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Return to Finndragon's Den (Tales of Finndragon, #2)

Author: Richie Earl
Series: Tales of Finndragon, Book 2
Publisher: Richard Phillips
Publication Date: May 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 250

Book Description: The adventure that began in THE LEGEND OF FINNDRAGON’S CURSE continues to its conclusion as Emma, Megan and Scott return to the cursed medieval Kingdom of Morgannwg, in their breathtaking quest to fulfil an ancient prophecy.
Once again they have to confront the legendary wizard Finndragon, encountering familiar demons as well as new and even more of his terrifying creations.
RETURN TO FINNDRAGON’S DEN will draw you into a magical subterranean world, where ordinary twenty-first century children join forces with their medieval friends.
Has the young apprentice Gwayne finally mastered the art of magic?
Will the children find their father and discover a way for them all to return home?
Or will the curse never be broken as Finndragon triumphs?
Be prepared for a thrilling journey that will continue to surprise and enthral you, bringing laughter and tears, and no shortage of mystery and excitement.
This time it’s the end, but for who?

First Line: “Emma had been lying awake in her bed for over two hours, trying to understand what had happened over the last four weeks.”

*Book provided by author in exchange for an honest review*

Similarly to the first book the execution of the story wasn’t as great as it could be. The descriptive portions of the book had improved somewhat compared to the first, especially when it came towards the last portion of the book. Descriptions of scenery and emotions came through better than it did in the first book. The dialogue was still lacking and felt repetitive/too similar between characters. I started to notice that the author favored the phrases “that’s right [so and so]” and similar wording to convey agreement between characters which wasn’t needed at all, especially since most people don’t talk this way. To me it felt like the dialogue was dumbed down for the target audience (which isn’t necessary) and contrasted with the heavy material (bloodshed, battle, etc) that is throughout the entire book.

I liked the introduction to new characters in this book (the one in the cave and the one in the forest) but I wished that their story lines had been brought up again rather than those characters just coming up and then fading to the background. The other characters were the same from the first book and a lot of the times felt too similar. Oftentimes the adults ended up sounding like the children and vice versa so dialogue portions just felt like one person talking a lot of the time.

I enjoyed the plot line of this book much better than the first. It was just as unique and had interesting twists and turns that I was not expecting. Like with the first book, the story line is what kept me reading. Despite it seeming like everything was working too perfectly for the three protagonists at the beginning half of the book, the story was still interesting and I was curious to see where it would go. Overall the story was good but I think it could use a rewrite to bring out it’s real potential.

My Rating: ★★★.5

The author is also having a book blog tour. Go check out his site to see other reviews, guest posts and more!