This book was infinitely better than some of the original books. It's also really dark. I mean, dark is in the name, but the themes are SO DARK. There is a violent murder on page 70 and it just kept getting more and more intense, so if your child is a sensitive soul, this might not be the book for you. If you're an adult reading this book because a nearly twelve-year-old told you to read it, you might learn a little about the maturity level of that child.
This book follows three dragonets: Fathom, Clearsight, and Darkstalker. We know how Darkstalker is going to turn out, but we meet him as an innocent young dragon and then, through a series of decisions that seem to be based on good intentions at the time, turn him into something *ahem* dark. Meanwhile, his friends Fathom and Clearsight are doing all that they can to save his soul. The plot in this book moves along swiftly, the writing is clear, and Sutherland is so invested in this world that I desperately want Universal Studios to create it for me in my world.
I have some nitpicks, of course. There's a bit about how if you don't have children, you might as well be dead, which is an appalling bit of thought to have in a children's book. There's also a funny bit at the end about how dragons aren't evil, just sometimes make bad decisions, which is similar to something that my brother-in-law, a city attorney who prosecutes felonies, says to his kids - they're not bad adults, just adults who made bad decisions. Ha ha ha.
Anyway, if you have a little nerd in your life who likes dragons, you should definitely recommend this to him or her, particularly if they've read other books by Sutherland.
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