As I have stated in a previous post, somewhere back in the mists of time, I’m a huge fan of Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines. I would go as far as to say it is my all time favourite book for the YA market. As such, when I saw that he had written a story about dragons – even one with such an erroneous title – then I had to buy it and see if it lived up to his previous work.

No Such Thing as Dragons tells the tale of a young mute lad, Ansell, who is sold to a travelling dragon hunter named Brock. His new master is full of grand stories of his adventurous career in slaying the enormous creatures and he is also full of himself and his reputation. However, Ansell soon discovers Brock’s secret. He is a fraud. He has never really encountered a dragon and doesn’t actually believe in their existence. It comes as no great surprise to the reader when the two travellers arrive at a village who are living in fear of a dragon and discover there is more to the legends than Brock thought.

This story is written for a younger market than the Hungry Cities series. Philip’s descriptive writing is as breathtakingly brilliant as ever and I will most certainly read this book aloud to my son when he is old enough. However, for fans of the Mortal Engines series, I wouldn’t recommend this as a book to progress to because it doesn’t have the depth of his previous works. The story lacks the twists and turns that he so masterfully engineers in his other books, but makes a superb introductory book to the dragon genre for younger readers.

One bone I would have to pick with Mr Reeve is his choice of title … is he yet another author who has not heard of our plight? Of course there are such things as dragons! If I ever get the chance to meet him … and I hope to do that one day … I shall be quick to raise this issue. Maybe I’ll even introduce him to a dragon or two.

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