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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for children!, 13 Aug 2011
This review is from: The Dragon Box (Kindle Edition)
Goodbye fairy-tale land, hello computer-game land! This contemporary quest story affords an ideal platform for an alternative reality in which a youngster can face up to his fears, challenge himself and seek his own solutions. James chooses to play the game, believing that he can quit at any time - but can he? The challenges he faces and the decisions he makes in the game have a knock-on effect in his real life. This fantasy quest is geared towards, but by no means exclusive to, a male readership circa 8 - 12 years. It bears all the hallmarks of a quest novel - puzzles to solve, dangers to be faced, risks to be taken, baddies to be overcome, original characters and fast-paced storytelling. Uniquely, this book also comes with its' own brand of humour - and that's where the target readership comes in! I'm not male, I'm way out of the target age-range and I'm not very familiar with the genre - so it's a credit to Katie Stewart's story-telling ability that I galloped through this engaging tale in one, albeit lengthy, session. Children will enjoy it but I recommend it to parents as well. It's not only entertaining but also thought-provoking - an ideal story to share.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dragon Box, 31 Aug 2011
This review is from: The Dragon Box (Kindle Edition)
The Dragon Box is a contemporary fantasy story for children by Western Australian author Katie Stewart. I have also read her adult fantasy novel Treespeaker, and both are equally good. In The Dragon Box, our young hero James receives a special gift from the eccentric Mack, a gift that propels him into a fantasy world where his companions bear striking resemblance to people in James' own life. The world inside the dragon box is a game featuring a routine fantasy landscape, which is being threatened by the evil Khalanna. Inside the game, the elderly Mack has been transformed into the wizard Mackenzor, who advises James on his quest for the Crystal of Monmekk. The crystal is needed to help restore flight to Draknor the dragon, who has lost his wings to the evil Khalanna in a previous battle. As I mentioned before, each character represents a friend or family member in James' own life (some goblins stand for the real-world neighbourhood bullies), and in some sense the situation in the game mirrors that in the outside world. This becomes clearer the further we read. The Dragon Box is subtly educational in a number of ways. Firstly, Mack(enzor) encourages James to think and act for himself, something he is not keen on doing initially. James' sidekicks are barely animate computerised routines, and as such offer him little direct support in his quest. The novel also teaches children that violence is never the answer to problems, and that quick thinking and puzzle solving are far more valuable life-skills. And while there is some use of magic (such as a water spell called fal-ush-da-dunnee - you'd have to be Australian to get that joke), magic never entirely solves life's problems. In short, The Dragon Box manages to avoid becoming a wish-fulfillment or power fantasy, something for which the author should be credited. I look forward to this author's subsequent work with keen interest.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dragon Box, 27 Aug 2011
By Guy W. Salvidge - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Dragon Box (Kindle Edition)
The Dragon Box is a contemporary fantasy story for children by Western Australian author Katie Stewart. I have also read her adult fantasy novel Treespeaker, and both are equally good. In The Dragon Box, our young hero James receives a special gift from the eccentric Mack, a gift that propels him into a fantasy world where his companions bear striking resemblance to people in James' own life. The world inside the dragon box is a game featuring a routine fantasy landscape, which is being threatened by the evil Khalanna. Inside the game, the elderly Mack has been transformed into the wizard Mackenzor, who advises James on his quest for the Crystal of Monmekk. The crystal is needed to help restore flight to Draknor the dragon, who has lost his wings to the evil Khalanna in a previous battle. As I mentioned before, each character represents a friend or family member in James' own life (some goblins stand for the real-world neighbourhood bullies), and in some sense the situation in the game mirrors that in the outside world. This becomes clearer the further we read. The Dragon Box is subtly educational in a number of ways. Firstly, Mack(enzor) encourages James to think and act for himself, something he is not keen on doing initially. James' sidekicks are barely animate computerised routines, and as such offer him little direct support in his quest. The novel also teaches children that violence is never the answer to problems, and that quick thinking and puzzle solving are far more valuable life-skills. And while there is some use of magic (such as a water spell called fal-ush-da-dunnee - you'd have to be Australian to get that joke), magic never entirely solves life's problems. In short, The Dragon Box manages to avoid becoming a wish-fulfillment or power fantasy, something for which the author should be credited. I look forward to this author's subsequent work with keen interest.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for children!, 14 Aug 2011
By cladonald - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Dragon Box (Kindle Edition)
Goodbye fairy-tale land, hello computer-game land! This contemporary quest story affords an ideal platform for an alternative reality in which a youngster can face up to his fears, challenge himself and seek his own solutions. James chooses to play the game, believing that he can quit at any time - but can he? The challenges he faces and the decisions he makes in the game have a knock-on effect in his real life. This fantasy quest is geared towards, but by no means exclusive to, a male readership circa 8 - 12 years. It bears all the hallmarks of a quest novel - puzzles to solve, dangers to be faced, risks to be taken, baddies to be overcome, original characters and fast-paced storytelling. Uniquely, this book also comes with its' own brand of humour - and that's where the target readership comes in! I'm not male, I'm way out of the target age-range and I'm not very familiar with the genre - so it's a credit to Katie Stewart's story-telling ability that I galloped through this engaging tale in one, albeit lengthy, session. Children will enjoy it but I recommend it to parents as well. Not only is the book entertaining, it's also thought-provoking - an ideal story to share.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lightweight Fantasy from Down Under, 14 Feb 2012
By T. Weber "brightdreamer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Dragon Box (Kindle Edition)
A simple, fast-reading fantasy, The Dragon Box waters down an interesting concept into a weak soup of Life Lessons. It starts out with some promise, establishing James as an insecure boy struggling with a newly-paraplegic parent, a former sports star whose shoes the boy simply cannot fill, hard as he tries. The game, of course, gives him an opportunity to develop self-confidence as he solves problems and defeats the baddies in his own way. Unfortunately, it does so in Fluffy Bunny Story fashion: tissue-thin characters who are mostly friendly, a kindly wizard who leads the boy to each problem and most solutions, and repeated emphasis on the fact that It's Just A Game and This Cannot Hurt Him. (There's also an unintentionally creepy vibe as James learns that the old man Mack once gave his then-young mother an early prototype of the Dragon Box game, which seems to allow Mack into the player's mind... is this guy some sort of a stalker with an unhealthy interest in the family, or what?) Just in case there's any lingering sense of danger, the story sloshes around silly spells and other edge-blunting bubblewrap on the way to an ending that only James himself doubts will come to pass. If you're looking for an easy, non-threatening book for a younger, sensitive child, this might be what you're looking for, but The Dragon Box certainly isn't what I'd hoped it would be when I downloaded it.
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