The Flight to Dragon Isle is AMAZING. It's darker than the Dragon Whisperer, and the unexpected twists really surprised me and kept me going. I was so glad to see that the strengths of the first book were still the same. In fact, Lucinda Hare managed to make the characters even more complex; and once again she did it without talking down to the kids (or me ;-)). There was some nice humour in there, although the author certainly didn't shy away from showing true emotions in a way that allowed me to engage with these feelings. At some point I even had tears in my eyes. Once again the three elements which, to me, are vital for a good book - characters, plot, and craft of writing - came together nicely.
So far, this has been the best read of the year. On the basis of the Dragon Whisperer I expected it to be at the top of my list, but even so the author still managed to blow me away.