Review
Title: Legend of the Dragon Slayer: The Origin Story of Dragonwatch
Author: Brandon Mull
Illustrated by: Brandon Dorman
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Year Published: 2021
Number of Pages: 57
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1629728490
Price: 19.99
Reviewed by Heather Harris Bergevin for the Association of Mormon Letters
When I began reading Legend of the Dragon Slayer: The Origin Story of Dragonwatch, it became obvious reasonably quickly that this brief book felt like a self-insert of the author’s family. This isn’t, though, always a bad thing in writing. Many brilliantly done books, from Winnie the Pooh to Alice in Wonderland, are stories woven around the author’s children’s (or friend’s children’s) lives and with their personalities as the characters. I write that way, myself, at times, so I was interested to see how Mull would incorporate his family into the storyline.
The purpose of this book series is to become the Origin story in the world-building of the Dragon Watch series, which I’m becoming more familiar with as I go along. My children missed it, some being too old and others too young when it began. The book has beautiful, full-color illustrations and is printed on heavyweight paper, giving it a heft and “old” feel right off the bat, showing Shadow Mountain’s ongoing dedication to quality production work. This is a lovely book and would make a beautiful gift if your family includes “something to read” in their holiday preparations.
In the story, a young adventurer king goes out and does all of the impossible monster slayings– that of a gorgon, a yeti, and a vampire, bringing back trophies of his kills and gaining fame and fortune at each deed. His reputation grows exponentially, creating for him the title of Legender. He marries the princess, they have beautiful children…and then…another monster has threatened his family, and it’s his job to go out to slay it.
Such a feat should be easy for such a great dragon slayer who knows how to do the many things the stories say he does, right?
But, as stories often are, his might have been embellished a bit when he was young until it got further and further out of control. He never told his wife, not in all of their years of marriage. The lies and conflagration might have, perhaps, been more overwhelming to deny than to accept. She accepts all of this readily, having suspected, in case that bothers you a bit. It is a fairytale, however!
How, then, knowing he was a liar and not capable of his mighty deeds, will he protect his family and his people?
He does, of course, prevail in the end, using the trophies collected from his former travels.
For children who like to have future books teased, various legendary dragonslayers from this world-building are detailed at the end of the book, along with the family of the Dragonslayer. A beautiful map is included at the beginning of the book as well. My instinct is that these will be used as further characters in more stories of this kind. The book itself is both beautifully made and has a storybook feel, with varied illustrations within. There are lovely, though not too terrifying, pictures of the monsters involved and of the final dragon to be slain. Dorman does a great job finding that balance between too scary and bland– the monsters must be seen as threatening or else why would they need slaying? His pencil drawings are engaging and characters expressive. I would be interested if the writer and illustrator, in doing more of the series, chooses to illustrate varying dragonslayers as not being white men, but including both women and people of color, as I suspect they intend. The final illustration gives this hope that the family of dragonslayers include the women of the family, not just the sons. As somebody raising daughters and having been raised as somewhat of a dragonslayer myself, this is particularly important to me. Representation is important, and in their varying lists of future books of the series, I could see the option to include people of color and varying cultures.
This story will hit best for kids between 5-11, depending upon whether or not you want to read aloud to younger children. Older children might not be as interested, but if they already enjoy the Dragonwatch series, they might still be engaged. It is brief for a chapter book, and long for a picture book, which is important to realize when ordering. However, there’s a sweet spot for children who love moral fables, and if your children also love monster slayers, this book is for you. If they prefer monster tamers, you might need to skip this grouping.