I have to admit that I put off reading this book for quite a while. It seemed to always be in my “to be reading later when I can maybe..” pile/folder.

When I started I have to admit that it took me a bit to get into the book, but once I start I found I couldnt put it down. Robin Mckinley has an amazing narrator/style that always seems to whisk me away to what ever realm she has created.

The main character is a boy who lives in a modern era where dragons exist and are dwindling, and while they are protected on the nature reserve set aside for them, it is also illegal to either kill OR save a dragon.

The angst of being a teenager who had his mother recently die, and who is the son of the busy nature reserve/zoo director leads to him being able to travel along on a ranger trip in the reserve. He finds a dragon mother that has been shot by a poacher (which is fried) and sees that the babies she had been birthing are all dead except one.

That leads into an incrediable story in which the boy becomes a surrogate mother for a young dragon that while in its infancy looks less romantic and more like a slug and must be kept near the skin of its surrogate mother till it develops. Mother dragons have pouches which they keep their offspring it, a new development that i loved.

Overall, this book is the coming of age of not just a boy but also the baby dragon he raises, and the dragon group that is in the reserve. I love the book, and I would recommend this book for anyone who has or has not yet read Robin Mckinley.

Her world creation is very well done, and her characters no matter their inner neurosis are well developed and appealing (no whiny 2D characters here).

Give the book a read, I highly recommend it.

And if you want something more paranormal, vampire isk, then I STRONGLY encourage anyone to pick up her “Sunshine” book. I am still awaiting to see if she will do a sequel. Sunshine makes the twilight series look like half cooked pancakes in terms of character depth and story development.

Cheers!