Master of the Phantom Isle
Ratings8
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings8
Average rating3.5
In the third book in the Dragonwatch series, Kendra leaves the timberland dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost and travels to the other side of the world to a new and aquatic dragon preserve that teeters on the brink of being overthrown in the ongoing global dragon uprising.
The dragons have formally declared war on anyone who stands in their way of freedom and unrestrained power. With every dragon sanctuary that falls, Celebrant, the Dragon King, comes closer to his goal of world domination. No single mortal or creature can stop Celebrant. Kendra will need to raise an army of friends and allies to accomplish her mission to thwart Celebrant because her brother Seth and her closest ally, Bracken, are missing.
Cursed by the Key of Forgetting, Seth’s memories of his past—his relationships, experiences, and who he really is—are gone. For now he will align with his new mentor, Ronodin, the Dark Unicorn, who brings him to the Phantom Isle, the secret gateway to the Underworld. Though not formally a prisoner, Seth is heavily influenced by Ronodin, who wants to use him and his special Shadow Charmer powers for his own dark ends.
Seth and Kendra have braved the Fairy Queen, battled the Demon King, and survived the Dragon King during the dragon uprising. Now alone, Seth will face a new dark foe: the Underking—the ruler of the “undead”: the zombies, skeletons, and restless wraiths who tirelessly serve their dark master. He will find himself in bondage to the Underking and obligated to complete nefarious tasks for him.
Also on the Phantom Isle, but imprisoned, is Bracken, who claims to be a unicorn, the son of the Fairy Queen, and a former friend of Seth. Bracken and Kendra try to remind Seth about his past, but, unable to access his memories, he isn’t sure who to believe. For now, he will use his newly discovered magical abilities, which could be a game changer in helping Ronodin create chaos.
In this new fantasy adventure, Dragonwatch: Master of the Phantom Isle, readers travel to a ghost island, a mermaid city, and a dangerous archipelago as they meet new fantastical characters and get reintroduced to old friends from Fablehaven. As power shifts back and forth from the forces of light and dark, who will gain the ultimate advantage to win the epic dragon war?
Featured Series
5 primary books6 released booksDragonwatch is a 6-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2006 with contributions by Brandon Mull.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is where the series actually gets going. We've spent the last two books slogging through necessary setup, and here's where things finally pick up.
Ronodin is well done, but he's a bad replacement for the Sphinx. While the Sphinx had an excellent motivation that led to nuanced decision-making, Ronodin is a goofy anarchist with the depth of a kiddie pool. Sure, he gets the job done, but he's just not cutting it. He also doesn't even try to manipulate Seth, which is what Book 2 did such a good job setting up. Nowhere does he try to convince Seth that he's his brother, as he tried to do in the scant end scene of Book 2. Neither does he try and convince Seth that reality supports his (Ronodin's) side. Instead, he just sends him on quests and is careless enough to let Seth develop on his own. The Sphinx does in this book what Ronodin should've, which is embarrassing given the gross lack of respect the author shows the Sphinx. Why does the Sphinx want in on the dragon plot? Who knows. What's his motivation, now that his goal from the last book has been foiled? No idea. It's sloppy. Which is highly unfortunate, given the potential elsewhere. However, while I do like 4 and 5, this book is still in the awkward transition period of still being overburdened with fetch quests and exposition. Sure, it makes sense plot-wise, but there's an absurd amount of magical items, rules, and missions that feel as if they bloat the focus. Seriously, get to 75% of this book, and then stop and consider what each character is doing. None have a clear 1 or 2 step process to get to their goal. Instead, this book fills its time with buried treasure, merfolk, octopus people, cyclopses, a magical macguffin pearl, a volcano flower, and a hypothetically imposing villain who is promptly overpowered by what should be an equal power (this is later explained, though) and then never heard from for the rest of the series.
This book has more action than the last two combined. It's going places. But it still suffers from not having a clear direction or motivation for most of the characters.
By this point in the series, I had hoped the author would take things in a different direction. The creativity and inventiveness of expanding the world and the new reserves and magical items isn't enough for me. It feels like an exact repeat of the originals.
Age range: 10-16
Younger readers may find it a little scary. Older readers may find the tone too juvenile.
