The Isle of Tomorrow is swarming with dragon rebels, chief among them in fury and hatred for humans is Furious, who has escaped from the dungeon where he was once imprisoned by the last king of the Wilderwest, Wodensfang the Woeful. But it is here, during the last twelve days of the year, that every hero who has gathered the ten royal objects scattered across the world must go to be crowned and stop Furious's rampage with the Dragon-Jewel. Hiccup, his friend Fishlegs, and the warrior Camicazi must first retrieve the necessary artefacts that have fallen into the hands of his arch-nemesis, Alvin the Treacherous, and the evil witch Excellinor. Help is unexpectedly offered by Hiccup's cousin and eternal rival, Snotlout, who has, however, repeatedly betrayed them in the past. Will they not end up having to deal with an enemy in their own ranks?
The penultimate instalment of the popular children's fantasy series starring the Viking Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third tells a story full of unexpected twists, deep emotions, and tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
The way the author portrays the colourful plot throughout the book is simply wonderful!
- The Guardian
Incredibly beautiful storytelling. So much emotion and so well written.
- from reader reviews on Goodreads.com
(* 1966) The English writer studied English at Keble College, Oxford, and graduated from Saint Martin's School of Art and the University of Brighton, where she studied graphic design and illustration. She began writing at the age of nine when she moved with her parents from London to a small island off the west coast of Scotland. The surrounding wild and rugged landscape was the perfect inspiration for inventing stories about dragons. Nevertheless, she did not publish her first children's book on the subject until she was 33. She is the author of the Hiccup Horrendous Haddock series (Slovart), the most famous of which is the first volume, How to Train Your Dragon, which also became the basis for the 2010 animated film of the same name and its two sequels, How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019). She followed up this success with another award-winning series of children's stories, The Wizards of Once (Slovart, 2019), which will also be published in book and audiobook form. She is the winner of the 2018 Blue Peter Book Award for The Wizards of Once series and the 2006 Nestlé Children's Book Prize for her stories about a little girl named Emily Brown.