THE ONLY WAY IS AN ESSEX REVIEW!

Thanks James for this!

Thank you very much for writing Dragonstone! I really enjoyed this adventure and I agree with another that you have renewed a genre that I thought difficult to do, especially after the massive success of Harry Potter.

Dragonstone carry's its own charisma, charm and atmosphere that is different to HP. You've created a whole world that is fascinating and full of possibilities for the future, which I await in anticipation.

The first 3 chapters where full of mystery and some action when we meet Charlie. The mystery in the first 2 chapters were consolidated later on the story.

I liked the steady flow of the story with the little 'carrots left at the end of each chapter. It really grabs you in the second half of the book, once you are in the "Magick Lands". The ending was exciting and I liked the 'bringing together' and explanations of the adventure. It reminded me of the conclusion of a who-done-it novel.

I loved the characters, especially Cosmolos and Astrophos, Sedrick, Charlie, Emmanuel, Bruce and Eric. I am sure there is much more to come from these characters as well as the others.

The "magick" is interesting as there are different levels of it, but I like the strong moral code that is attached to the magick as well as the world in general. I like the idea of the Scroll-porter, Magick drinks, Expandable beds and of course, the Un-potted plants ha-ha. The teachers are great and I love the fact that they are from different backgrounds.

The way the School Houses are made up was very clever and I like the blocks that the student's learn in. I also liked the emphases of creativity in the learning process too.

My favourite part is the Orberon and I can definitely imagine a lot of youngster and adults enjoying this.

In all, there are so many positives to the story that I'll have to re-read it to pick up on all the other points. Nevertheless, it is very descriptive and the style pulls you into the story, making it easy to visualise the characters/scenes etc.

In all, I think this could have the potential to fill the gap left by another magick school. Can't wait for the next one.

When is book 2 coming out? :o)