I absolutely adore the How to Train Your Dragon series, so I was eager to snatch up this ARC and read it. I was not disappointed. Cressida Cowell has come up with a unique and wonderful story about two totally different kids who have been brought up as enemies but come to understand and like each other. Mix in some fairy tale creatures, snowcats, and witches and you have delightfully fun story. Plus there are Cressida’s distinctive drawings to help enhance the story and bring all of the characters to life.

Xar is a very interesting character. He can be very annoying at times, especially when he is boasting about how he is the chosen one. But he is clever and smart and really wants to make something of himself, even when he chooses to go about it in the wrong way. He has a delightful group of sprites, giants, snowcats and other creatures that are very loyal to him and follow him around helping him out of trouble. Caliburn, a raven that watches over and tries to advise Xar, was one of my favorite characters. He often was the voice of reason and seemed to always have an answer to all of Xar and others questions and issues.

Wish, the warrior princess, is a quirky young lady and not at all warrior like. She is kinds and curious, but also brave and willing to do what needs to get done. Wish’s character probably goes through the biggest change in the story and even though I was pretty sure about her big reveal towards the end there was still more to it than I thought there would be. Her mother Queen Sychorax (yes I spelled that correctly) is not a nice person for the most part. She doesn’t treat Wish very well but comes to appreciate her a bit more by the end of the story.

Bodkin, is Wish’s apprentice body guard and was a delightful addition to the cast. He spent a lot of his time telling everyone that they were doing the wrong thing and bad things would come of it. He is loyal to Wish although he doesn’t completely understand her. And even though he doesn’t like magic, by the end of the story I think he comes to appreciate it a bit more.

The plot is wonderful. There are lots of twists and turns and the ending was not something I was totally expecting. It is fast paced enough to make it exciting and hard to put down. There are some touching moments between the parents of both kids and Xar and Wish that are very nicely done. Although there is a definitive end to this story, there is still enough questions to make you want to pick up the next book to continue seeing what happens with Xar and Wish.

Cressida Cowell is back, and her latest effort is thoroughly enjoyable. It’s sure to entice a wide range of young readers as well as many young at heart. Here there be magic and humor, adventure and danger, and more than one quotable passage. Thematically, it treads similar territory as How to Train Your Dragons: there are the traditional enemies who maybe don’t need to be enemies after all and who, at the least, need to ally to overcome a greater threat. The children are capable, if flawed, and the adults are certainly keeping their secrets. Xar is delightfully (or, alternatively, fretfully) incorrigible in his arrogance and mischief, while Wish is lacking in confidence but certainly clever. Aspiring body guard Bodkin is also charmingly brave if perhaps a tad inept. Neither Xar nor Wish fit in entirely with their respective tribes, and all three protagonists struggle to live up to their parents expectations. There’s a lot for children to relate to here and broad appeal across genders.

This was a book that left me smiling and ready for the next adventure. I, for one, cannot wait to see where the story leads!