About the Book
-
Author:
- Cornelia Funke
- Genres:
- Fantasy
- Middle Grade
- Translations
- Voices:
- Cis Boy
- Cis Girl
- German
- Scottish
- Tibetan Diaspora
Cover Story: Illuminated
BFF Charm: Mixed Bag
Talky Talk: Straight Up With a Side of Mushrooms
Bonus Factors: Awesome Dad, Found Family, Travel
Anti-Bonus Factor: Villains
Relationship Status: Home Base
Cover Story: Illuminated
Firedrake and the title letters are outlined in gold like an illustration of a medieval manuscript. You can’t see it on a screen, but you can on the hardcover version and it’s beautiful. Also, Sorrel is so cute, I’d be tempted to pet her if I didn’t know she’d bite off my fingers.
The Deal:
When a human mining company threatens the habitat of a flock of silver dragons in northern Scotland, a young dragon named Firedrake and his friend Sorrel, a brownie (a catlike creature who loves mushrooms), set out to search for the Rim of Heaven, the silver dragons’ legendary ancestral home in the Himalayas. On the way, they encounter a young boy named Ben and a scientist named Greenbloom who make them rethink their (understandable) distrust of humans. They’re not the only ones looking for the Rim of Heaven, however; the golden dragon Nettlebrand, who drove the silver dragons into hiding centuries ago, is still out hunting for his favorite prey. Can Firedrake and the others find the Rim of Heaven before the enemy does, or will they unwittingly lead him to it and doom an entire species to extinction?
BFF Charm: Mixed Bag
This story is told in third-person omniscient, which means we get to see from almost every character’s point of view. I’m sorry to admit that Ben was “Meh”, as a generic human kid who gets overshadowed by his magical companions. ”Yay” is for Firedrake who, besides being a dragon and therefore inherently cool, is also brave enough to travel the world to save his people, and kind enough to take in a member of the same species (humans) threatening them. “Torn” is for Sorrel, who is fiercely loyal to Firedrake, but a jerk to everyone else. “Heck Yeah” is for Professor Greenbloom (see “Awesome Dad” below). “Hell No” is for Nettlebrand, obviously. The character who stands out the most to me, however, is Nettlebrand’s servant Twigleg. For the life of me, I couldn’t decide which charm to give him, but it would have to be either “Eventually”, “Survivor” or “Let Me Love You”.
Swoonworthy Scale: 0
Professor Greenbloom clearly loves his wife (in a near-death situation, his one regret is never seeing her again), but otherwise there is no romance in this story. See “Platonic Life Partners” below.
Talky Talk: Straight Up With a Side of Mushrooms
Translator Anthea Bell did a great job with this book. Changing some characters’ names was the right call; Sorrel’s original German name is Schwefelfell (“Sulfurfur”), and Firedrake’s is Lung, a Chinese name which doesn’t really work for his Tibetan-Scottish background. Sorrel’s mushroom-inspired insults (“Putrid puffballs! Ghastly greedy girolles!”) are hilarious, especially when she’s cussing out people who have no idea what she’s talking about.
Bonus Factor: Awesome Dad
Professor Barnabas Greenbloom is a scientist who specializes in the study of magical creatures. He believes in them openly even when his colleagues make fun of him. He is raising his daughter Guinevere to be as honest and open-minded as he is, and he respects her opinion; the one time he doesn’t pay attention to her warning, he apologizes at once, When he meets Ben out in the wilderness, he immediately offers help, but respects the child’s autonomy as well.
Bonus Factor: Found Family
Firedrake and Sorrel live together, the dragon protecting the little brownie from predators in return for her healing songs. They need their own species, but they also need each other. Twigleg, on the other hand, is afraid to need anyone. As a homunculus (a pocket-sized artificial man), he is immortal, as long as he only lives for himself; if he ever puts another being first, his lifespan will become tied to theirs, which terrifies him (and no wonder). What I appreciate most is none of these relationships, interspecies or otherwise (except Nettlebrand’s) are ever portrayed as more valid or important than any other.
Bonus Factor: Travel
We start in the Scottish highlands, stop for directions in the canal district of Hamburg, crash-land in the Sahara Desert, and end up at a temple in the Himalayas – and that’s just the places I can remember off the top of my head. There’s an illustrated map on the frontispiece that shows the whole itinerary.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Villains
Nettlebrand is not only a dragon who hunts his own kind, he’s also the sort of boss who literally eats his servants when he gets annoyed with them. Twigleg had eleven brothers once. Now he’s the only survivor, willing to do anything – no matter how unethical – to keep it that way. Because staying alive is all that matters, right? … Right?
Relationship Status: Home Base
Dear Book, honestly, flying on dragon-back would make me seasick, but I could always do what Professor Greenbloom does and offer you a place to stay. Firedrake could curl up in the garden, Sorrel could eat the mushrooms off the trees, Ben could have the guest room and Twigleg could sleep in my dollhouse – but only if he’s not mortally offended by the idea.
Literary Matchmaking
Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina is another dragon tale.
Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing features dragons with great personalities.
Rosaria Munda’s Fireborne also features dragons and the folks that ride them.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. Dragon Rider is available now.
