Tuesday, May 03, 2016

The Summer Dragon

Happy Book Birthday to Todd Lockwood's The Summer Dragon, the first book of the Evertide. Todd is one of the top illustrators in our field. It's been my privilege to work with him on book covers in the past, and I know firsthand that he is also a tremendous guy. But just because someone excels in one field or is a nice person doesn't mean they are necessarily going to be great at something else. 

t was fortunate enough to be able to read The Summer Dragon in manuscript form last year, and I am happy to say that Todd is also a tremendous writer. This is a great book. The world is richly conceived, with a complex history as well as a confident grasp of the ins-and-outs of the daily life of a dragon breeder. At the same time, the world building is never heavy handed--no info dumping here--but a smooth passage through a fully realized environment. The characters are great--I hope my own daughter will read about Maia's adventures when she is old enough--and the plot exciting.

The whole book is beautifully executed, and if that weren't incentive enough, it's also copiously illustrated by Lockwood himself. You're going to want a hardcover of this because the book itself is an objet d'art. Not to be missed. Go buy it now!

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