Hey everyone! I’m back with the CSFF Blog Tour and this month we are reviewing Dragons of the Valley by Donita K. Paul (you can also find her blog here). Donita K. Paul is one of the forefront writers of Christian fantasy for young adults. I first saw her book (Dragonspell) in a Christian bookstore about five years ago and couldn’t believe what I saw: a cover with a dragon on it… in a Christian bookstore no less! I bought the book and read it.
I’ll admit I did not realize it was for young adults (it had been placed in the adult fiction section), so when I read it, I was disappointed. It wasn’t the quality of the book but my expectations for something more along the lines of Terry Brooks or Terry Goodkind. This time around, I readjusted my expectations. I approached the book as my younger, twelve year old self. And loved it!
Cool Factor: There is cool stuff all over in Dragons of the Valley! From tall O’Rants, to beautiful Emerlindians who begin life with pale skin and hair, but as they age, they grow darker, and Kimens (I like to think of them as pixies of light). And of course, you can’t forget dragons! I think my favorite are the minor dragons (tiny dragons about the size of a house cat who serve multiple purposes such as healing, singing, and organizing).
Tomorrow I will take a look at the Writing Factor. Until then, click on the links below to see what other CSFF Bloggers are saying about Dragons of the Valley:
In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Morgan L. Busse 
Oh, yeah, I give Donita an A+ in the cool factor. I called it “inventiveness” over at Spec Faith.
I can see why DragonSpell didn’t meet your expectations. In all fairness to the book store where you found it, all Donita’s books are marketed as “for all ages” (this comes up every tour 😉 ), so some proprietors put it with YA and some with adult. I was in one store once and found the first in the series in one section and the next two in the other.
Becky
I’ve seen this discussed before (it seemed to come up a lot in the last tour done with the Wolf of Tebron) that how one approaches the book can determine how much one will like it. Its like reaching for your cup at the dinner table without looking, expecting milk, and taking a drink of pepsi. I like both, but when you’re expecting milk, the pepsi doesn’t taste as good lol.
I did not realize this book is toted for all ages. That makes sense, it is definitely a book I would read and also let my son read (he was eyeballing it on my desk, almost have him convinced lol). I’ll admit I’m more partial to more darker, heavier themes that would not be for all ages.