The Runaway Dragon

Happy February everyone!

Today I'm going to review The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs, a sequel to The Runaway Princess. Now, it's a fact universally acknowledged that sequels sometimes fall short of their predecessors (maybe even most of the time - but that's a matter of opinion). Sequels run the risk of changing the characters' personalities too much, changing the mood from the first book. If an author writes a really wonderful book, we wish she would write a sequel so that we can get more of these wonderful characters and this wonderful world she's created; yet, when sequels are written, we hold them up to a magnifying glass and compare and contrast. It's a tricky line to toe.

Anyway, all of this to say that Coombs's sequel to The Runaway Princess was absolutely delightful. I was laughing out loud for a majority of the book (which was slightly embarrassing as I was reading it at work!). The characters were just as great as they were the first time around - and we get more of them too! My favorite character is Lex and I was very happy to see more of him in this book.

The story line picks up where the first one left off. Meg's been receiving all of those wonderful lessons she was promised, Cam has his own section of the garden, and Laddy is contentedly lodged with Cam's sister. Unfortunately. Meg really only enjoys a few of her new lessons, Cam's love for his gardens has strained the friendship a tad, and Laddy isn't quite content living on a farm. When Laddy flies away from home, Meg persuades her father to let her go on a quest to find him - and the adventure wouldn't be complete if all of her friends didn't join in! The quest is so much fun - there's an evil sorceress, a princess named Spinach who was trapped in a tower, a giant family, and a magical forest! I have to say that Coombs has done it again with this book... and when I say, "it," I mean another memorable, laugh-out-loud, adventure that breaks all of the rules! Coombs's rule-breaking brilliance is what made me so adore her first book and I was very pleased to see her back in full swing for the second one. I can't wait to read more! Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get a third adventure soon?

Any other sequels that you loved just as much as the original?