I loved this book. Once again Richard Due weaves the wondrous and enchanting tales of the Moon Realm. The Dragondain did not suffer from one iota of “sequel slump”; in fact, it picked up even more from The Moon Coin. In fantasy novels, one of the main things I look for is the world building, and the world of the Moon Realm is so realized, so complete, it could almost be a real place. Because of all the details, I found myself wanting to go back and look at the previous book, The Moon Coin, and remind myself some of the particulars.

Every once in a while you find a book that has all the elements of a story that you adore, is beautifully written, and is strong enough to stand on its own without the author feeling like they have to add some superfluous flashy love triangle or the popular paranormal creature du jour to get people interested in buying it. The Dragondain is one of those books for me.

While The Dragondain is targeted for the Middle Grade/ younger Young Adult audience, but can easily be enjoyed and loved by all ages. Now, due to the extent of detail, this is not a series where you can pick up the sequel without first reading the previous book (I guarantee you will be truly lost), but I cannot recommend you read this series highly enough.

After reading the first of the Moonrealm books, 'The Moon Coin', I knew I wanted to read the rest of them as well. Thankfully, I was allowed to and here I bring you the review of the second book.

I loved this book even more than the last. I realize that as a 19-year old I should perhaps not enjoy reading novels for the younger this much, but I feel that Richard Due really stepped up his game in this novel making it so much easier to just love it. The worlds seem much richer than before, now that we have passed the introductions in the first book. We get to see more of the different cultures of the different moons and more about their history. Especially for younger readers it is a great introduction into fantasy world building. Carolyn Arcabascio's illustrations really bring forward the intense colours of the different worlds.

It was great to get a bit more time with Jasper, as the reader. The last novel was mainly about Lily and her experiences and here we get to see how he deals with the Moon Realm. Richard Due truly created two different characters that are both their own character and yet recognizable for every child and adult who have ever imagined themselves on a fantasy journey. The fact that they're children isn't overlooked, as happens in many teenage novels, but highlighted and used to its best advantage. As children, they have restrictions but also certain liberties adults do not possess.

As a second novel in a trilogy, a novel often has to achieve multiple things. Not only does it have to keep the readers interested and maintain their relationship with the characters, it also has to find the right balance between answering questions and creating new ones, introducing new characters while maintaining the old characters etc. It is always a shame to see an author struggle, but it is a true joy to see it work. Thankfully, Richard Due is able to find the right balance and keeps the right pace of plot without leaving too many loose ends. It is clear a lot still has to happen and be explained but that is why I am looking forward to the next novel.

This is a great introduction to the fantasy genre for any child and a great opportunity for (young) adults to remember their first fantasy. The characters remain interesting and as you read the impression never leaves you that there is so much more to discover. I believe that in fantasy that is the most important thing, knowing that there is always more to imagine, to explore. And I would say that Richard Due achieved this very well.

As the author mentions in his author blurb at the end of the book that he came up for the idea of The Moon Realm books when telling bedtime stories to his children. This is exactly the kind of story that you want as a bedtime story. This is a great book for both adults looking for a great story as well as little ones who need a great story before drifting off to sleep. There is definitely wide appeal here!

The book is incredibly imaginative and the story is rich with great detail, great world-building, and great characters. I really, really loved this latest adventure and I am anxious to go back to the Moon Realm in the next book. Those who loved books and movies like the Chronicles of Narnia and the Neverending Story (definitely some favorites from my own childhood) will definitely find something to love about this book.

This is the second book in the Moon Realm series and I would say that in order to understand this book, you should probably read the first book in the series, The Moon Coin, in order to understand everything that is going on in The Dragondain. In this book, the readers get to learn more about the Moon Realm and the battle that is being waged. Jasper and Lily are still trying to find out what happened to their beloved Uncle Ebb. There are some secrets uncovered in this book but there is so much left to know.

The Dragondain picks right up where The Moon Coin left off. Because it has been several months since I read The Moon Coin, I had forgotten some of what happened in the first book, which made some of the second book a little difficult to get through. Once I hit a stride, I really hit a stride. The writing is really, really good. There are so many creative and fantastic creatures in the book, which I really enjoyed. The world building is fantastic. The world building is probably still my favorite part of these books.

While I liked The Moon Coin a little bit better than this book (there is a lot more explanation in the first book), this is still most definitely a solid read!

Bottom line: A great fantasy with broad appeal!