Dragon Orb: Shadow, by Mark Robson

[Patrick Mahon]

Rating: 8/10 – a fun and exciting read.

This is the second volume in Mark Robson’s Dragon Orb series, following on from Firestorm, which came out last summer.

Shadow is the name of a night dragon, ridden (on Areth, a parallel Earth) by Pell, an arrogant and headstrong young man. In this book, it is his turn to find the second of four dragon orbs, without which the Dragon Oracle will die, taking the future of dragon-kind with it.

Pell abandons his three fellow dragon-riding companions from the first book, in order to seek the night orb on his own. But he makes a big mistake by assuming that he will be helped in his quest by Segun, the leader of the night dragon enclave. When he is taken prisoner by Segun, it looks like Pell’s quest may be over almost before it has begun.

Can Elian, Kira, Nolita and their three dragons help him to escape? And if they can, where will they go to find the night orb? Will they have to travel to our Earth through the mysterious gateway that Elian’s dragon can produce, and face the biplanes of World War One again, to escape from Segun’s clutches?

Mark Robson has built on the firm basis of Firestorm, and added another layer of excitement to the adventure. The story is tightly plotted, with countless twists and turns – not least as we start to question the purpose of the dragon orbs, the Oracle, and the quest itself. And the way the story is brought to a conclusion, using Mark’s knowledge of flying to ramp up the tension in the final chapters, is real edge-of-the-seat stuff.

A fine YA fantasy, which builds on the promise of the first volume. I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Patrick.