Dragon Hero: Riders of Fire Book 2
Eileen Mueller
Phantom Feather Press
pub. 2018

15 March, 2021

Dragon Hero: Riders of Fire is an outstanding book containing action and suspense, giving you a heart pounding feeling that makes you want to keep turning the pages! The author is Eileen Mueller and it was published in 2018. She explains small moments with lots of detail, and the book contains fierce dragons, deadly enemies and characters that make it so intense and amazing.

The story is about a teenager named Tomaaz, a Lush-Valley boy that discovers dark secrets that change his life forever. He finds out that his parents, Hans and Marlies, were dragon riders, but they ran away to Lush-Valley, covering a dark secret that they tell him when times get unpleasant. Tomaaz, filled with shock, was only told the dark secret when his twin sister, Ezaara, was abducted by the dragon queen of Dragons-Hold, where Hans and Marlies used to live. Then Marlies and Hans tell a secret that takes them all on a journey.

Marlies goes to the dragon queen Zaarusha to see she has laid her eggs.  Marlies tells Zaarusha that she can care for her eggs while she goes hunting. As she flies away, Marlies notices something about one of the eggs – a purple dragonet, small and fragile. The purple dragonet wakes, humming to her.

“The dragonet pushed against the thin gold membrane, seeking her. First its snout, then its body. Its crooning got louder. Was it calling her?” Marlies then touched the dragon egg, a “heartbeat pulsing through the membrane, making her fingers tickle,” The dragonet’s pulse grew stronger, energy running through her arms to her body. But then it stopped. “The dragonet was lying on its back, floating in the shell, its wings limp beneath it. She pressed her hand against the shell. No hum. No Pulse. “Please, please no.” Her voice caught. She rubbed her hands against the shell, willing the dragonet to move. But there was only silence. Stillness. Nothing beneath her hands. Marlies mouth opened and shut. With a strangled sob, she fled.”

Amazing, isn’t it? Hooked in already? Because of this, she flees with her husband Hans to Lush-Valley, and they have kids, who they name Tomaaz and Ezaara. Marlies has to repay Zaarusha by bringing back Zaarusha’s son, who is captive in the main enemy’s place, Death-Valley. The leader of Death-Valley is Zens, an evil being who creates these deadly monsters called Tharuks, who terrorize villages, captivating the people inside, to be used as slaves in Death-Valley.

There are many types of Tharuks; normal ones with red eyes, Tharuks that can track down enemies by their scent and a Tharuk so deadly I can’t tell you what’s being created as it may ruin your time reading the amazing book.

The whole family gets dragged into the face of death itself, weaving through the deadly forests, pathways and villages. Ezaara gets abducted, Marlies goes by herself towards the gruesome Death-Valley and Tomaaz and his dad Hans face deadly situations.

The amazing and creative words of this story take you on a journey yourself, weaving through the book with Tomaaz and his family. The books’ many genres make your mind swirl. Action, suspense, fantasy and a heart-warming storyline that makes your heart beam.

This was an amazing story, and I hope it amazes you too.

• Mervin Athan Pablo is 12 and lives in Christchurch.