An exciting and evocative Christian fantasy puts an imaginative spin on the Exodus tale, but it is marred by a confusing structure and questionable implications. By no means a stand-alone, the narrative jumps immediately into action from the close of series opener Starlighter (2010). Jason and his companions are still endeavoring to rescue humans from their wretched slavery to dragons in an alternate world. As the newly hatched black dragon king plots to co-opt the Starlighter's mystical power, his opponents seek his mysterious white counterpart in the Northlands. Five separate story lines follow a hefty cast of both dragons and humans to climactic cliffhangers. If the episodic plot depends heavily on convenient devices, the settings are sturdily crafted, the imagery is exquisite and the themes of friendship, sacrifice and the power of stories are heart-wrenching and thought-provoking. The protagonists, human and dragon alike, are complex and admirable; but despite assurances that some powerful secondary characters are "good" and others "evil," it is difficult to distinguish between their behavior. Both are cryptic and manipulative, demand unquestioning submission to cruel "tests" and inflict vicious punishment for failure. However, much of this disturbing subtext will likely pass by the target audience, who will delight in the wildly inventive worldbuilding, exciting adventure and copious religious allusions. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

Gr 7-10 Starting immediately after the events in Starlighter (Zondervan, 2010), this Christian fantasy begins with Taushin, the prophesied dragon king, about to hatch from his egg. Meanwhile, Jason and his companions are still trying to figure out how to rescue the slaves from Starlight, and Koren, the Starlighter, is fighting to maintain her identity under nearly overwhelming pressure to allow Taushin to complete their connection. Once she escapes with Jason to the North, she realizes that going back to Taushin may be the only way to save her people. Jason tries to stop her, but to no avail, and he then joins with Uriel, the first freedom fighter, to meet the mysterious white dragon king of the North. As they do so, the seer Elysa joins forces with a young warrior to rescue some of the slaves and the dragons concoct a plan of their own. Keeping all of the story threads straight is only half the battle as Davis switches among the different story arcs, trying unsuccessfully to tie them into a cohesive whole. There are simply too many characters and too many plots to make the story flow seamlessly, and the book feels very much like the calm before the climactic battle. The backstory is never fully explained, leading to confusion about what exactly the characters are striving for. While Starlighter was a mostly promising start to this series, Warrior is only for die-hard fans looking for the connection to the next book, Diviner (Zondervan, 2011). Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA