DragonLight Review

DragonLight by Donita Paul is the final book in the Dragon Keeper Chronicles. It takes place 5 years after the end of the previous book. Bardon pushes Kale to join him and be a part of Regidor and Gilda’s quest to find the lost Meech dragon colony. To add to their troubles, anew threat arises straight from the people they serve to protect as Paladin’s servants.

I gave this book a 2.5 out of 5 stars. It feels like the characters haven’t changed at all in the last 5 years. They start at the same place as we left them. This just doesn’t work. We also have the same problem as in the previous books where old familiar characters are back and we are supposed to feel attached to them, but I don’t. I do still like Kale and Barden, as well as their interaction (which we get more of than in book 4). But that just isn’t enough to make me really like this book.

Again, like in previous books, the plot sounds interesting and has potential, but falls flat. I didn’t like a few plot choices the author made in this book and felt there were still holes left in the overall series (questions that are never answered). Furthermore, there were many aspects of the plot that were easily predictable. The issues available for her to address in the series that I would have loved to see (like feelings of abandonment and disfunctional parental  and in-law relationships), she never touched on.

This book really was quite a let down for me. I didn’t hate it, but nor did I like it. It was just 'mah'.

As a wrap up for the series as a whole:

It didn’t really feel like a series. There was no overarching plot that we followed, we just went further into character’s lives to see what happened. If we didn’t need to understand the references to past events or people, they could easily be standalones.

The character development  was slow and stinted, if it took place at all, and I had a really rough time trying to connect to them. The characterization in general just fell flat.

The plots were okay, but were not memorable. They had potential, but never rose up to it. The writing style was simple and easy to follow (making for a quicker read), but the other aspects worked against it slowing my pace down.

The spiritual aspect of the stories was quite well done. The way she incorporated our faith into this world was interesting and I, for the most part, really enjoyed it.

I liked the concept for this series (especially as Christian fantasy), but was overall disappointed with it. I don’t regret reading it all the way through, as I wanted to see if she would meet my expectations for a top quality Christian fantasy series as the books progressed, but probably won’t read anything else by this author. If I were to describe this series in two words it would be bland and disappointing.