Dragons of Chiril, Donita K. Paul

OK, I’ll admit that when I first got this book, I was extremely disappointed. And it had nothing to do with the book itself. I love the book. That was the problem. I already owned the book, under its previous title: The Vanishing Sculptor.

I’m really not sure why they rereleased this book with a new title, except perhaps that it fits better with the second book in the series, The Dragons of the Valley. Since the author, the fantastic Donita K. Paul, had the similar-name thing going with her first series (DragonSpell, DragonQuest, DragonKnight, DragonFire, and DragonLight) perhaps they wanted to do something similar here.

Anyway, enough about that.

The actual book itself is delightful. For those of you who have read the Dragon Keeper Chronicles, you’ll love this series because Fenworth is back!! He’s easily my favorite character in the original series, so to see him return in these books is wonderful.

Set in a time before the adventures of Kale Allerion (as documented in the Dragon Keeper Chronicles,) and on a continent far removed from Amara, The Dragons of Chiril follows Tipper, a young emerlindian whose father has disappeared.

When he suddenly returns, bringing with him inexplicable—and extremely hilarious, in my opinion—guests from the other side of the world, and a knowledge of someone—make that Someone—called Wulder, Tipper is thrust into an adventure she never could have foreseen. The fabric of their world is unraveling, and the fate of their reality rests on Tipper and her friends as they seek three statues carved from the vital foundation stone of the world.

Ok…so, it sounds a little crazy. And it is a bit hard to follow. The best way to describe it would be to say, “Young girl sets off with rag-tag troupe of loyal, humorous friends on an epic adventure to save the world.” There. Nice and neat in less than twenty words. But that only barely scratches the surface of this story.

This book is a wonderful addition to Donita K. Paul’s lexicon. She’s such a clever and funny writer (remember my review of Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball? Still one of my favorite books) that anything she puts out is a delight to read. As I said, it’s sometimes a bit hard to follow—and I’ll admit that this one took me a bit longer to get into than the Dragon Keeper books did. Maybe because Kale was a more relatable character or something…I’m not really sure if I could pin it down.

But by the time Fenworth and Librettowit show up, I was hooked. The dialog that goes back and forth between these two and the character of Beccaroon (a talking parrot) is just to die for—for example (and this is from pages 49-50):

(Fenworth accuses Librettowit of helping to “disrupt the universe”)

“Don’t you go accusing me! I’m not the sculptor. I’m a librarian, not a wizard either. Seems you should have surmised the danger.”

Fenworth glowered. “Wizards do not predict the future.”

Librettowit scowled. “But it was a wizard who chose the anchor for the gateway. If I had anything to do with it, it was only that I did as you told me. ‘Hold this tight!’ ‘Stick this through that loop.’ ‘Twist this together with that.’ Do I even sound like I know what’s going on? No! And I don’t. Theory, I understand. Application is all up to you, Fenworth.” He shuddered. “Don’t give me any of this ‘we’ disturbed the universe.”

“Excuse me,” said Beccaroon. “Could we start at the beginning?”

“Good idea!” The wizard shuffled toward the vanity bench. “Mind if I sit while you explain?”

…“Not at all. I have no intention of beginning.” [Beccaroon said.]

“Then why am I sitting? Why am I drinking?” [Fenworth] held up a finger. “Don’t tell me. I know. I am sitting because I am old and tired. I am drinking because I am thirsty.” He let his hand drop to his knee. “Enough about me.”


Ok, so it’s an example that needs some context to understand…maybe you don’t think it’s funny. But I think is genius. I love the friendship—cantankerous but sincere and loyal—between Wizard Fenworth and his librarian Librettowit. Honestly, I loved these characters, and the other secondary ones (like the artist tumanhoffer Bealomondore or the minor dragons, which never fail to please and delight) even more than I loved the main character of Tipper.

This is a wonderful book, as I said. Not quite as phenomenal as Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball or as amazingly-brand-new-and-fantastic as the Dragon Keeper books, but it’s a great romp in halfway familiar territory and a thrilling return of some of my favorite characters in addition to some wonderfully delicious new ones. There, does that convey my enchantment well enough? LOL

The Brownie gives The Dragons of Chiril a nice, comfortable five quills. Thanks, Mrs. Paul, for another great adventure.

~Brownie

Disclaimer: The Brownie got this book for free from the publisher in return for the review you read above. Now ignore this annoying postscript and go on about your lives, citizens.