Dragon’s Green
Scarlett Thomas
Canongate
Reviewed by Mummy Worm
Dragon’s Green: Worldquake Book One has all the hallmarks of a new children’s favourite series. I did get lost in this book, I truly did and my family had to make their own tea and Daddy put everyone to bed.
When I emerged, I wanted to go back in. The more I read, the more I believed in magic and Scarlett Thomas has turned her pen into a “wonde” and created a spellbinding, playful and rich new fantasy.
Turning the pages, Scarlett Thomas draws you into a world, like yet unlike our own. The Tusitala School for the Gifted, Troubled and Strange is wonderful and its many floors, rooms and secrets beg comparisons with Hogwarts. Character, place and object names allude to Thomas’ sources of inspiration, and time spent exploring these creations and their various histories imbue the narrative with a rare sense of authenticity. There are layers upon layers of plot on offer here; yet it is a maze a young reader can navigate, with the delight of knowing there are many more corridors to explore as this is the first in a series.
Young readers should find a soulmate among the newly “epiphanised” (a great term for the sudden discovery of magical abilities!) No character is quite conventional enough to be stereotyped and I love the fact that Max, who anywhere else would be the geeky guy who saves the day, has the potential to veer into the darker side and join the evil Diberi. The main character, known as Effie, really is a True Hero and as such will appeal to boys and girls alike.
There is much for us adults to enjoy here too with humorous pen portraits such as Effie’s English teacher – a Dahl-esque, macabre character, but also heroic as a teacher in her choice of literature! Also, the very British dragon who has his catalogue choice of fashionable princess for breakfast, taken from the local “Princess School” and subverts all fairy tale stereotypes.
It is easy to believe that, as Effie discovers, the most precious items in the entire universe are stored on shelves in a library. This is another to add to that collection.