Dragon Shield: Book 1

By Author / Illustrator

Charlie Fletcher, Nick Tankard

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Hachette Children's Group

ISBN

9781444917321

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-07-2014

Synopsis

The start of a thrilling, action-packed trilogy from Charlie Fletcher, set in a world where statues come to life and dragons and heroes battle.

Something dark has woken in the British Museum, and it has stopped time, literally freezing the city in its tracks. The people are there, but unmoving, unseeing - like statues. The statues, on the other hand, can move, and are astonished at what they see.

In the Great Ormond Street Hospital, Will and Jo are suddenly plunged into this world of statues - and find themselves pursued by murderous dragons. With help from a couple of friendly statues, Will and Jo must escape the evil that stalks them in the streets of London.

With beautiful illustrations by Nick Tankard.

Reviews

Charlie Fletcher - who is behind the Stoneheart books - has delivered an exciting and enthralling adventure story about a London where time stops for humans while its statues come to life.

At the centre of the action are siblings Will and Jo, who have their own unresolved issues around an accident Jo had a year previously and for which Jo blames himself. While visiting the hospital for Jo's check-up, Will and Jo realise that time has stopped; that everyone except themselves is frozen. More urgently, they also realise that all the statues in London have come to life and that some of them - the dragons in particular - are out to get them. With the help of some of the other statues - and we are introduced to a myriad of characters who are usually seen on plinths around London - Will and Jo try to discover what is causing time to stand still, while also resolving their own problems. It is a nail-biting adventure story with some truly creepy moments, peopled with great characters and a lovely concept in which children can talk to statues. Having seen some of the very realistic statues mentioned in the book, one can see how appealing this idea is - especially for children. Fletcher has previously written about London statues coming to life in his Stoneheart trilogy and those aged nine years plus who enjoy this book may also want to go on and explore those stories. Dragon Shield is the first in series of books that will explore how Jo and Will fare in solving the mystery they confront and I will certainly be looking forward to the next one. 258 pages / Ages 9+.