befus's Full Review: Michelle Knudsen - The Dragon of Trelian
Mid-grade fantasy novels with dragons on the cover are about a dime a dozen these days. It seems like every time I'm anywhere near the "new books" shelf in the juvenile section of the library, I see another one. It takes something special for one of those books to stand out and catch my eye.
So when I recently discovered The Dragon of Trelian, I'm pretty sure my glance would have slid right over it...except for the author's name. Michele Knudsen. I stood there for a minute, puzzling over where I knew that name. I finally gave in and looked at the book flap, which is when light dawned.
Michele Knudsen is the author of one of my seven year old's favorite picture books of all-time, Library Lion. It's a wonderful book, one I've read so many times I practically know it by heart. I was immediately intrigued to see someone I'd pegged as a picture book author penning a fantasy novel for a slightly older audience. I was even more intrigued when I read that this was, in fact, her debut novel, one written after a lifetime of loving good fantasy reading. Trusting that the wonderful story-telling rhythm I knew from her shorter work would continue into this longer tale, I gladly picked it up.
And The Dragon of Trelian did not disappoint. It is very much a storyteller's tale, with lots of action and adventure and two likable and sympathetic young protagonists at its heart. Calen is the apprentice mage (i.e. magician) to the magician in the royal court of the kingdom of Trelian. On an important day in the kingdom, a day when a royal entourage arrives from a neighboring kingdom with whom they've been at war off and on and again for years, Calen is befriended by Princess Meglynne, the third and next to youngest royal daughter. Her disarming friendliness ("just call me Meg") stuns him, as does her openness about the fact that she has a secret, one that she really needs to share with a friend.
It turns out that princesses don't have many friends, living the kind of restricted lives most royal personages do. Calen, shy and bumbling, doesn't have many friends either, mostly because his master Serek, a stern old magician who isn't very sure Calen has the talent and determination to succeed in his line of work, keeps him busy studying and running errands all day long. The two young adolescents, from such different walks of life, discover they need each other's friendship. They become companions, and stalwart ones once Calen discovers Meg's secret: she has a dragon her very own, one she sneaks off to the forest to visit. She has named him Jakl.
There's some humor in this situation, of course, since dragons are usually feared by kingdoms of this nature (and in these kinds of stories). But Meg discovered the poor little creature as a young orphan, adopted it and began to care for it. She keeps it in a cave which it's fast outgrowing. She's finding herself oddly attached to the creature in a way she can't quite explain. He's beginning to crowd her thoughts and dreams.
Calen, not nearly as dim-witted as Serek believes, begins to do some research into dragons. What he discovers surprises them both: Meg does have an odd and mystical connection with the dragon, who has "linked" with her mind. It's a rare occurrence for a dragon to link in this way with a human, and Meg finds herself pleased, proud, and just a little bit scared.
In the meantime, Meg's finding herself a bit nervous about some of the other experiences she's having. The delegation from Kragnir is a marriage delegation; her beloved older sister is going to wed a prince from there, thus sealing a political alliance and hopefully securing a lasting peace. Meg finds herself caught up in the excitement of wedding plans, the sweet sadness of losing her sister, and the nerves of a deep crush on one of the young men attached to the prince's delegation. Everything seems to be changing fast! Then there's her growing friendship with Calen, whose blossoming talents as a mage keep surprising everyone (including himself), her mystical link with her dragon, and strange incidents that begin to occur, like the dark-winged other-worldly creature that shows up one evening and almost kills her in the royal maze. Who could have let such a creature loose? And who might be trying to derail the marriage and the peace process between the kingdoms? Could Meg's sister's life really be in danger?
First-time novelist Knudsen does a very good job keeping all these plates spinning. While the story's focus is on the friendship between Calen and Meg, what drives them closer together are the events surrounding them, including political intrigues and some classic fairy-tale type villains. Knudsen weaves together a surprisingly plausible and interesting plot while managing to explore both Meg and Calen's coming of age issues.
In fact, strangely enough, the element of the story that worked the least for me may have been the mystical dragon link. It's definitely important to the story (especially toward the end) and definitely affects how Meg-the-heroine changes and grows, but I didn't always feel the pressure that Meg felt, or understand the dragon's powerful hold on her. How they actually interacted, communicated and affected one another felt a bit vague, though interesting. The mysticism of the story in general bothered me a bit: I tend to prefer fairy-tale magic to stay with the realm of the metaphorical and literary, and this felt like much more mystical magic* than the magic of the Harry Potter stories, for instance (whose stamp is nevertheless all over this book).
To say that this story reminded me a little of Harry Potter is not to deride it; good stories pull on other good stories, and it would be nigh unto impossible for a contemporary juvenile fantasy story about a boy learning to do magic to not owe some debt to Harry. I also sensed debts to other fantasy tales, such as Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydian (elements of Calen and Meg's friendship reminded me of Taran and Eilonwy's) and also to Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern. I'm sure the fact that I've been reading Bayern and Prydain recently has something to do with my feelings! But that doesn't mean the similarities aren't there. Knudsen's book suffered a little in comparison to the Bayern books only because her descriptions of setting/place seemed to lack some of the detailed richness that Hale gives to her fictional worlds. While the subculture of the mages is given some good development, I didn't feel like I got to know the actual culture of Trelian well at all. Given that this is a debut novel, however, I suspect that aspect of her writing will only get better.
What's already strong are dialogue, characters and plot. The Dragon of Trelian is going to be one of those books that most 11 and older readers (boys and girls) will have a hard time putting down, and I could easily see it being turned into a film. Knudsen, in good story-telling fashion, even left a cliff-hanger -- while evil is defeated, the main villain manages to escape (there goes Darth Vader, spinning away from the exploding Death Star!) which sets up room for a sequel. When I finished the book, I hopped over to the author's website, and sure enough, a sequel is in the works.
What did I say? Mid-grade fantasy novels with dragons on the cover are a dime a dozen? Maybe so. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth you while to pick one up from time to time. The Dragon of Trelian might be a good place to start.
~befus, 2009
The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen Candlewick Press, 2009 ISBN 9780763634551
*A further note, if anyone is interested, in what I mean by more "mystical magic": as a Christian parent, I'm on the lookout for the kinds of spiritual messages that come through stories like this. Stories do convey meaning, intended and unintended. For the most part, however, I think Knudsen safeguards her characters and readers by putting the tale so firmly in the realm of fairy-tales, and by placing rather strict safeguards on the use of magic within the story realm she's created. And the characters who misuse that magic, for their own selfish ends, are very clearly the "bad guys." Part of Calen's growth is growth in self-control and in his willingness to use his skills to serve and help others. If you have similar type concerns to mine, however, you may want to read this book first before deciding whether or not you want to pass it on to your young adolescents.
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