Title: Dragonwatch: Master of the Phantom Isle

Author: Brandon Mull

Series: Dragonwatch #3 [Fablehaven #8]

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Rating: 2/5 stars

The Overview: Cursed by the Key of Forgetting, Seth has lost all memory of his past—his relationships, his experiences, and who he really is. For now he will align with his new mentor, Ronodin, the dark unicorn, who takes him to the Phantom Isle, the secret gateway to the Under Realm. Though Seth is not formally a prisoner, Ronodin wants to use him and his shadow charmer powers for his own dark ends. Kendra is frantic to find her missing brother, but the quest will take her and her companions, including Warren, Tanu, and Vanessa, far from Wyrmroost to Crescent Lagoon—a recently fallen dragon sanctuary made up of many islands and underwater domains. Its caretaker has regained a foothold on one of the islands. If Kendra and her friends can save that sanctuary, they might uncover the answers they need to rescue Seth. With each sanctuary the dragons overthrow, Celebrant, the Dragon King, comes closer to the dawn of a new Age of Dragons. With the forces of darkness on the march, can Kendra and her allies gather enough power to win the epic dragon war? -Goodreads

The Review:

… I think I’m becoming disenchanted with this series.

Something has changed. I can’t put my finger on precisely what that is (or can I?) but the exciting, evoking sense of wonder this author dazzled me with in his first five books has diminished.

I have a few theories.

1. Plot. Or rather, a lack thereof. It seems to me like there isn’t enough meaningful forward-progression of story to sustain the page count so far. It’s an endless stream of practically identical encounters and hollow “choose your own adventure” formulas that just isn’t giving me enough to sink my teeth into.

2. Telling vs Showing. This book was a strong example of explaining to a reader why this magical island is so cool… why that plant over there is dangerous. Instead of taking a moment to actually explore the island… and letting someone get eaten by that plant, lol. Everything seemed more a means to an end rather than something to be enjoyed for itself.

3. Am I too old? Does this repetitive, surface-level formula appeal to middle grade readers, and I simply cannot appreciate it anymore? I had the same exact issues with Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series. And yet, I didn’t with the original Percy Jackson books. Which is interesting because both series I’m questioning are continuations. Like the authors needed to keep producing because of demand, but the initial spark and creative vision had already been exhausted, so they’re relying on storytelling formulas instead of passion…

4. Too much explanation!! This goes along with #2. My assessment of this story was that it was about 75% one character explaining how things work to another character, 15% one character negotiating and making specific deals with every monster they come across, and only 10% of exciting plot-advancement. And I’m not even trying to be dramatic with those figures – it’s really how the story read to me.

I’m torn! I love the whole concept of the dragon sanctuary! It was my favorite setting from the original five books. However, the drama between the sanctuary masters and the dragons is losing steam with each encounter and narrow escape. I want to be into this series so much, but I have to admit that something just isn’t clicking for me anymore. I will probably still finish the series because I want to see how it resolves, but I’m not as excited to.

Recommendations: um… okay, so I can’t recommend these at this point. I haven’t found any real sustainable value in continuing on from the original five books. The plot has become too drawn out and formulaic for my tastes. I’d say if you haven’t read the author – read books 1-5 (amazing!), but if you’ve been wondering whether to continue… I can’t recommend these with confidence other than for nostalgia purposes.

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