Dragonlight by Donita K. Paul Published by: Water Brook Press (2008) 377 pages Rating: 8/10 Buy it Now:    Also by Donita K. Paul: Dragonspell Dragonquest Dragonknight Dragonfire

If you look back through the archives at the previous books in Donita K. Paul's wonderful DragonKeeper Chronicles, you'll see that I've rated every one of them a solid eight. And that pretty much defines this series - solid. It has solid entertainment value, solid moral value, solid storytelling, solid fantasy world-building. Everything about it is just truly a joy to have in my library. It never quite tips the scales to incredible, but in some ways, I'd rather have a series that remains consistently good throughout instead of one that goes up and down in terms of quality.

I am also solidly pleased that this series has succeeded so amazingly well. Christian fantasy is a hard sell. If it's aimed at younger readers, it tends to do a bit better than that aimed at adults, but generally speaking there aren't many major success stories in Christian fantasy. But the DragonKeeper Chronicles have not only completed a series of five books, they've spawned a spinoff series that's due to begin next year! Perhaps some of this is due to the marketing of the series as "for all ages."

What's also intriguing about that is that the series grows with its characters. The first book, Dragonspell featured a very young heroine and was quite whimsical, with much more physical humor than later volumes. The sense of whimsy did not desert the series as it grew, but it certainly became more muted. Kale, the young heroine of Dragonspell, is now married in Dragonlight and dealing with some very adult "married" issues... including pregnancy!

A series in which characters grow and change substantially? A Christian fantasy? More, a fantasy lacking any of the "traditional" fantasy races, replaced by new races wholly imagined for this world? A glossary in each book that requires frequent referencing? By any of these measurements, such a series would never succeed in the current market.

But it has.

This is a stunning achievement and worthy of great praise.

I haven't said much about the plot of this final novel, because there isn't much to say. If you're a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed. If you're not... you should be starting with the first book!

Recommended, of course!