Dragon Magic

Rating:
Summary: 4 tales of dragons, in various flavors
Review: Sig Dortmund, Ras (a.k.a. George Brown, but his older brother has persuaded him not to answer to that), Artie Jones, and Kim Stevens are the only boys in their age group who catch the bus outside the abandoned house on the extra-long run from the new development to their school. Each is lonely for one reason or another, but each keeps to himself. Until one by one, they sneak into the old archeologist's abandoned house, searching for hidden treasure. The only interesting thing is a 4-piece dragon puzzle, lying abandoned on a table. One by one, each assembles one quarter of the puzzle, and relives the history of that particular dragon, learning things that allow them to work together as a team in the end.

"Fafnir (Sig Clawhand)" - Sig Clawhand's deformed hand made him an outcast at Mimir Master-Smith's forge, where he lived and worked as a potboy. Only Sigurd King's-Son, working at the forge on the strength of Mimir's Foresight, has ever befriended him, and never called him 'Clawhand'. Thus it is that when Sigurd ventures forth against the dragon Fafnir, Sig fares forth as his faithful shadow.

"Sirrush-Lau (Prince Sherkarer)" - The lau, the demon-monster of the swamplands, brought ill luck to Napata upon its capture - the city was taken by the Babylonians, who took the lau back to Babylon as tribute. Sherkarer, a junior prince of the royal house of Napata and now a slave, is the only survivor of the original hunting party, so he has been taken along as the expert on the care and feeding of the lau (called sirrush by the Babylonians). But the Babylonian priests have made a wager concerning sirrush-lau with one of the king's advisors, and Sherkarer's only hope is to humble his pride and work with this strange enemy of the priesthood - a man called Daniel...

"Pendragon (Artos, son of Marius)" - Artos, the Pendragon, is the only thing standing between the realm and a long fall into barbarism, in these latter days after the fall of Rome, but he faces rebellion. Young Artos, the son of one of the Pendragon's faithful supporters, chances to learn of a conspiracy, and acts as a messenger to try to warn the king in time.

"Shui Men Lung - Slumbering Dragon (Chin Mu-Ti)" - The Emperor's canny old advisor might have looked half-asleep, but he was about as safe as the slumbering dragon he was called. When a general under his command rashly stakes his head as a wager on the success of a risky campaign, the old 'dragon' must salvage the situation.

Rating:
Summary: Four Boys, Four Cultures, Four Dragons
Review: This is Norton for the younger reader-- about 5th grade to 9th grade. Four boys descended from four different cultures but all now living in the same neighborhood in the United States, assemble a puzzle that lets each of them have an adventure based on the dragon of each culture. In dealing with these dragons each boy learns an important lesson about cooperation and tolerance.

While the young adult reader may find this book a tad simplistic compared to Norton's adventure stories, this book can be a perfect way to introduce a reader at the appropriate level to the many worlds of Andre Norton.

Rating:
Summary: Four Boys, Four Cultures, Four Dragons
Review: This is Norton for the younger reader-- about 5th grade to 9th grade. Four boys descended from four different cultures but all now living in the same neighborhood in the United States, assemble a puzzle that lets each of them have an adventure based on the dragon of each culture. In dealing with these dragons each boy learns an important lesson about cooperation and tolerance.

While the young adult reader may find this book a tad simplistic compared to Norton's adventure stories, this book can be a perfect way to introduce a reader at the appropriate level to the many worlds of Andre Norton.