Crystal of the Dragons

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Author(s)

Jaclyn Donnelly

Publisher

Authorhouse

Genre(s)

Fantasy

Age Range

10+

Release Date

December 02, 2003

ISBN

1410793583

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Crystal of the Dragons is a magical and exciting tale. The journey begins long ago when an ancient, powerful crystal was lost and all the magical creatures of the world had to flee into a secret haven named Eden. Centuries passed and a young dragon named Silvertalon was chosen to go on a dangerous and difficult journey to search for the long, lost crystal. Along with her uncle, a knight, an archer, a dog wizard, a lizard-like creature and many more, they journeyed to find the stone before the dark dragon Riptoe does. They face many puzzles, journey across enchanting lands and battle and meet a menagerie of creatures. Fantasy readers will be dazzled by the magic and excitement of this book and will want to keep reading to find out the fate of these brave heroes.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

A young author's first book

June 10, 2005

Overall rating

2.0

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The most amazing thing about this book is that it was written when the author was just twelve. That shows an astounding level of commitment; many adults can't finish a novel, especially one this long (a whopping 518 pages!). The author's imagination is also very evident, as each page is full of fantastic creatures and places.

However, the storyline itself is simplistic and borrows heavily from existing stories (Arthur Pendragon even makes an appearance). Many highly successful novels do this as well (Harry Potter for one, or Eragon), but I found little truly original in Crystal of the Dragons. Worse, for me, was the annoying presence of spelling and grammatical errors throughout the book. While I don't mind a mishap every now and then (ok, I do), so many errors really detracts from the book as a whole.

The book follows the adventures of Silvertalon, a dragon who falls into one quest after another to save Eden from the evil Firethroat dragons who are bent on destroying it. The primary quest is to find the crystal of the dragons, which was originally created by the good dragons of the world. A group of fellow adventurers accompanies Silvertalon, though it is usually up to our heroine dragon to truly get things done right.

I recommend this book for younger fantasy lovers that won't mind the simple sentence construction and would love the comforting presence of standard fantasy conventions. This would be a great pick for reluctant readers who like fantasy, notwithstanding the length of the novel. The action happens fast enough to keep them moving along.

I hope the author picks up her pen again in a few years. Ms. Donnelly is obviously dedicated and talented and a few years of experience and study will likely bring great improvements in her work.

Kimberly Pauley Top 50 Reviewer 393 reviews

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Crystal of the Dragons

January 22, 2007

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4.0

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Reader reviewed by Kyle M.

I feel this is a great book filled with mythical creatures most of which i've never heard of but loved to hear about. also i did get annoyed by the constant mistakes in grammar but it was still nice. It is about silvertalon a dragon, randal a swifter, azure a blue dog who happens to be a wizard, gorbash and smurgle two adult dragons, sir orin a knight, the duke who rules a pack of forest gnomes,and danniele an archer who are trying to find the dragon's crystal. First though they must find the talismens of each land of eden there is a winter plain, summer plain, spring plain, and autumn plain. they have many hardships but finally get them all and are transported to the forgotten island.the rest is a secret because i don't want to ruin the ending.

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Very disappointed

July 14, 2005

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1.0

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Reader reviewed by Eden's Little Brother

I second to what my sister Eden said! This book has way too many similarities with the Lord of the Rings. It's kind of cool on how she's only thirteen, and I know all fantasy stories are similar, but I think she took it too far! If she wants to be an author, she should write her own things and she should use her own imagination!

I remember seeing the movies! They were so cool! Peter Jackson directed the Lord of the Rings! It took him twelve years to do it, that includes filming it too! You see? Even Jaclyn stole from Mr. Jackson! It isn't fair.

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Unoriginal

July 13, 2005

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Reader reviewed by A Child of Eden

I'm sorry, but this book is unoriginal. There are way too many similarities between her book and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It's unfair for Professor Tolkien because he spent nearly his entire life developing and writing the story. He wasn't even fully recognized till after his death (The books are nearly 60 years old!). Miss Donnelly only took his ideas without giving any credit to the proffessor. It's wrong. It's fine that she's only thirteen, but there are way too many traits and similarities betweent the two stories. I understand that you'll find similarities in every fantasy book, but this is too much.

In case any of you are curious to the similarites, I'll post some:

Silvertallon (the one in search of the crystal) finds a seer who has her look into a pool of water. she sees her home as it was when she left it, then the vision changes...she sees it in flames with goblins taking the creatures captive. Everything turns red with flame. The evil Lord Riptoe appears and is holding the crystal.
(The Lord of the Rings)
In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo, the ringbearer looks into Galadriel's mirror and sees something VERY similar. His hometown, the Shire is seen normal at first, but the image changes and then he sees the 'Scouring of the Shire.' Basically the Shire being burnt the ground and the hobbits being taken captive as well. Hmm...?

Another Similarity is:

Your quest is on the edge of the knife of triumph and failure. Stray a little and you shall fail. But with the help of your friends you will stay on course and find the crystal
(This is Silvertallon's line.)
Here is Galadriel's line the movie:
The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail to the ruin of all. Yet, hope remains while the Company is true.

This is a familiar thought: Why was I chosen to carry this? It is the cause of all this. If I had never found it, I wouldnt be here, and this wouldnt have happened!
Frodo anyone?

Another similarity:
You have pestered Sickle for the last time little dragon, now Sickle can get rid of you and have his precious amulet back in his claws. And Sickle wanted to make sure that the goblins and Firethroats didnt get the poor little dog, so he put him in the safe place. Sickle can take them to him, yes! Sickle will do that to help their quest.
Gollum anyone?

Jaclyn Donnelly, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if I sounded harsh, but this is how I feel. I'm sure you didn't mean to upset anyone, but next time, please try to be a bit more original in your works. You've already proved your talent by getting your book published, but you'll find that if you use your imagination, you can create a wonderful story. The imagination is a powerful thing after all.

Guest #1 Reviewer