In the Time of Dragon Moon

March 2, 2015
Despite her half-English blood and the fact that she's a girl, Uma wants nothing more than to be accepted as the next Adan (healer) of her father's Euit tribe. But when the English queen, Adela Pendragon, learns that Uma's father has developed a viable fertility treatment, she kidnaps Uma and the current Adan, holding their tribe hostage until the two of them help her conceive. After Uma's father dies, Uma is left alone in the strange world of the English court, harassed by the tyrannical Prince Desmond and beholden to Queen Adela's often-violent fits of madness. The one bright spot in Uma's life is Jackrun, the prince's cousin, who fulfills a prophecy through his unique bloodline: fairy, dragon, and human combined. Despite the Pendragon name, this story, set in the world of Carey's Dragon's Keep and Dragonswood, calls back to Arthurian legend only obliquely, with the author continuing to develop her own rich traditions and political intrigue. Readers who come expecting a traditional fairytale will find their assumptions disproven by the unexpected obstacles in Uma's path. Carey steers these plot twists gracefully toward an unorthodox but satisfying conclusion. Ages 12âup.

December 15, 2014
Humans, dragons and fey coexist on Wilde Island, but this uneasy peace masks a simmering, mutual distrust that surfaces after the English army abducts an Euit healer and his daughter to cure the aging queen's infertility-failure is not an option.With their small tribe captive, Uma and her father are taken in chains to Pendragon Castle, where he soon dies, and Uma must persuade the queen, rather than having her killed, to give Uma time to work a cure. The task is complicated by the queen's madness, a closely guarded secret, and by the royal couple's dissolute adult son, Desmond. Only his cousin Jackrun's intervention keeps Desmond from forcing himself on Uma. Half-English Uma's an outsider among the Euit, who don't accept women healers; despite that, she's determined to succeed and free her tribe. Like Jackrun, Desmond's part dragon. Uma envies the Pendragons' close affinity with dragons. Her father's dragon hasn't accepted her-horrific events will change that, too. Familiarity with Dragonswood (2012) is helpful, but the tale, focusing on the next generation, stands on its own. The Euit tribe, loosely reminiscent of indigenous American cultures, seems to have wandered in from another novel, yet the story largely succeeds, braiding elements and archetypes from several cultures together into a coherent narrative. Ultimately, a satisfying tale of a girl who must come to terms with her own blended identity. (author's note) (Fantasy. 12-17)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Uma has always had difficulty finding acceptance within the Euit tribe in which she has grown up. Her father is the Adan, the Euit tribal healer, but her mother is an English midwife. Uma serves as her father's apprentice and dreams of succeeding him as Adan one day, but Euit tribal law forbids a woman as a healer. When English soldiers invade the village and abduct her father, Uma is taken with him to the royal court at Pendragon Castle, where her father is commanded to provide a cure for the queen's infertility on pain of death. When she becomes the queen's designated healer, Uma is soon embroiled in deadly court intrigues involving dragons and the fey folk. She also finds herself involved with Jackrun, a Pendragon prince who is part dragon and struggles to control the fire within him. Together, Uma and Jackrun must discover the perpetrator of a political murder and reconcile the warring factions within the kingdom, even as they reconcile their own divided natures. Set in the same world as Carey's Dragon's Keep (Harcourt, 2007) and Dragonswood(Dial, 2012), this title can be read independently, but knowledge of events in the previous books would be helpful. The author's world-building is detailed and fascinating, and Uma is a strong, admirable heroine. This is a must-purchase for libraries owning the earlier installments and a great choice for where teen fantasy is popular.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

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