Let Sleeping Dragons Lie (2018. 276 pages) is the second in a series of fantasy books, aimed at a younger audience, written by Garth Nix and Sean Williams.

Following on directly from events in the first novel, Have Sword Will Travel (2018), Odo and Eleanor return home from their adventure to discover their village being attacked by bilewolves. At the centre of the fray stand two people, who look to be in their fifties, fighting with skill and determination.

When the battle is won the two young Knights discover that the man is none other than the king who abdicated when he became blind. Now he is on a quest to right matters in the kingdom, to defeat an evil grandmother and see the rightful king crowned. It’s an adventure and an opportunity that neither Odo nor Eleanor can pass up.

The book follows the format of the original, being a quest. This time it is not to prove their worth, they had already done so having defeated Sir Saskia and faced off a dragon, instead they must help the rightful king be crowned.

Arrayed against them is a necromancer, who through fire magic can control animals to either spy on them or attack. Also the Regent has sent out armed men to intercept them, making their journey even more perilous.

The two main characters have matured a little, even though they remain tender in years and while they both possess talking magic swords they do not have the skills or wisdom of full grown knights. A lot of these things change during their current adventure, leaving Eleanor more thoughtful and Odo wiser.

While the books are fun and a light fantasy read, they are designed for the five to ten age brackets. There is mild peril and some violence, but the best aspect of the book is that it does not talk down to its audience. Another is how it gives equal space for both Odo and Eleanor, which makes it suitable reading for either sex.

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Charles Packer