The Dragon Warrior

The Dragon Warrior
Katie Zhao
Bloomsbury, 2019
343 pages
Grades 4-8
Mythology/Fantasy

Twelve year-old Faryn and her slightly younger brother live with their beloved grandfather in San Francisco's Chinatown.Ever since their warrior fighting father disappeared years before, the small family unit has been looked down upon by the community's top citizens. While out getting medicine for her grandfather on the first day of the lunar new year, Faryn encounters a Nian (scary demon). Grandfather trained her to be a demon warrior like her father and she puts the skills to work, defeating this enemy with the help of a mysterious stranger. A new year's party reveals unexpected news that Faryn is the "Heaven Breaker", a warrior prophesied to wield an Excalibur-like sword and lead a dragon army to save the world in a war against demons. Brother Alex is not happy. Why wasn't he the one chosen? There is no time to ponder as the young people team up with an old friendemie to lead the charge in the war against the demons. Do they have what it takes? Can Faryn make the right choices and sacrifices required for the job? Most of all, how will the team fare while encountering both deities and demons in their quest to save the world from evil?

Perfect for Rick Riordan and Rick Riordan Presents fans, The Dragon Warrior offers Chinese mythology within a contemporary format. The story has plenty of action, twists and turns with both deities and demons around every corner. The characters aren't super developed, but it's not that kind of story. They do change and surprise us along the way and sometimes it's not clear who to root for. This book ends with a grand final battle, yet also a couple of major cliff-hangers that will lead the reader to the sequel The Fallen Hero, involving the legendary Monkey King. From what I have read online, there are also loose plot threads and folks expected a third installment, but two years later there does not seem to be one in the works. The author has written some other things, including a new middle grade fantasy that came out just this fall. Young readers, who like this sort of thing, will enjoy The Dragon Warrior and it was a hit with my fifth and sixth grade book group . I, personally, had trouble keeping the deities and demons straight. There is a humorous and informative glossary in the back, but I didn't discover it until I finished the whole book. Maybe an author's note at the beginning alerting the reading about the glossary is in the back would have helped. Lovers of action/fantasy, as well as those already familiar with the legends and characters in question, will enjoy this story and find much to savor.