Book Review: Lady Dragon Tela Du ~ Kendra E. Ardnek

Two girls with one face
Two girls with twisted fate
One in purple, one in red
One shall speak the other’s death
Who shall win their final war?
Lady Dragon or Tela Du?

Amber, the Lady Dragon, has been promised a fifty-year reign over Rizkaland and nothing can stop her from claiming it. But when you've lived six thousand years, fifty is such a pitiful number. Only one person can keep her from making this reign permanent - the Tela Du, a girl who shall share Amber's face.

The last thing Petra wants is a magical world interrupting her plans for a normal life, let alone an ultimate battle against the Lady Dragon with only one prophesied survivor. She has her childhood best friend, Reuben, at her side, but she's not sure if he's more of a help or a hindrance right now. Though she'd much prefer to just return home and forget about this whole crazy affair, things change when she discovers that the world has surprising connections to her own family - including her sister who disappeared without a trace two years before. Still, Rizkaland can't possibly expect her to risk her very life, can it?

**Warning!  This review my contain spoilers if you have not read Water Princess, Fire Prince.**

  My Review

I very much enjoyed Water Princess, Fire Prince, so it was delightful to return to Rizkaland in its sequel, Lady Dragon, Tela Du.  Once again Kendra wove spiritual truths, life lessons, humor and love together with wonderful characters in her unique fantasy world.

  The scenery made me laugh a lot.  Like, seriously, the colors of the foliage?  I am not making fun of it!!  Not at all!  Sometimes I'm just amused by the most random things and the mental picture of trees and grass and bushes in bright pink and yellow and blue had me laughing.

  There weren't as many different animals in Lady Dragon, Tela Du as were in Water Princess, Fire Prince, but we did have to chance to learn more about the animals on the Isle of Taking Beasts, and their different gifts are quite remarkable!!

  But the people were the best part.

  Petra was well written.  Yes she annoyed me at times, but that was because of her personality (which is quite different from mine) not because of how she was written.  Her attempts to shut others out and her resentment of Ashley irritated me, but I admired her strength and commitment when she finally accepted her rule as the Tela Du.

  I adored Reuben.  He was a boy after my own heart.  Not only do we have similar personalities, but we also share a lot of the same interests.  If I had read Narnia when I was younger (I didn't read it until I was 16), I also would have sat in closets waiting for it to take me to Narnia.  But his strength and courage, his unwavering support of Petra, and his amusing and unfailing sense of humor were my favorite things about him.  And his incredulity when he learned that Andrew Stevenson was the Fire Prince, had me in stitches.

  My heart bled for Ashley.  Losing her parents and then being thrust into an unknown world and having to live with someone who disliked and resented her as much as Petra did, that's pretty tough!  But her unfailing sweetness and faith were beautiful.  And her awe of the Arden and Eaglechaser parents was adorable!

  Summer and Tyler were quite amusing.  It was great to finally meet some of the Ten and to learn how all the different characters are intertwined.

  Amber.  Amber is rather an interesting character.  I loved delving into her backstory and learning about the girl behind the Dragon.

  And Granite.  He was my favorite character.  I find Granite even more intriguing then Amber because he isn't evil like her.  They didn't fall together.  So seeing the "good vs. evil" byplay between the two of them was very, very interesting.

  And then there's Laura.  What can I even say about her?  She is such a fantastic, amazing, complex character.  We didn't see many different sides of her in Water Princess, Fire Prince, but she is very prominent in Lady Dragon, Tela Du, and we see more facets of her character.  Powerful, angry (she's scary then!) and at times hurting so much that you just want to reach through the book and give her a hug.  There is so much sadness, pain and loneliness in her life, but also a lot of love and happiness.

  While Water Princess, Fire Prince is my personal favorite of the Rizkaland Series, Lady Dragon, Tela Du is an excellent story that I would recommend to readers of Christian Fantasy who are over 15 years of age.

Author Bio:  Kendra E. Ardnek is a homeschool graduate who picked up a pen at an early age and never put it down.  The eldest of four, she makes her home in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her parents, younger siblings, giant herd of giraffes, and honor guard of nutcrackers.

  You can visit Kendra on her BLOG, and OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

  You can buy Lady Dragon, Tela Du on Kindle HERE, and in paperback HERE.  A Kindle copy of Water Princess, Fire Prince, the first book in The Rizkaland Legends, is also free until the 23rd.