The Dragon's Price

November 1, 2016
Formulaic fantasy-romance enlivened by an innovative take on dragon treasure. After a childhood marked by her mother's hatred and her father's beatings, which scarred her legs but not her heart, 16-year-old Sorrowlynn, like every Faodarian princess (evidently white and generally blonde and blue-eyed, aside from light-brown-haired Sorrowlynn), must pledge her willingness to marry a barbaric Antharian prince to save their countries from the fire dragon (a pact whose origin only nominally makes sense). When she refuses, she, with handsome Antharian horse lord Golmarr, must face and defeat the dragon to survive. The dragon's treasure is knowledge; killing the dragon transfers to Sorrowlynn everything the dragon and his centuries of victims ever knew. The remainder of the novel includes a few set-piece adventures, kissing, much banter about lustful feelings, and finally facing another dragon, whose treasure is hatred. There is little to make this stand out; Sorrowlynn's journey is the standard girl-power arc done better by such authors as Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore, foreshortened by the magical knowledge dump; Golmarr (of the "long black hair" and skin like "caramel-colored silk") is the classic (exoticized and problematic) noble barbarian, whose darker-skinned people are in touch with the earth and their feelings. Oh, and it's first in a series. Skip. (Fantasy. 12-16)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-A coming-of-age story of a princess who must make a terrible choice between being eaten by a dragon and marrying the prince from a neighboring enemy clan. Somewhat illogically, she chooses the dragon. Fortunately, the prince follows her into the dragon's underground cavern, rescues her in the nick of time, and carries her off to his homeland. During their travels, they fall in love, of course, and decide to do everything they can to save his kingdom from the dragon's kin, who are hell-bent on revenge. There is very little originality in this slight fantasy: prince (check), princess (check), bad dragon (check), cruel father (check). On the plus side, there is a nice dynamic between the two protagonists, and the growth of their affection for each other is well paced. Wiggins also wrote the popular "Stung" series. VERDICT A flawed but serviceable tale for readers looking for new fantasy works about princes, princesses, and dragons.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2016
Grades 8-10 Sorrowlynn, the unfortunately named fourth princess of Faodara, is destined to die by her own handquite unlike her elder sisters, who are prophesied to be beautiful, joyful, and peaceful. On her sixteenth birthday, tradition demands she sacrifice herself as either a bride to an enemy prince or bait to a great fire dragon. That she effectively chooses neither surprises the entire nation, as well as Sorrow herself. What follows is an exciting and magical adventure, with heaping helpings of romance added in the form of horse lord Golmarr, the youngest Prince of Anthar who was almost Sorrow's betrothed. The characters take a while to grow, which makes for a slow burn, but the ending is left open, and readers will certainly be on board for the long haul. There are definite parallels between Sorrowlynn and Daenerys from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series in that both are timid girls forced to become fierce. This novel is fitting for teens not yet ready for those thousand-page epics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Princess Sorrowlynn must offer herself in marriage to an enemy prince to renew the spell confining the terrible fire dragon--or else sacrifice herself to the beast. Standing up for herself for once, sheltered Sorrow chooses sacrifice to the dragon, whom she faces with aid from the spurned prince, Golmarr. While the standard-issue fantasy continues long after it might have ended, Sorrow's growing self-awareness is captivating.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)