The Dragonling 5 – Dragon Trouble

Jackie French Koller's Dragon Trouble is the fifth Dragonling book, a dragon adventure for 7 year olds about a boy going back into enemy country to bring his father home.

What happens

A short prologue catches your reader up. Darek, his best friend Pola and Rowena, the Chief Elder's daughter, have made it home from the land of Krad with three young Blue dragons, including Darek's beloved Zantor. But their memories of Krad were wiped while they were there. And their fathers, plus Darek's big brother Clep, went into the Black Mountains after them and never came back.

Zantor is helping. He can send pictures into Darek's and Rowena's minds, and little by little they're remembering. None of it is good. Krad is a smoky, bleak place where Zorians are prisoners.

The mountains are full of poisonous mist, so how can anyone go back? The answer turns up in an old chest in the attic. It's a battle mask that belonged to Darek's great-grandfather, made to filter out dragons' poisonous breath. There are more in the archives at Elder Hall. Getting them means sneaking past the guards, and past the new acting chief, Zarnak, who's grown very fond of the Chief Elder's crown.

What makes this one special is the families. Darek's mum lets him go because she can't stop him, and says so. Rowena's mother turns out to be braver and more on her side than Rowena ever guessed. Then there's Zantor, who's grown so big he can barely fit through the door but still sleeps by Darek's bed.

There's some darkness here, so it's worth a quick look. Zorian law says a child who goes into the Black Mountains can be punished by putting their father to death. Elder Hall has an old dungeon with chains, and dragon skins hung on the walls. Later, a guard strikes Darek hard enough to draw blood. A sensitive reader might find the dragon skins upsetting. One who's already loved the earlier books will be used to Krad's harder edges.

It's also very funny in places. At one point Zantor drinks a potion that makes him stink of rotten eggs (and Darek has to share a bed with him).

What to read next

If they missed the one just before, Dragons of Krad follows Darek and Rowena into the Black Mountains for the first time, hunting for Pola and Zantor.