How to Fight a Dragon's Fury by Cressida Cowell

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How to Train Your Dragon #12. Hodder Children's Books, 2015. ISBN 9781444916584
(Age: 10+) Without doubt the How to Train Your Dragon series has been a runaway success with avid readers from all over the world eagerly anticipating each subsequent instalment. The Dreamworks franchise which produced the movies has only built on the huge popularity of the books.
When I speak of the reader fans, I'm not just talking about children here. For those of us who love dragons, nonsense, crazy characters and absurd humour these books are pure delight.
The latest in the series is How to Fight a Dragon's Fury and once again Cressida Cowell has provided us with a saga worthy of the Viking tradition as our intrepid hero Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third continues his quest to protect his people and their dragons in the face of the revolting and conniving Alvin the Treacherous.
You will no doubt remember the cliffhanger ending of the last episode when we were all left wondering if Hiccup truly was dead. But we all know that would be impossible - I mean to say, he's the HERO! Yet his father Stoick the Vast and all his tribe saw him fall from the sky and believe that he is lost to them. Luckily that tenacious little Bog-Burglar Camicazi refuses to accept what would seem to be evidence and knows in her heart that Hiccup is alive and must be found. Not only must he be found he needs to get to the island of Tomorrow and be crowned the King of the Wilderwest. How can this happen when Alvin the Treacherous now holds all King's Things.
As usual the adventure is full of twists and turns, danger and despair, surprises and secrets and above all, laugh-out-loud humour as we follow the exploits of all the characters we've come to know and love - or loathe!
Far be it from me to give away too much of the plot but suffice to say devotees will adore this book and Cressida's quirky illustrations as much as ever.
Definitely a must for your shelves for adventurous readers from around ten years and up - read an excerpt here
Sue Warren