Kingdom of the Golden Dragon

Gr. 7-12. This sequel to City of the Beasts (2002) is not as good as the first book. Here, contrived coincidence goes far beyond the magical realism. Sixteen-year-old Alexander accompanies his tough grandmother on another International Geographic expedition. This time they are in the Himalayas, and, somehow, Alexander's friend Nadia Santos from the Amazon is with them. High in the mountains are the Yetis, who behave like crazed orangutans. They help Alexander and the good guys in their fight against American corporate villains, who employ bloodthirsty bandits to kidnap the king and steal a golden dragon from the Forbiddeningdom. Alexander and Nadia join the young heir to the kingdom and his wise Buddhist mentor, and the evil is finally conquered using a mix of telepathy, technology, guns, and Tao-shu. There's an overload of travelogue detail, but the Himalayan setting is thrilling, and the second half of the novel speeds up with breathless action and some truly surprising revelations. The realistic scenes between Alexander and his acerbic, loving grandma are the best part of the book; it's a pity there isn't more of that. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2004 Booklist

Fans of Allende's action fantasy City of the Beasts will be eager to sink their teeth into this equally tantalizing sequel. If the first book focused on environmental themes, this one takes on a strong spiritual flavor. Here Alexander (who has just turned 16) and his journalist grandmother, Kate, are off to the Himalayas accompanied by Brazilian native Nadia Santos (Eagle), whom they met during their excursion to the Amazon in the previous novel. Their mission is to find out about the Forbidden Kingdom, a remote mountain country that holds the invaluable Golden Dragon, a jewel-encrusted statue with magical powers. Alex and his companions are welcomed into the Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, a place where greed, hostility and crime do not exist. While they are becoming acquainted with the benevolent king, a master thief and crew of evil "Blue Warriors" carry out a scheme to steal the precious statue and kidnap the king along with some young women of the village. Before long, Alexander finds himself once again tangled up in a dangerous quest as he sets off to retrieve the Golden Dragon and save the lives of the hostages. As the author promotes ideals of compassion, forgiveness and asceticism, she expertly blends all the ingredients of a great epic adventure. Her complex heroes, suspenseful tests of courage and the mystic aura that surrounds the story add depth and excitement to a classic battle of good versus evil. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 5-8-Buddhist monk Tensing and his disciple, Prince Dil Bahadur, are journeying through the Himalayan peaks in search of healing plants when they come face to face with a tribe of once-fierce Yetis. These legendary half-human, half-ape monsters inhabit a lush valley heated by thermal pools and hot springs and are unaware that it's the toxic minerals in the water that has weakened them and slowed their rate of reproduction. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Alexander Cold; his intrepid writer/explorer grandmother, Kate; and his soul mate, Nadia Santos, daughter of the guide who led Kate and Alex on their previous expedition into the South American rain forest, described in City of the Beasts (HarperCollins, 2002), are off on a new International Geographic expedition. They are headed for the Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, a small, isolated sovereignty in the Himalayas. Criminals are on the same flight; they intend to steal the Golden Dragon, the fabulous jewel-encrusted statue that is both a symbol and a guide for the country, and to abduct its king to interpret the statue's oracular predictions. All of these characters are about to come together in another breathtaking Indiana Jones-style adventure. When Nadia is one of a group of young girls kidnapped by mercenaries, Tensing, Dil Bahadur, and even the Yetis become involved in the rescue. Allende combines empathetic young characters; exciting adventures; and an intelligent, sympathetic look at cultures, customs, and creatures of a remote and fairly unknown area. This is a must-read for fans of the first book, but it stands completely on its own. The biggest question readers are left with at the end is simply, where will these three go next?-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Alexander ""call me Jaguar"" Cold and his friend Nadia Santos, a.k.a. Eagle, are back from The City of the Beasts for another crack at helping protect a sacred ancient culture+this time in the Himalayas+from ruthless Western capitalists. Like a more high-minded Hardy Boys caper, this lengthy adventure is almost absurdly campy but makes for good escapist fantasy. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

The adolescent heroes of City of the Beasts are off for another journey with primitive peoples and spectacular creatures in this clunky sequel. Alexander and his Brazilian friend, Nadia, join Alexander's grandmother Kate on an International Geographic journalistic expedition to the Himalayas. On their visit to the Forbidden Kingdom, they hope to see the mysterious Golden Dragon, an ancient artifact with prophetic powers. Unbeknownst to the adventurers, wicked agents of the second richest man in the world are also on their way to the Forbidden Kingdom, hoping to steal the Golden Dragon and its secret. With the telepathically communicated help of Prince Dil Bahadur, the ascetic teen heir to the throne, Nadia and Alexander must save the day. Bestial Yetis and Buddhist monks work alongside the animal totems Nadia and Alexander discovered in their prior enterprise. The legally enforced primitivism of the People of the Dragon is ultimately and incongruously preserved by Alexander's knowledge of 21st-century technology. Awkward and overly expository prose makes this otherwise promising offering waver between magical adventure and social-studies lesson. (Fiction. 13-15) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr. 7-12. This sequel to City of the Beasts (2002) is not as good as the first book. Here, contrived coincidence goes far beyond the magical realism. Sixteen-year-old Alexander accompanies his tough grandmother on another International Geographic expedition. This time they are in the Himalayas, and, somehow, Alexander's friend Nadia Santos from the Amazon is with them. High in the mountains are the Yetis, who behave like "crazed orangutans." They help Alexander and the good guys in their fight against American corporate villains, who employ bloodthirsty bandits to kidnap the king and steal a golden dragon from the Forbidden Kingdom. Alexander and Nadia join the young heir to the kingdom and his wise Buddhist mentor, and the evil is finally conquered using a mix of telepathy, technology, guns, and Tao-shu. There's an overload of travelogue detail, but the Himalayan setting is thrilling, and the second half of the novel speeds up with breathless action and some truly surprising revelations. The realistic scenes between Alexander and his acerbic, loving grandma are the best part of the book; it's a pity there isn't more of that. ((Reviewed February 15, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

Fans of Allende's action fantasy City of the Beasts will be eager to sink their teeth into this equally tantalizing sequel. If the first book focused on environmental themes, this one takes on a strong spiritual flavor. Here Alexander (who has just turned 16) and his journalist grandmother, Kate, are off to the Himalayas accompanied by Brazilian native Nadia Santos (Eagle), whom they met during their excursion to the Amazon in the previous novel. Their mission is to find out about the Forbidden Kingdom, a remote mountain country that holds the invaluable Golden Dragon, a jewel-encrusted statue with magical powers. Alex and his companions are welcomed into the Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, a place where greed, hostility and crime do not exist. While they are becoming acquainted with the benevolent king, a master thief and crew of evil "Blue Warriors" carry out a scheme to steal the precious statue and kidnap the king along with some young women of the village. Before long, Alexander finds himself once again tangled up in a dangerous quest as he sets off to retrieve the Golden Dragon and save the lives of the hostages. As the author promotes ideals of compassion, forgiveness and asceticism, she expertly blends all the ingredients of a great epic adventure. Her complex heroes, suspenseful tests of courage and the mystic aura that surrounds the story add depth and excitement to a classic battle of good versus evil. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Gr 5-8-Buddhist monk Tensing and his disciple, Prince Dil Bahadur, are journeying through the Himalayan peaks in search of healing plants when they come face to face with a tribe of once-fierce Yetis. These legendary half-human, half-ape monsters inhabit a lush valley heated by thermal pools and hot springs and are unaware that it's the toxic minerals in the water that has weakened them and slowed their rate of reproduction. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Alexander Cold; his intrepid writer/explorer grandmother, Kate; and his soul mate, Nadia Santos, daughter of the guide who led Kate and Alex on their previous expedition into the South American rain forest, described in City of the Beasts (HarperCollins, 2002), are off on a new International Geographic expedition. They are headed for the Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, a small, isolated sovereignty in the Himalayas. Criminals are on the same flight; they intend to steal the Golden Dragon, the fabulous jewel-encrusted statue that is both a symbol and a guide for the country, and to abduct its king to interpret the statue's oracular predictions. All of these characters are about to come together in another breathtaking Indiana Jones-style adventure. When Nadia is one of a group of young girls kidnapped by mercenaries, Tensing, Dil Bahadur, and even the Yetis become involved in the rescue. Allende combines empathetic young characters; exciting adventures; and an intelligent, sympathetic look at cultures, customs, and creatures of a remote and fairly unknown area. This is a must-read for fans of the first book, but it stands completely on its own. The biggest question readers are left with at the end is simply, where will these three go next?-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.