(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jason Chan. Ven flees the enemies he made in his last adventure and invites his friends (some of them, like himself, not human) on a new quest to stop a faraway dragon's rampages. The book's alternation between third-person narration and journal entries feels increasingly arbitrary, but the action is as nonstop, the characters as likable, and the dangers as dire as ever.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jason Chan. Ven and his friends (The Floating Island) venture into the outlaw-inhabited Gated City, then become trapped when one of them is kidnapped and another revealed to be the Thief Queen's daughter. Haydon's affable characters and imaginative, well-realized backdrop retain their appeal, but the plot, overly concerned with setting the stage for a third volume, never reaches the intensity of the first.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross