Arriving at the final book in a series can be both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time – a little bit like waiting to find out what’s in the soup each Friday lunchtime here in the monsters’ caves.

Sometimes the final episode of a tale is nothing more than the tying up of loose ends or a rush towards a blindingly obvious resolution, and can occasionally be something of a let down for loyal readers (I would expain further but Fningbok the bewigged, the monsters’ legal adviser, has asked me not to mention any particular series that end this way – although I’m sure you’ll all have read such a book).

So, when a copy of Aurora – the final installment of Mark Robson’s wonderful Dragon Orb series – dropped through the hatch in my cell door, I wasn’t sure whether to begin reading or not.

The three proceeding books had been among some of the best stories I had ever read; a brilliant mix of classic fantasy and surprise twists.  I’d followed the dragons and their riders through some action-packed adventures – adventures which had to end in this final book.  But, would I find the conclusion to the characters’ quest as gripping as I had their earlier outings?

I needn’t have worried.  Mark has worked hard to make this book even more of a journey for the characters than the first three titles.  In fact, there are more twists and turns in this book than I ever expected – especially towards the final chapters.  The ending literally had me reeling from paragraph to paragraph as events moved along at breakneck speed to a fantastically surprising climax.  I wish I could say more – but I don’t want to give anything away!

I can’t recommend this book enough and – if anyone from Simon and Schuster is reading this… we want more Areth adventures very soon!

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