Product Description

Firedrake, a brave young dragon, his loyal brownie friend Sorrel and a lonely boy called Ben are united as if by destiny. Together, they embark on a magical journey to find the legendary place where silver dragons can live in peace forever. With only a curious map and the whispered memories of an old dragon to guide them, they fly across moonlit lands and seas to reach the highest mountains in the world. Along the way, they discover extraordinary new friends in unlikely places and a courage they never knew they had. Just as well, for the greatest enemy of all is never far behind them - a heartless monster from the past who's been waiting a very long time to destroy the last dragons on earth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #378982 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 538 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s a fantasy, it’s long and it’s got dragons in it. It’s bound to be another hit book from Cornelia Funke! Ever since the popularity of the German author of bestselling fantasies The Thief Lord and Inkheart went global a few years ago, her legion of fans have demanded more books from her than she can reasonably hope to write each year. So, re-discovering this hefty, earlier novel from 1997 was a logical development--and her keenest readers will devour it as before.

Possibly aimed at slightly younger readers than her previous novels, despite its massive five hundred pages, Dragon Rider is about a brave young dragon called Firedrake who embarks upon a dangerous journey to the Rim of Heaven in the Himalayas--a magical place where silver dragons can rest easy, free from the threat of destruction by mankind and their only hope of sanctuary. The key to its location is a map rendered by a rat who is a master cartographer.

Firedrake is joined on his quest by Ben, an orphaned boy, and Sorrell--a wise-cracking Brownie that is an odd, but ingenious, grumpy kind of fairy. Their journey is not a straightforward one by any means. Created by an alchemist called Petrosius Henbane in 1424, Nettlebrand is their biggest threat--a malevolent creature covered in impenetrable gold plates that is intent on destroying them. He is aided by Twigleg, a homunculus who has stowed away in Ben’s bag and who is feeding reports on their progress back to his master.

Their exciting encounters are many--and the colourful fold-out map in the book’s centre is an added bonus. It is easy to forgive the narrative’s excessive length when readers are gorging on such a wonderfully inventive and readable story from an author who has her readers in the palm of her hand on every page. (Age 9 and over) --John McLay

About the Author
Cornelia Funke is a critically acclaimed, award-winning, international best-selling author. She lives in Hamburg with her husband and two children.

Customer Reviews

wow !!
wow, this is a great book for children and adults, I read it first to see if it was suitable for my son and I was so sad to finish it that i started reading it again. it takes a couple of chapters to get going but worth it !!! fantastic book..

Enter a magical world
I recently read this book to my son (aged 7) and daughter (aged 5) and we all thoroughly enjoyed it - even Dad came home early to listen in! It is a long book but it weaves a magical spell which is totally captivating and believable, so much so that we all felt a bit empty once we got to the end. This is as imaginitive as Harry Potter but, without the dark overtones - just sometimes a little scary when the monster Nettlebrand is around..... I thoroughly recommend this even for quite young kids like mine and I am sure they will read it for themselves when they are a little older.

The Best Book I've Ever Read!!!
Dragon Rider is the best book i've ever read. Firstly I read Inkheart and I loved that so I tried The Thief Lord and that was really good too so I went to the bookshop to see if Cornelia Funke had written anything else. I found Dragon Rider.

Once i'd started I couldn't put the book down - beleive me, I got told off at night for reading it and i eventually had to be taken off me! (I am only 12 incase you were wondering!)

Dragon Rider is about a Dragon named Firedrake and a Brownie name Sorrell. They set off on a journey to find the Rim of Heaven. They come across a boy called Ben and he joins them on their quest. I am not going to ruin it for you so I will stop there.

I would reccomend this book to children/teenagers round about m age as it is an adventure book with lots of twists, turns and surprises!