I've established that occasionally I turn to the middle-grade world of literature when I'm in need of a literary palate cleanser. If you're going to cleanse your palate, dragons might as well be involved.

Struan Murray's "Dragonborn" kicks off a middle-grade fantasy series about a secret world of dragons living at the edges of our own world and the Slumberers, humans who've forgotten their true selves until something comes along and awakens that truth.

Twelve-year-old Alex Evans is at the heart of Dragonborn. She's about to wake up.

We're introduced to a young girl struggling to deal with her father's death and struggling even more with her overprotective mother who has unbreakable rules and tries to monitor Alex's every move. This has worked for a while, however, as Alex is growing up and her grief intensifying her emotions begin to boil over as she resists her mother's control.

"Dragonborn" is likely an ideal middle-grade novel with its vivid imagery and emphasis on younger beings learning how to grow into who they really are. Once Alex gets a glimpse into that reality, she's off to a new school on the island of Skralla - a safe place for dragons where she trains alongside other dragons who are wild, untamed, and not necessarily prepared yet to use their dragon ways. Of course, there's an evil foe on the horizon and it will be Alex's experiences along with the race to deal with that foe that will define much of this first in the series.

I enjoyed the visual imagery created by Murray. It was easy to imagine this story being turned into a film, though even the most basic examination of its storyline has undeniable hints of Potter and even a bit of Star Wars. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy both of those things. I struggled, at times, to visualize the characters - especially Alex. I think the adult mind went directions that a middle-grade reader wouldn't go with this story, however, some of the language just felt a bit, well, adult.

Overall, however, I greatly enjoyed "Dragonborn" and its journey into the world of dragons and, perhaps most uniquely, becoming a dragon. A fine introduction to the series, it will be interesting to see where Murray goes from here.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic