Title: Ben the Dragonborn
Author: Dianne Astle
Author: Dianne Astle
Series: Six Worlds (#1)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: November 24th, 2013
Page count: 144
Format: Ebook
Source: Author
Book Summary:
Every night Ben has the same nightmare; two moons in the sky, winged creatures of scale and claw, dark waters closing over his head. Soon Ben will discover that not all dreams are fiction. He must find out who his parents are, what his own powers mean, and if they will be enough to keep those he cares about safe. But first he must find out what secrets hide in the offices of the Head Mistress.
*The Reader’s Review*
My rating: 4/5 stars!
It seems that I forgot how captivating and incredible it is to read middle grade books, until I read and thoroughly enjoyed Ben the Dragonborn. I loved how the worlds are painted, how the characters are bright and so nice to get to know. I adored how much friendship, bravery and teamwork is important and have such a huge role inside the story. It really is a cute and sweet read.
When we meet Ben, we quickly realize he is far from the perfect hero everyone expects to save the day. This boy is clueless to what he is capable of since he has been kept in shadows by the very own special school that trains heroes the Guardian chooses to protect other worlds. When the guardian unexpectedly picks him to go to another world where he has to deal, among other things, with his personal nightmare, no one truly expects for him to accomplish it. However, Ben, packed with two new gifts and a mysterious one possibly on the way, lunges bravely (after the initial shock) to this difficult task.
Ben is absolutely terrified of water. He is the worst swimmer ever, so it’s highly unfortunate for him to be sent into a strange world where 90% of it is water and none of his gifts are of any use to keep himself from drowning. That’s where mermaids and sea creatures come into action, and the whole story becomes one exciting adventure.
I couldn’t stop smiling throughout the whole book, I think it’s really good and it made me feel lighter as I read it. It’s nice to change reading preferences once in a while, YA books sometimes wear me down with the love angst characters usually make me go through and because of this, I can’t focus on the whole adventure. But not with Ben. This book is all for the adventure and forming great bonds of trust and friendship. I’m excited to meet the other worlds that Ben will surely get to travel someday, and most importantly, how he fares with his super cool and born with third gift. I bet you can guess which one it is.
*Please note: I received a digital copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review, I assure everything said here is 100% my own.”
I agree! Sometimes middle grade books are really good, like omg, the False Prince by Jenny A. Neilson (I think) and sometimes they're even better than some YA books.
I haven't heard about the False Prince, I'm gonna look it up! 😀
This sounds like a fun read! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it. Sometimes a change in genre is exactly what we need 🙂
Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.
Yup, I think I must do this more often 🙂
Melissa I love your reviewing! (Gosh I should have asked you to review on my blog before you got your own 😉 ). I enjoy reading other work sometimes too. Have you ever tried picture books? I know it might sound a bit silly for a twenty-year-old but there is something very nice about being able to read a short picture book before bed (nice pictures and one complete story in only a few minutes).
Anyway it sounds like Ben the Dragonborn is a fabulous middle grade work. I'll have to add it to my list!
Darn! I would have loved to. Thanks Kate <3 I actually love reading picture books, I have a lot of them and I treasure them because they were my favorites when I was a child. And I don't think it's silly at all 😀 Sometimes I ask mom to sleep with me and to tell me a bed time story. It still feels magical despite my age. 🙂
Aw! Bed time stories are really precious. I love picture books because the art is so amazing and it is pretty nice to be able to start and finish a book in one short sitting. 🙂
Thank you Melissa for reviewing Ben the Dragonborn. I just tweeted your review and was glad to do so.