The Secrets of Droon Special Edition 8 – The Final Quest

Tony Abbott's The Final Quest is a huge, dramatic Droon adventure for 7 year olds with the whole of Droon at stake.

What happens

The moon dragon Gethwing is burning Droon, village by village. His final attack on Jaffa City is only about thirty hours away. And Eric Hinkle is riding on his back.

Eric's in disguise. The dragon thinks he's still Prince Ungast, his evil second in command, so Eric is spying from right inside the enemy army (in purple armour that doesn't even fit). He has to work out how to stop a dragon that can't die.

It's packed with brilliant Droon moments. A fountain of stones rebuilds itself into a ship with red sails. Then it shoots up a castle tower on a torrent of water, all the way into our world. A wooden chest turns out to be the size of a whole room inside, with rugs and lanterns and Eric's friends hiding in it.

Then Eric's own mum and dad turn up on top of a dam, waving sticks at the purple bad guy. When he takes his helmet off, his mum bursts into tears and hugs him. It's funny and very sweet at the same time.

Neal is as silly as ever. Riding up the tower feels like being shot out of a fire hose, he says. And he only remembers one thing from a school trip to the dam, which is the ham sandwiches.

There's a war on in this one, so it's a bit darker. Villages burn and frightened children run from a castle under attack. Nothing is lingered on, though, and the friends are all together again.

This book is a long way into the Droon series, and it leans on everything that's gone before. There's a prophecy, a magic medallion, three wizard brothers and a LOT of history. A child who knows Droon will be thrilled to see it all come together. A child who's new to it might feel a bit lost.

What to read next

So if they're new, start where it all began with The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet. Eric, Julie and Neal are clearing out a messy basement when a soccer ball rolls into a little closet, and the floor turns into stairs.