way, she meets the poor boy Thorn, and together, they look for the cauldron. But unfortunately for them, they do as much wrong on their quest as they do right.
This reads a little young for me now: it's probably aimed toward 8-12 year old readers, not the high school YA I usually read. Because of that, some of the difficulties are solved faster than I would have liked, and some problems are less in depth than they would be. However, as noted before, I remember reading the third one as a kid and loving it. Part of it was because books 3 and 4 are narrated by the irrepressible Monkey, who is as mischievous as always and having fun while his master the Old Boy (kind of like Xuanzang/Tripitaka but not quite? hard to tell).
Still, I love the relationship between Shimmer and Thorn the most. She's arrogant and prickly and not inclined to accept help, and he's always there for her, but underappreciated. The group dynamic also changes when they add people later, although for me, the Shimmer/Thorn friendship is at the heart of the series.
Yep uses a lot of Chinese mythology in this, from the dragons to Monkey and possible the Snail Woman and the Lord of the Flowers. I don't think the last two are from mythology, though I could be wrong, but I do think the Snail Woman's fan is out of Journey to the West. There's war and betrayal and sacrifice and sibling rivalry and lots of shapeshifting, and I would very much give this to lots of kids, particularly if they're looking for non-Western fantasy.
(no subject)
Fri, May. 22nd, 2009 05:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, May. 28th, 2009 06:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, May. 28th, 2009 06:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, May. 22nd, 2009 11:40 am (UTC)There definitely needs to be more non-Western fantasy available in English.
(no subject)
Thu, May. 28th, 2009 06:47 am (UTC)I'm hoping there will be more now that Viz is doing translated SFF, but I also want more from diasporan Asians as well. Here's hoping Cindy Pon's new book is part of a trend.