From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: Review of The Royal Order of Fighting Dragons by Dan Elish

Author: Dan Elish

Publisher: Vesuvian Books

Date of publication: August 2018

Ike Rupert Hollingsberry is haunted by the past because complete strangers won’t let him forget when his famous father died on the set of The Fighting Dragons, a cult favorite that still has people talking.

But when he’s attacked by a large locust, like the one that killed his dad, Ike is helped by the geekiest nerd of all, Elmira Hand.

Killing the giant locust was only the beginning of the surprises in store for Ike as he is whisked away from New York City to an isolated Florida compound to assume his role as the next in line to lead the Royal Order of the Fighting Dragons—that are NOT supposed to exist—and learns his dad’s death was a cover-up for a far greater purpose …

If you didn't know by now, I am a HUGE advocate for the importance of reading, especially among children. I am always on the lookout for books that will interest middle grade level readers, because that is the age I feel like we tend to lose them. The Royal Order of the Fighting Dragons is a new middle grade adventure that I know will be a favorite among those kids who love fantasy adventure stories.

The characters were fun. Ike was a very relatable 11 year old boy. His father was killed in an accident while filming a TV show. People keep trying to give him their conspiracy theories. Ike just wants to people to forget and think of him as ordinary. I loved how he immediately rose to the occasion when he was forced to fight. The rest of the cast of characters added to the flavor of the book. The story is filled with some twists and nail biting action scenes. Even the first scene with the giant locust was pretty intense. The story is clean and kid appropriate. I do recommend checking this one out. I was sucked in right away. What more could adventure readers want than a secret society, dragons, swords and giant locusts?

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound

About Dan Elish

Dan Elish is the author of the novel Nine Wives (St. Martins Press, 2005) and The Misadventures of Justin Hearnfeld (2008), both published by St. Martins Press. Dan is also the author of Born Too Short, Confessions of an 8th Grade Basket Case, which was picked as a Book for the Teenage 2003 by the New York Public Library and won a 2004 International Reading Association Students’ Choice Award. He has also written several other novels for young adults including, The School for the Insanely Gifted, The Attack of the Frozen Woodchucks, 13, The Worldwide Dessert Contest, Jason and the Baseball Bear, and The Great Squirrel Uprising. “13,” the musical for which he co-wrote the book with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown ran on Broadway from September 16, 2008 through January 4, 2009. In his career, Dan has also written non-fiction books for young adults, scripts for kids’ TV shows (in particular Cyberchase (PBS)), music and lyrics for six musicals, funny corporate videos, and played piano for various Off-Broadway productions. He has received fellowships and scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and is a member of the Dramatist Guild. Dan lives in New York City with his wife, daughter and son.

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