Product Description

A teenager has opened a new chapter in her life, and has become a published author. But, the school pupil who takes influence from "Harry Potter" author J. K. Rowling, Terry Pratchett, and Jacqueline Wilson, has done it a lot earlier than most of her literary idols, as she is only fourteen years of age. Emma, who lives with her twin sister, and mum and dad in Inverness, Scotland, said she had always wanted to get a book published. "It has been a long ambition of mine to write a book and get it published. It is very exciting." "I have been writing stories for quite a while, but none of them have been as good as "Dragon Tamers"." The book tells the story of a teenage girl called Maree, who plays computer games, and one day she gets dragged into the computer game world. Publisher Aultbea Publishing have singed Emma's book, and owner of the company Charles Faulkner said he was astounded when the family came into the office, "Emma was the youngest person that I've ever met with in relation to authors". "She has an exceptional talent for her age, way beyond what she should have. She is extraordinary." However, he did admit that he was a bit dubious when she first contacted him. "The family tentatively came in enquiring about the possibility of having her title published. At the beginning, I will admit, I thought it was going to be a waste of time, however, after I had read the manuscript I realised there was a market for it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #625447 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Excerpted from Dragon Tamers: Reality Goes Virtual by Emma Maree Urquhart. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Carol was one of the millions of people who played the Dragon Tamers virtual reality computer game. Along with her partner, a dragon called Sam, she managed to become the strongest player in the game.

When the game goes offline, she is called in to help, along with the second strongest player Ceirin and a beginner called Ellen, who was brought in by accident. As a strange monster destroys areas of the game, the trio of humans and their partners set out to find this creature and defeat him, and in doing so save the game world.

It seems simple enough, but there's a catch - if they die in the game, they die in the real world too.

Customer Reviews

A superb tale that is only the beginning
Dragon Tamers is quite simply an amazing story. Emma Maree Urquhart has crafted a tale that should be regarded as enchanting and inspirational.

Many things appeal to me about Dragon Tamers. It's not just the brilliant concept that the author's imagination has conceived or it's beautifully crafted storyline, it's the descriptive writing that Urquhart uses. She paints a very clear picture for the reader and it becomes easy to follow and visualise.

The one thing that I really love the most is at the beginning of the book where all the rules of the game are detailed in full. This helps understanding things a lot and shows that the author knows what she's doing. The rules are very creative and as such result in a very creative and imaginative story. Urquhart adheres to the rules and thus makes the plot very feasible and respective of what the game's restrictions and features are.

There are quite a few major plot twists in Dragon Tamers, and I was greatly surprised at how things were not what I first perceived them to be. It really is a well paced story and one that the author has given so much thought and consideration and put a lot of care and dedication into.

On the whole, Dragon Tamers is proof of how much potential Emma Maree Urquhart possesses. The ending is not what you expect but in the long run, that's probably for the best. A sequel is already being written and I have high expectations. Dragon Tamers is a fantastic creation from the mind of one so young and one that will be pivotal in establishing the successful future of Emma Maree Urquhart's career as an author.

Teenage acheivement
A teen adventure fantasy with a great story and good characters. Very imaginatively written. An amazing acheivement for a first novel from one so young.

Never publish a 14-year old
Dragon Tamers is not bad for a fourteen year old by any meas. Unfortunately, neither is it good. It is completely what you would expect a 14 year old to write. The idea of a girl entering a computer game is so cliche it's untrue, and the reason for absence of books and movies with this idea is that, unless it's done extremely well, it's tedious and boring, as is this book. The opening part of the book, where the game rules are described, is incredibly boring. You don't want to read a manual, you want to read a novel. Have the rules explained throughout in a clever way. It screams "desperate, fairly arrogant child", whose struggled to think of something really clever to start off the book. If you need further evidance to how immature the writing in this book is, the second book is called "Dragon Tamers 2". Try to think of a professional novel followed by "2" (other then K-Pax). It seems a very obvious, uninventive, childish thing to do. I'm sorry if I seem harsh, but if you're published, I expect for it to be quality, rather than a school original writing essay.