"There are twelve skills needed to become a Cyo B'Ahon. Six to protect those you will watch over and six to achieve immortality. Each question you answered on your entrance exam was linked to one of these skills. Having a natural ability for one over the others is not enough. Without the twelve you will never make it as a Cyo B'Ahon."
Students need a natural aptitude in six areas: climate, calligraphy, concealment, flora, fauna and folklore. And they also need to be able to combine the skills essential for ageshifting - perception, prediction, perseverance, recall, reasoning and rapport.
Ageshifting - "This is one part of being a Cyo B'Ahon that we don't tend to broadcast. We're immortal yes, but not because our bodies are frozen in time. Instead we maintain immortality by ageshifting."
Harry Potter fans might have fun making links between this text and their favourite Harry Potter characters and plot twists.
- Harry Potter = Zhi Ging - she has a special magical and powerful gift and she has no idea where this came from. There is also a mystery surrounding the fate of her mother.
- Hogwarts = Hok Woh, the underwater realm of the immortals - a training school run like a boarding school with a cafeteria, classrooms, dorms, eccentric teachers, and range of classmates - some friendly some not. The first-year students are learning to become Silhouettes - many will fail.
- Quidditch = Dragon boat races
- Draco Malfoy = Iridill - we discover she cheated the entrance exam and at every turn she is utterly despicable towards Zhi Ging.
- Voldemort = Fui Gwai - and he/she has an army of thralls.
Readers who have strong reading stamina and who enjoy complex stories with lots of characters and dangerous situations might enjoy this book - I suggest age 11+. This first installment does end on a cliff hanger so readers will need to wait for book 2. You will also need reading stamina because this is a long book with a huge cast of characters and to my eye the print size is a little too small, so I found it hard to read for extended periods. The US cover looks more sophisticated and I think better matches the tone of, and audience for, this book. Huge thanks to Three Sparrows for the advance copy of this book which is due for release in February 2024.
Sadly, I didn't find Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realms entirely captured my attention but I found these media reviews:
- 'A soaring, luminous new world ... An absolute delight!' Jessica Townsend
- 'An absolute feast for the senses!' Nizrana Farook
- 'A thrillingly immersive story of courage, self-discovery, and magic' Sinead O'Hart
Publisher blurb: An outsider in her village above the cloud sea, 12-year-old orphan Yeung Zhi Ging’s only hope of escape is to win the single invitation to train as a Silhouette: an apprentice to the immortals. After her ill-fated attempt to impress the Silhouette scout leads to a dragon attack on the jade mountain, Zhi Ging is sure that her chances, and her life, are over. But the scout spots her potential and offers her protection and a second chance. She’s in. In her lessons in Hok Woh, the underwater realm of the immortals, Zhi Ging must face the challenging trials set by her teachers to prove that she’s worthy of being a Silhouette—despite her rivals’ attempts to sabotage her. But as Zhi Ging’s power grows, so do the rumours of the return of the Fui Gwai, an evil spirit that turns people into grey-eyed thralls. When the impossible happens and the Fui Gwai attack the Silhouettes, can Zhi Ging use her newly uncovered talents to save her friends and the world beyond? Or will the grey-eyed spirit consume them all?
About the author: Siobhan McDermott was born in Hong Kong and grew up on a steady stream of stories filled with Chinese legends and Irish folklore from her Chinese mother and Irish father. She now lives in the UK and continues to order dim sum in Cantonese tinged with a distinctly Dublin lilt. She worked in publishing for six years, during which she took part in every event imaginable: from a ‘yoga with your dog’ session in a bookshop to running around Isle of Man in a full unicorn onesie. She is now the PR Lead at BBC Maestro. Paper Dragons is her debut novel and was inspired by moments across her life: from childhood ferry trips between Lantau Island and Hong Kong, to traveling around Taiwan, Italy and Spain.
The publisher suggests Paper Dragon will be enjoyed by fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, Dragon Mountain, Skandar and Eragon.
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