The Dragon Warrior
by Katie Zhao
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2019. 343 pages.
Review written October 27, 2019, from a library book
The Dragon Warrior is one of those stories of a modern kid discovering she’s inherited the mantle of a hero of mythology and must go on a quest to save the world from demons. She’s looking for her father, who disappeared mysteriously fighting demons years ago, and has complicated relationships with the companions fighting alongside her.
This time the mythology is Chinese mythology – and it’s complicated. I did have trouble remembering the relationships of the various gods and demons – but I thought that was only fair, and I hope there are Chinese kids reading this book who enjoy reading about characters they’ve heard of before. There was a glossary in the back, but since it was in the back I didn’t want to refer to it in the middle of the book.
Faryn Liu lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where her grandfather trains her to battle demons. But the other members of the Jade Society look down on her family for not having pure Chinese blood. So nobody expects her to be chosen as the Heaven Breaker and to be given a quest to solve a puzzle and make it to the Jade Emperor’s Lunar Banquet.
It does read a lot like other similar stories, but it still is a fun read. My favorite moments were the horse-loving friend getting to drive a flying chariot and Faryn learning that she can command dragons.
This book looks to be the start of a series, and there were some complications I didn’t expect. This is an action-packed book with kids fighting demons to save the world. What’s not to like?
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