Title: Dragon Slippers
Series: #1 in a trilogy (followed by Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear)
Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury, 2008
Genre: MG fantasy
How Finch Got It: Her mum bought it for her sister as a means of keeping her busy on a five-hour plane flight. Because Finch reads fast, she "borrowed" it after finishing all the books she'd bought for the same reason.
Synopsis
When Creel's aunt sacrifices her to a dragon, Creel refuses to wait for a knight to rescue her. After bargaining for her escape and winning a pair of blue slippers from the dragon's hoard, Creel sets out to find her own fortune in the king's city. Along the route, she meets and befriends another dragon, who helps her find her way. But when she arrives in the city, strange things start to happen, and Creel realizes that her mysterious slippers are more than just a pair of shoes...
Epistolary Review
Dear Jessica,Thank you, for presenting me with something to bring a smile to my worn-out face on an exhausting day. Um, it was rather fabulous. I appreciate your fresh, creative, smart and funny take on the typical Disney-princess talking-animal story.
I adored your characters, Jessica! Creelisel Carlbrun, your naive and presumptuous protagonist, isn't going to make it onto my list of top ten heroines, but she was undeniably well-written. Well done! And what's more, her narration is appropriate to her age, position, and lifestyle. You're in, what, your thirties? But you pulled off the voice of a confused teenager in a medieval fantasy world. That's what Creel was, and she acted like one. She didn't use too-complex vocabulary or modern slang, and her perspectives on situations weren't unusually advanced.
Your villains were a further improvement. I growled, Jessica! I never growl at villains (because I'm more fond of them than I am of the protagonists)! Yet I was absolutely furious with Princess Amalia, your shallow little villainess, throughout most of the book. And that didn't even compare to Larkin's irritating holier-than-thou attitude. HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE TRAITOR! Jessica, I was very, very annoyed by the fact that her only consequence was life in prison. She ought to have died in a truly gruesome way. Shameful. At least Amalia got the flesh boiled off her bones. That redeemed you for Larkin's lack of a horrible death. Kind of.
Even your more minor characters were deliciously well-developed. I was surprised -- and impressed -- by the fact that Creel's first impressions of Larkin and Marta (an absolute sweetheart, by the way) shifted as the action moved onward. A protagonist's first impression will often, if not always, be correct, and this made a refreshing change. Good for you. Nor was Amalia the ditzy, grating type that she appeared -- no one can be an espionage agent and be stupid, yes? This defiance of two-dimensionality was delightful. You have such good insight into the makeup of human personalities, Jessica.
And your names! Can we just speak about those names for a minute? Where do you get these creations? Creelisel, Shardas, Feniul? Fantastic. And the quirky re-imagining of typical lore! Dragon hoards aren't just gold! No indeed. That would be silly.
Now, let's discuss the things you didn't have good insight into. Prince Luka the Love Interest was terribly adorable with his gallant manners and commoners-are-people-too attitude, but could you get any more two-dimensional? My goodness. Does he have any purpose aside from a) rescuing Creel, b) flirting with Creel, c) giving Creel presents, or d) trying and failing to sacrifice himself for Creel because she's too clever to let that happen? Did you feel you needed to simplify the romance for middle-grade audiences? No, Jessica. Go take a refresher course in Jeanne Birdsall or Eva Ibbotson.
The rampant plot faults were worrying. If the dragons had been so desperate to keep the slippers, they could have! They're house-sized fire-breathing lizards; they can do what they want! Also, Creel could've found time at some point to tell Luka about the dragons, instead of feeling as if she needed to keep them from him! There was no justification for that, which, as a kingdom-wide issue, is most certainly his business! And, Jessica, I am hung up on the whole slipper fiasco. Why did Creel immediately give up on the idea of pawning something to get to the King's Seat when she saw Theoradus's hoard? The first pair of shoes you describe are encrusted with emeralds. She should not have taken the dragonskin slippers. She should've taken the emerald heels and headed for the first pawnshop she saw! But at least you are quite capable of describing a giant cave full of shoes in a mildly diverting fashion.
Predictably, since you wrote this for middle-graders, your plot was relatively straightforward. Aim higher, grasshopper. With a few subplots and perhaps more complex scene structure, this could have been a fabulous YA or adult book reminiscent of Dragonriders of Pern. Your scenes were captivating and vivid, your characters endearing, your dialogue snappy, realistic and touching, and your action well-paced. And you didn't shy away from the dark side of things. Instead, you veered off onto the rare path of killing a protagonist -- or at the very least making your audience believe you did. Life gets tough and gritty and isn't as lighthearted as middle-grade authors would have us believe. Write about death all you like, Jessica!
Impressedly,
Finch
Verdict
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