Dungeon Runners: Sky Battles

By Author / Illustrator

Kieran Larwood, illus Joe Todd Stanton

Genre

Fantasy

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow

ISBN

9781839945212

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

13-02-2025

Synopsis

The second in an action-packed new adventure series from Blue Peter Award-winning author Kieran Larwood and Waterstones Children's Book Prize winner Joe Todd Stanton. Young readers will love discovering the world of the Dungeon Runners!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE? It's time to fight or take flight! Kit can hardly believe he's now a professional Dungeon Runner. With his teammates Sandy and Thorn, they set off to a city in the clouds to compete. But with new dangers at every turn, Kit and his friends will need their wits and bravery to take on enemies as well as monsters. Are they ready for the big leagues? There's only one way to find out!

Have you got what it takes to survive the Dungeon? Now is your chance to prove it! Books in the Dungeon Runners series: Dungeon Runners: Level 1 - Hero Trial Dungeon Runners: Level 2 - Sky Battles Dungeon Runners: Level 3 - Ocean Chase

Find out more in ReadingZone's Q&A with author Kieran Larwood

Praise for Dungeon Runners: "A funny and exciting fantasy adventure story" - Frank Cottrell-Boyce, The Times. "Highly illustrated, humorous and immediately enthralling, this first volume in a new series will appeal to 7+ D&D fans in particular." - The Guardian. "Presented in large, clear font and with black and white illustrations throughout, this funny, exciting, imaginative adventure story is a great introduction to fantasy fiction for newly independent readers." - BookTrust

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Reviews

Jane

There is so much appeal to Dungeon Runners Level 2: Sky Battles: Joe Todd Stanton's wonderful illustrations capture the setting and the characters, perfectly infusing them with atmosphere and humour; the easy-to-read font and helpful layout (widely spaced text and uncluttered presentation), vocabulary that’s not too challenging for newly independent readers; a great storyline that builds to a slightly surprising conclusion leaving us eager for the next instalment, and an array of characters both familiar and new.

Kit, we know, is a novice at dungeon running and apt to be rather pessimistic, Sandy is the team’s upbeat mage and Thorn their handy healer. Will cheats and terrifying threats be their downfall or, with a little help (from kindly gobrots and Yarn Stormers), a little magic (can that sword really fly?) and a bottle of troll bogeys (eurrgh!), will Triple Trouble beat the opposition and prove themselves worthy of a place at the next level? The answer comes at the end of eleven exciting chapters (about 200 pages).

Whether KS1 children (ages 6+) get to enjoy this adventure alone or as a class read, enjoy it they almost certainly will. Some KS2 children too, but, as in fiction so in fact: competition is sure to be intense, so, librarians, get more than one copy or be ready for reservations!

224 pages / Reviewed by Jane Rew, school librarian