The Unintentional Hero: A Book Review of Donita K. Paul's "DragonSpell"

A young girl has lived virtually her entire life as a slave—that is, until she is called by the land's creator and ruler to undertake a dangerous mission to rescue stolen dragon eggs.
DragonSpell is the first book of the teen DragonKeeper series. The series is not too well known, though it was named 2005's Christy Honor Book.

SUMMARY

   Kale Allerion has lived all her life as a slave. Her masters are not necessarily cruel, but Kale's situation is certainly not what you would call a wonderful existence. One day, she is freed to go to the Hall, where people are trained to serve Paladin, the counterpart of Wulder. The book opens with Kale travelling to the capital city Vendela, talking to a farmer.

   Eventually, she must obey Wulder by reclaiming dragon eggs stolen by the evil wizard Risto. The rest of the book follows her adventures on the way to Risto's castle, accompanied by her new friends Dar, Leetu Bends, and some dragons. Also, along the way she learns about Wulder and what it means to obey him.

   The climax of the story is surprising and exciting!

CONTENT

   DragonSpell has some violence in the same vein as The Chronicles of Narnia series. While there is injury, death, and battles, it is not too detailed. Fans of C.S. Lewis' work will recognize a similar approach to this violence.

   There is no sexual content at all, which I was pleased with.

   I recall no foul language anywhere in the book.

   There is the use of spells in this book, and some of the characters are wizards (good and bad, according to the story). There are also some scenes where the heroes speak to each other through their minds. DragonSpell is definitely a Christian book, though if a parent is concerned with magic and how their child will react to it, they might want to either pre-read the book or find a different one. The magic contained in the book is similar to The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. It is not real witchcraft and is meant to be something entirely different than sorcery and dark magic.

   It is rare to find a series written for teens that is clean and also presents a Christian worldview. Donita K. Paul's DragonKeeper series does just this! I really enjoyed DragonSpell, as I also enjoyed the following books in the series. It will appeal to both boys and girls, which is another plus. 

   Paul's writing style made me feel like I was really in the magical land, and any author that can do that is a favorite of mine! 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Number of pages: 339 

Author of book: Donita K. Paul

Published in: 2004

First in a five-book series

Primary audience: Pre-teens, teens