The Secrets of Droon 31 – Queen of Shadowthorn

Tony Abbott's Queen of Shadowthorn is a Droon adventure for 7 year olds about a young wizard who's lost every bit of his magic and hasn't told his friends.

What happens

Eric, Neal and Julie found the magical world of Droon under Eric's basement ages ago. Julie can fly. Neal's become a time-travelling genie. Eric was well on his way to being a proper wizard.

Then, on their last visit, he borrowed the thorn staff of Salamandra (a sorceress who steals magic) to save everyone. It worked. But it cost him all his powers.

So when a finger of black smoke rises over his house and the three of them head down the rainbow stairs, Eric's dreading it. Everyone's going to find out.

What they see first is Droon's capital burning to the ground. It's a vision, and Salamandra sent it. Now she's back with an offer. Help her find a silver thorn that went missing five hundred years ago, and she'll trap the beast emperor Ko in the past for good.

The catch? The thorn's in the past too. Eric and the wizard Galen get there through a very old book in the town library, and Galen has to disguise himself as Neal to get in. It's SO funny. He tries out all of Neal's favourite words at once and tells Neal's mum he totally loves "basketbase".

Under the jokes, this one has a lot of heart. Eric feels useless without his magic and keeps it to himself. Who hasn't kept quiet about something because they were worried what their friends would think? The best bit is watching him find out that being brave doesn't need sparks shooting out of your fingers.

It does get quite sad in the middle. In the past, Eric sees something terrible happen that matters a lot in Droon's history, and he blames himself for it. It's handled gently, but a sensitive reader might want a hug afterwards.

Salamandra is great fun too. Is she a baddie or isn't she? She jokes and pretends to faint and nobody (including Eric) can work out whose side she's on.

What to read next

There's a lot of Droon history in here that the friends already know. If your reader hasn't been to Droon yet, go back to the very first trip down the hidden stairs, when Julie chases a ball into a little room in Eric's basement and the floor vanishes beneath her.