Book Review: Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley

Book Review: Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Times I have read this: 3+

General Setup: Jake Mendoza isn’t your average 15 year old. For one thing, his dad is the head director at Smokehill National Park, a wildlife reserve for dragons. Dragons are a slowly disappearing species and it is a federal offense to kill one. Ironically, it is an even bigger crime to aid in saving a dragon’s life. But when Jake stumbles upon a dying mother dragon he doesn’t hesitate to rescue the last of her just-born brood. Not only is this action loaded with political implications, but it marks a turning point in human-dragon relations.

Characters: Dragonhaven is written from the perspective of Jake, after the events have taken place. This means that we see everything through Jake’s eyes. So, things can be kind of limited to what Jake experienced, as opposed to what else is going on that he is unaware of. However, hindsight allows for clarification. Because of this Jake’s voice comes through the pages quite clearly. He has his own peculiar way of describing events and people around him. His use of metaphors and similes can be quite amusing. Throughout the book you can definitely see Jake’s character change. Having grown up on Smokehill his childhood differs vastly from most kids. What is more, the death of his mother and dog at a young age affects him deeply. Also, I thought that the dragons (yes, there are dragons) were well-written in this book. They are sufficiently alien, while retaining some human qualities.

Plot: There’s a lot of stuff in Dragonhaven, a lot of words, a lot of stories, and a lot of worldbuilding. Sometimes it just bogs you down. Plus, Jake likes to talk a lot. However, his rambles and rants are fairly well interspersed between bits of action and more interesting parts of narrative.

Ending: The ending is a bit drawn out. For example, the epilogue is roughly 50 pages long. That’s a long epilogue! On the bright side, most of the threads are pretty well tied up, but it’s still pretty long. Of course, at that point you’re pretty well invested in the book, so it's more of a blessing than a burden.

Things to Watch For: Mild profanity.

Other media: Dragonhaven is a stand-alone book, but Robin McKinley has written a lot of other fantasy-genre books.

Length: 342 pages