First, let me say that when I picked up “Dragons of the Valley” by Donita K. Paul I was totally and, almost hopelessly confused. The story seems to pick up immediately where the previous books ended. And, I did not read the previous story nor did I have time to grab that book and read it. I tried my best to get through the first few chapters and then I had the good sense to check the table of contents. In the Appendix there was a description of the main characters, the dragons, and some of the terms used in the book. Suddenly everything fell into place.

So, if this is your first book in Donita K. Paul’s dragon series, I recommend reading through the Appendix first and becoming familiar with the world in which the kingdom of Chiril exists. For what a fascinating world it is!

You must first learn of the Seven High Races of which some are key to the story. The emerlindians are born pale and darken with age and comprise the ruling characters in the kingdom. The kimens are delightful little people who are musical and merry and seem to be very magical. The o’rants are tall and usually become wizards like Wizard Fenworth, one of the main characters. The tumanhofers are shorter and powerful fighters although they prefer to use their intellect such as the artist, Bealomondore.

And then, there are the Seven Low Race of unseemly types such as the warrior bisonbecks and the mountain ogres the grawligs and the ropmas who can burrow through dirt as easily as we swim through water. The Grawl is some kind of variation of the grawligs and is a hunter and a ruthless killer for hire with a very mysterious background.

The story begins with the theft of three very important statues, the Trio of Elements. Each of the statues is taken by someone but their intent is far from simple thievery. For, the statues must be placed together or terrible things happen. The world cracks and falls apart and the artist who sculpted the statues, Verrin Schope dissipates. The statues are brought by Bealomondore, the Wizard Fenmore, and the princess of Chiril, Tipper to the land of the kimens for safety. It seems the Wizard has foreseen the invasion of Chiril by its rival kingdom. It seems the King of Baardack, King Odidoddex has sent spies into Chiril and is massing an army for invasion to acquire the Trio of Elements. The Grawlig works for him and is doing away with “people in positions of authority” in a very creepy, unusual fashion. But, as the Grawl sticks to the job for which he is hired, he quickly learns of the powerful wizard, Fenmore and desires to widen the mandate of his hiring. In a chilling scene in which the Grawl returns briefly to his surprisingly sedate home, he decides that a horrible fate awaits the wizard, whether he was hired to deal with him or not!

That is a quick summary of how the story begins. Don’t be dismayed by the array of characters and the situation for the story moves quickly and it doesn’t take long to get pulled into the magical world of Chiril. Layered into the story is the Paladin, the spiritual leader of Chiril who has brought to this world knowledge of Wulder, their name for God. And his job is to tell all of Chiril of Wulder. As the dainty kimen, Taeda Bel told Tipper:

“We know the promise. The promise has been handed down for generations. And the promise is Wulder.” The promise said, “The One who creates, the One who assigns our tasks, the One who nurtures, the One who designs our path will send a man to speak words of understanding so that the hand of He Who Is will be close enough to hold.”

And so, Donita K. Paul weaves into this story the concept that God has put “eternity in the hearts of all men.”

Years ago, a good friend of mine was an editor for Lifeway and she had joined a group of lay missionaries to Kenya. They would drive out into the bush as far as their vehicles would take them sometimes 15 to 20 miles. Then, they would hike 5 to 10 miles through the bush country until they came to a village. They would go hut to hut and share the Gospel. She told me how amazing it was that before she could get through her entire presentation, people would fall on their faces and pray to receive this Jesus they had just heard of. They would say that the Creator had told them He would send a messenger and they would recognize the truth of that messenger when he arrived. Their group baptized thousands in a week! Donita K. Paul has captured this concept brilliantly and I have heard many such tales showing how the “eternity in the hearts of all men” plays out in our real world.

Now, to the dragons. Tipper received a new dragon from the Paladin. Rayn is a small, weak dragon recently bonded with an elderly woman who passed away. Tipper bonds with the dragon and it turned green to signify it was healing her heart. It seems dragons in this story are purveyors of good and servants of Wulder, the Creator. Rayn soon is put to work when Tipper breaks her foot while joining a “quest”.

Tipper and Bealomondore accompanied by kimens go on a quest. Bealomondore discovers he has certain warrior talents when he uses the Sword of Valor in spite of his reputation as an artist. The Wizard Fenmore arrives along with his librarian and they are soon attacked by “spies” hired by the rival king Odidoddex. His country soon invades Chiril and war is upon the country. And the Gwarl is one of the creepiest creatures I have ever met in a story and is worth reading the book just to watch his fate play out against the background of Wulder’s grand plan. Meanwhile, Verrin Schope accompanied by the parrot, Bec set out to join their companions and reunite the three statues as people in Chiril are growing listless and apathetic as their country falls to the enemy.

I don’t want to go any further and spoil the story. But, the writing is brisk and the pace moves along. The characters undergo believable growth as they learn more about Wulder, the Creator. This is the spiritual heart of this story and it is in direct contrast to the war building and threatening to destroy Chiril. The transformation of these characters as they come to believe in Wulder is believable and satisfactory. Their transformation from what they had always imagined they would be in life to fulfilling Wulder’s plan for their life is at the heart of their story. We can learn much from their struggles with God’s will for their lives! You will enjoy getting to know the characters and the dragons and all of the races of the world created by Donita K. Paul. I did get lost a time or two since I have not read the previous books. But, I discovered I wanted to get to know these characters better and explore how they arrived in this story. I plan on going back and reading the entire series. I recommend you do, too.

 In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Book link  - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400073405 
 Author’s web site - http://www.donitakpaul.com/
Author’s blog - http://dragonbloggin.blogspot.com/
Participants’ links 


<a href="http://ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com/"> Gillian Adams</a>
<a href="http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/"> Noah Arsenault</a>
<a href="http://the1amster1.wordpress.com/"> Amy Bissell</a>
<a href="http://tessbissell.wordpress.com/"> Red Bissell</a>
<a href="http://fantastyfreak.blogspot.com/"> Justin Boyer</a>
<a href="http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/"> Keanan Brand</a>
<a href="http://www.splashdownreviews.blogspot.com"> Grace Bridges</a>
<a href="http://rbclibrary.wordpress.com/"> Beckie Burnham</a>
<a href="http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/"> Keanan Brand</a>
<a href="http://morganlbusse.wordpress.com"> Morgan L. Busse</a>
<a href="http://csffblogtour.com/"> CSFF Blog Tour</a> 
<a href="http://www.the160acrewoods.com/"> Amy Cruson</a>
<a href="http://www.scificatholic.com/"> D. G. D. Davidson</a>
<a href="http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"> April Erwin</a>
<a href="http://www.amberfrench.blogspot.com/"> Amber French</a>
<a href="http://askandrea.adamsweb.us/"> Andrea Graham</a>
<a href="http://cloakanddaggerfiction.blogspot.com"> Katie Hart</a>
<a href="http://realmofhearts.blogspot.com/"> Ryan Heart</a>
<a href="http://www.613media.com/"> Bruce Hennigan</a>
<a href="http://jessebecky.wordpress.com/"> Becky Jesse</a>
<a href="http://crisjesse.wordpress.com"> Cris Jesse</a> 
<a href="http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/"> Jason Joyner</a>
<a href="http://www.molcotw.blogspot.com/"> Julie</a>
<a href="http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"> Carol Keen</a>
<a href="http://www.momofkings.com"> Dawn King</a> 
<a href="http://southernfiberreads.wordpress.com/"> Emily LaVigne</a>
<a href="http://www.shannonmcdermott.com/"> Shannon McDermott</a>
<a href="http://mikalatos.blogspot.com"> Matt Mikalatos</a>
<a href="http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"> Rebecca LuElla Miller</a>
<a href="http://www.bookwomanjoan.blogspot.com/"> Joan Nienhuis</a>
<a href="http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/"> John W. Otte</a>
<a href="http://dragonbloggin.blogspot.com/"> Donita K. Paul</a>
<a href="http://www.sarahsawyer.com/blog"> Sarah Sawyer</a>
<a href="http://www.chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/"> Chawna Schroeder</a>
<a href="http://www.bluerosesheart.blogspot.com/"> Tammy Shelnut</a>
<a href="http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/"> Kathleen Smith</a>
<a href="http://www.jamessomers.blogspot.com/"> James Somers</a>
<a href="http://frederation.wordpress.com"> Fred Warren</a>
<a href="http://christian-fantasy-book-reviews.com/blog/"> Phyllis Wheeler</a>
<a href="http://facesoflions.wordpress.com/"> Dave Wilson</a>