Again, I have to apologize: I'm not the target audience for this middle-grade story. But I wish I had had this when I was that young; it's fun!
Ciara lives in a small poor village in the Empire; her father is dead and her mother is sick, both because of the mining they are forced to do for the Emperor. Desperate to get the medicine her mother needs, they sell all they have to pay the Warden (the Emperor's representative). But the puss-filled butt (Ciara's words, not mine) lied.
Long ago, there were Dragons. And there was a Dragon Mage who negotiated an agreement with the Dragons to never hurt humans, and to help them all learn magic. Then both the Mage and the Dragons disappeared. It was so long ago, the only record that remains is what was written by the first Emperor. According to the legend, they were all overcome and destroyed by some nasty creatures called Revenants because someone who wasn't worthy tried to use magic and manifested them. Thereafter, the Emperor declared that only those descended from the Dragon Mage's apprentices were legally allowed to use magic. But he, the Emperor, was the only surviving apprentice. Or was he…?
Ciara finds an ancient journal in an abandoned tower and the book is obviously magic. It follows her around and generally acts like an entitled pet. But there's no magic in it that she can discern. Nevertheless, when the Warden arrives in town in search of said book, she deliberately hides it. And since the Warden has stated he won't leave until the book is found, the town is saddled with his abuse and corruption. And then one day, her finger idly traces a drawing in the book, a drawing that just suddenly appeared; and she is shocked to find a full-sized Dragon appear. The Dragon is a little confused; the tower appears unused and abandoned and yet in his memory, he's only been gone three weeks. He can also sense his apprentice, Bianca, but she's nowhere to be found - just a thin draggled waif of a girl. It takes Ciara quite a bit of effort to convince the Dragon, Scorch, that he's been gone a thousand years. But at the same time, she's delirious with joy to actually meet a Dragon.
But doom soon follows. Someone saw her and the book and told the Warden. He and his guard arrive and arrest both her and her mother. Ciara runs and escapes but her sick mother is on her way to a dungeon. Given just the barest hint of how magic works sends Ciara haring off to save her mother. But it's harder than she thought. Desperate to find a way to save her mother she tries to bargain with a cranky Dragon who just wants to be shed of her so he can search for answers to the disappearance of his Mage, his apprentice and all the other Dragons. If Scorch won't take her on as an apprentice, she has little hope of mastering enough magic to make a difference. But when Scorch figures out who she really is; his attitude changes.
This was a terrific, adorable story. Any kid who dreams of being a hero, seeing a real Dragon, and solving a thousand-year-old mystery should love this. And while most readers would expect a wholesome outcome, it was better than I expected. And, best of all, we learned new things at the end that will definitely entice the reader into the next story. ~~ Catherine Book
