Dragon Slippers is a young adult book, the first of three in a series, but it captured my attention. In some ways it reminds me of Ella Enchanted.
Creel, the young heroine, is orphaned (aren't most fairy tale heroines!) Her aunt has the crazy idea that she should be left with the dragon who lives in a nearby cave and be rescued by a knight in shining armor. In reality, the aunt probably just wants to get rid of her and the monetary responsibilities of taking care of her.
Creel makes a friend of the dragon and a bargain. She will lead away the so-called rescuer, who the dragon could dispatch easily, so that the dragon doesn't have to kill him and can continue to live on a level of anonymity, if the dragon will give her one of his shoes. This dragon collects shoes and more shoes...shelves and shelves of shoes.
And that sets the story in full motion.
The dragon doesn't bargain for her picking the only thing of real value, the Dragon Slippers which have some powers (which I won't give away.) We don't learn until more than midway through the story what that power is, though we might guess.
Meantime, there are pools wherein one can converse with other dragons by looking into the water. Each dragon collects something: one collects stained glass windows; another collects real dogs... and each bears some important point in the story. Very clever, indeed!
Creel's desire is to earn her own way by embroidering, as her mother had taught her. She finds champions along the way, even a prince.
She is an intelligent and resourceful heroine, as well as courageous. Not only does she have to rescue the kingdom (and a prince, but not her prince who helps her) but also the dragons. How she does it is part of the fun.
There are very detailed (and interesting) depictions of Creel's embroidery skills. But after a while, I got tired of it and just wanted to get on with the story. (I am fairly skilled at handwork of various kinds so it interested me on some levels and was unnecessary on others.) Nevertheless, it is a clever addition to the story and provides plenty of opportunity to describe the shop and the relationships with clients.
I give the book 4 out of 4 stars. It's quite fun for a fantasy, and fantasy is not my genre.
It is not yet available for Kindle.
You can read my review of Dragon Flight, the second book of the series here.
Karin
www.savvythinker.com
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Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George First U.S. Edit |  |
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US $9.99 | 22d 16h 55m |
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STRANGE SCIENCE FANTASY - PAUL POPE, ET AL. SCOTT MORSE (PAPERBACK) NEW | |
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US $20.23 | 21m |
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The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume | |
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US $18.78 | 36m |
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The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy II by | |
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US $3.95 | 50m |
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MAG OF FANTASY & SF (Dec 1971)- Lafferty, Roberts | |
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US $1.50 | 2h 23m |
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MAG OF FANTASY & SF (June 1971) -Delany, Niven, Bishop | |
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US $1.50 | 2h 26m |
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