Dragon Captives: The Unwanteds Quests, Book 1

Falling into the trap of many spin-off series, this book gives a recap of the last series for way too long and only feels like its own, intriguing animal toward the end. Add to that the tendency of middle-grade series to try to be fat fantasies à la Harry Potter, and sometimes the story just drags out to fill pages. About halfway through Dragon Captives we get this gem: "Everyone had unanswered questions running through their minds, but Fifer and Seth followed Thisbe's lead and didn't say much about what they were doing or why they wanted to do it." Which may lead many readers to think to themselves, "How about when everyone decides to do something, you pick up the story from there?"

Once you get through all the recapping and indecision, though, the excitement builds. How can you go wrong with dragons and magic, really? It could have been better with an early introduction of the ultimate baddie we only hear about in hushed tones, the Revinir, but there's plenty of kidnapping and peril before she shows up and lots to like about the characters as they must grow up quickly and face a lot more obstacles than they bargained for. Here's hoping this long setup leads to an invigorating series.