Book Reviews and More: Future of the Time Dragon - Tracey West and Daniel Griffo

Friday, 18 December 2020

Future of the Time Dragon - Tracey West and Daniel Griffo - Dragon Masters Book 15

Future of the Time Dragon

Dragon Masters Book 15
Tracey West (Author)
Daniel Griffo (Illustrator)

Scholastic

ISBN 9781338540253

eISBN 9781338540277

ASIN B07PZY18TY

Between reading with my kids and my nephews I have now read a Dragon Masters book 23 times. Sixteen of those reads have been in the last 6 months. And currently there is no sign of it slowing down. As a family we love these books! A few years ago, I read the first eight books of this series to my son. Then his interest was drawn away. My youngest daughter really enjoyed them and the three of us read them, she listened to her brother or I read. This year my youngest has been reading them to me. She now gets a little frustrated that I have not read ahead now, because it often means she reads an extra chapter or two because I cannot tell her what is about to happen. Confirm or refute her guess. This year we found out that my nephews have been reading them and that he was only 1 book ahead of us. He is reading the physical books and we are reading the eBook editions. This is a great story in a wonderful series. It is one of my favorites. My youngest daughter is insistent that we will read the whole series. And she has spent her reading challenge money buying all the kindle editions that are available. Including Griffin’s Guide for Dragon Masters.

This series really has staying power. I have read some of the stories 4 or 5 times now. And have been reading them for over 4 years. And I still enjoy the stories as do my children. My son who thought he had outgrown these stories has been sitting in and listening to his sister read them to me again lately. It is also great to know that my brother’s family loves them as much as ours. It is fascinating to watch the kids interact and compare notes about the books that they are both reading. And to predict what will happen next based on the endings of the book, or title of the next as we queue it up.

One of the best things about this series is that it is a true series. In that each story builds upon the next. The stories are strong enough to be read on their own, but as a whole we get to watch the growth of the group as they come together as a team and learn to work together and support each other. We see some characters come in and out of the stories. At the end there is usually a hint, or a hook for the next story. In this one we meet new dragon master named Lukas and his dragon Maj, we also find out that Lukas was not Maj’s first dragon master. We find out that he is becoming a clockmaker to help with the workings of the chrono device Maj rests upon. For in this story Maj can transport not only to places but times. And the whole reason they are looking for Maj’s help is to free the people trapped in time in the wall at Maldred’s workshop. But things do not go exactly as planned. And Drake ends up meeting a new creature, an Imp, and gets flung across time and space. Now all alone he must find a way to get back to the others and complete the mission they started.

This is the first volume illustrated by Daniel Griffo. I believe Daniel is the seventh illustrator so far for the series. The illustrations keep a consistent feel and look. But each artist leaves their own mark on the books they work on. Some illustrations stand alone and some wrap around the text and span two-page spreads. And my daughter absolutely loved the cover of this one. And when we got to the image of the time dais, she spent a lot of time examining the device. My daughter loved the drawings of the time dragon. These are some of my favorite illustrations in the whole series.

This is a great read in a wonderful series. They are fun books for readers both young and young at heart. They can be enjoyed over and over again. I am impressed with the staying power of this series. After multiple reads over several years I still really enjoy returning to the Dragon Masters. And look forward too many more reads in this series, as my daughter is insistent, she will read them all to me! This book was given a quick and solid it 5/5 stars from both of us! A great read in an excellent series.