Rating: 
Summary: A terrible disappointment.
Review: Now, I love dragons and books about dragons, but this book is so bad that it completely overrides that fact. Robin Wayne Bailey should be ashamed for having written such drivel, and iBooks should be ashamed for ever publishing it, or its sequel.I found that this book reads like a poorly-composed (and poorly-edited) story that was written by an eighteen-year-old for his freshman composition class. It tries to be a serious tale of magic and emotion, but the whole thing is simply devoid of any worthwhile purpose. The characters are all predictable puppets with no true depth to them at all. I found that the only character I could adequately realize in my mind was a minor character named Canaan, a lowlife of a human who was the only one who actually seemed realistic in any way. The plotline, while it's at least somewhat original, still feels contrived, and at times it often seems as though there was no previous thought or planning whatsoever on the part of the author. Speaking of the author, I have no idea how this person ever managed to win any awards for his writing. To be frank, Bailey is a moron. He is one of the most ignorant authors I have ever read. He makes it a point that alligators are amphibians instead of reptiles, when it is most assuredly the other way around. He has a unicorn talking about having coupons, and "sending away" for things. He has a hummingbird who makes constant, pointless references to modern concepts, snakes who talk like gigolos (which really annoyed me), and griffins and dragons who can't make up their minds over how to feel about anything. Much of the dialogue doesn't fit at all with the supposed time period or with the characters' personalities, and Bailey obviously knows very little to nothing about particular creatures and species, especially their anatomy (i.e. griffins and birds do NOT have teeth; bobcats aren't the size of lions, nor do they live in prides; and one cannot glide by folding one's wings!). Finally, and I concede this is a very minor point, a lot of the characters have really dumb-sounding names. Overall, this book is simply one of the worst I've ever read, and I was highly disappointed by it. I expected epic fantasy involving dragons, but instead I got a misinformed, rambling Disney movie of a novel, involving various beings who may as well have been human, given their behavior and speech. I would not recommend this book to anyone who reads above a first-grade reading level; not even to die-hard dragon-lovers. Basically, if you thought "Finding Nemo" was a really smart and meaningful film, then you'll probably like this book. Otherwise, leave it on the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: An Alternate Reality
Review: Wow. What a story and adventure. Robin's way of humanizing these dragons and other creatures had me caught up in an alternate reality full of fun. They became so real and human I could identify with many of them from my own perspective. I would catch myself, one minute rolling on the floor laughing at the antics of Bubble, a tiny hummingbird, who just about steals the story, and crying the next. A true fantasy: very Bailey, very good, very worth reading.
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