The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell - 373 pages

Once there was Magic, and the Magic lived in the dark forests.
Until the warriors came . . .

Xar is a Wizard boy who has no Magic and would do anything to get it.

Wish is a Warrior princess who owns a forbidden magical object and will do anything to hide it.

When stars collide, Xar and Wish will meet.  They must forget their differences if they are to save not only themselves but both their worlds from the returning evil Magic that has been sleeping for hundreds of years.


This is the first book in Cressida Cowell's new series.  (She previously wrote the extremely popular How to Train Your Dragon series.)  I found that enjoyed this more than her Dragon series, however, it still took quite a while to get into the story.  Once I did though I didn't want to stop.  I listened to this on audio as it was narrated by one of my favorite actors - David Tennant.  He did a wonderful job narrating the book.  I would definitely recommend listening to the audio.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell - 214 pages

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a truly heroic Viking known as the "dragon whisperer".  But it wasn't always so.  Once, Hiccup was merely a Viking boy worried that he would fail his Viking initiation by being unable to tame a dragon.

I love the first How to Train Your Dragon movie.  I think it is one of the best kids movies in the past years.  This is the book that the movie is based on -- although very, very loosely.  I enjoyed listening to the book on audio as narrated by David Tennant.  He is a wonderful narrator who used various accents / dialects to distinguish the characters.  I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon
Cressida Cowell
213 pages

Toothless is a lot less likable as a character in the story. He is selfish and unwilling to do anything that doesn't involve a reward for himself. Hiccup seems to just have a lot of good luck and doesn't seem to really want to make himself better, he slides by on what he knows and doesn't grow as a person. It is still a cute story for older children but I think we should stick with the DreamWorks version for a good morals story.