Book Review: The Dragondain by Richard Due, Illustrated by Carolyn Arabascio

The Dragondain written by Richard Due and illustrated by Carolyn Arabascio is the second book in the Moon Realm middle grade fantasy series. Lily has returned from her trip to the Moon Realm and sent Jasper to take his turn, but he slept through most of her instructions and explanations. When Jasper wakes up, groggy and confused, he thinks that the Rinn that surround him are part of a dream. Quickly Jasper wakes up fully and follows Lily's path to two of the moons, discover more than he could have dreamed about his Uncle Ebb's tales. Can he convince those of Rinn and Dain that working together might be thier only hope, and can he get closer to Dubb's daughter Darce without her inflicting bodily harm? Lily gets a return trip to Dain and things begin to spin further out of control.

The Dragondain is a fantastic followup to The Moon Coin. The adventure and characters continue on in full color. I will admit to being completely hooked on this series, and eager for the next installment. However, even with the fantastic world building and solid character development, I did have two things that left me uphappy at the end of the book. First, I would love to see Jasper get a little more screen time, which will happen to at least some degree in the next installment, judging by the ending of this one. I also was less than thrilled with how much was left in the air. Cliffhanger and quite a few unresolved issues that left me looking for more, but slightly dissatisfied. I do not mind aspects of a cliffhanger, but there were just so many things that I know I will have to wait to discover without many solid answers to balance that effect. I still loved the book, but wanted at lest one more chapter for a smidge of resolution before moving on to the next installment.

I highly recommend the Moon Realm series, but before reading The Dragondain,  readers must first read The Moon Coin or they will be lost. Readers should also be prepared for the story to continue further, because The Dragondain  is by no means the end of this story.