'Dragons and worse lurk in the forests of Adyron, and only the steam knights in their gleaming battle machines can keep the kingdom safe. Theo Paxstone dreams of being a knight himself, but instead finds himself stuck slaving away at a repair shop for a pitiless master.
'When a dragon swoops in and abducts the princess from the annual royal tournament, Theo escapes. He joins forces with a crippled knight and his squire, and together they pursue the dread beast, determined to rescue the princess from its clutches. Along the way they discover that not all enemies are what, or whom, they seem…'
Theo Paxstone and the Dragon of Adyron is a fun fantasy story designed for younger readers, but one that adults will enjoy too. Set in a post-apocalypse world, where the old world of technology and science has fallen into myth and legend, the story follows young orphan Theo. Theo is stuck working in the junkyard shop of Master Grimes, worked in sweatshop like conditions for long hours. Whilst there are many downsides of his life, this does mean that Theo has learnt to become a mechanical genius.
Having secretly worked on his own steam knight armour in a hidden corner of the junkyard, Theo dreams of one day getting to be a steam knight, piloting a huge suit of armour equipped with flaming lances and missiles. The steam knights are definitely one of the cooler parts of the book, and uses the post apocalypse fantasy element of the world to full effect, giving us massive mech armour that lumber into battle firing gatling guns and clashing with huge swords.
When the royal family comes to the city, complete with a huge following of steam knights, Theo thinks that he'll get the chance to sneak away from the junkyard and watch the knights in action during the tournament. Unfortunately, before the festivities can really get underway a massive dragon attacks, killing many knights and kidnapping the princess.
During the attack Theo finds a trapped knight, Sir Bertham, and helps to free him from the burning wreckage alongside Bertham's squire Riley. After helping the old knight Bertham buys Theo's freedom from Master Grimes, and gives Theo the opportunity to join him and Riley on their mission to rescue the princess from the giant dragon.
The quest that the three of them set out on, saving a princess from a dragon, is one of the most clichéd ones around, but James Turner manages to make it feel fresh and interesting. This is in large parts thanks to the setting, and the small events that beset the group along the way. The four of them have to contend with huge mutant wolves, monstrous lake creatures, and even evil knights on their journey. Along the way we also get to learn a little more about the characters, and we learn that Riley and Bertham have some secrets to them.
The characters and story have enough twists and turns in them to keep events interesting, and prevents the plot from falling into any of the expected clichés. The setting and world is fairly interesting, and James Turner gives the sense that he's thought a lot about the world and the history, even if it doesn't always get the spotlight in the story itself. There's a lot of references to places and events that we never see, and often don't get explained in any real depth. This makes the world feel bigger than just what we're seeing, but there is a downside to this, the world feels big, but not hugely deep. We never learn what happened to the old world, why some people have powers, if those powers are magic or down to some technological advance or mutation. I can't help but feel that some more time could have been given over to these elements, but then it becomes a matter of having to fill the reader in on history without it feeling too dull or like a history text. It's a fine line to walk, and whilst it mostly works here, there were a fair few times I wanted more.
Theo Paxstone and the Dragon of Adyron is a book that will appeal to most age groups, and would be a great book for a parent to read with their kid.
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