It’s a great thing when you can jump into the second entry in a book series and be entertained. It’s also quite rare. The Rise of Neptune is the second book in The Dragonships Series. It does something equally rare in middle-grade fiction, it makes you want to find the first book and read it so that you can connect the dots.
To be fair to those who haven’t read The Last Dragon on Mars, there are a handful of moving parts in its sequel. I read the synopsis The Rise of Neptune, as well as the book itself, but it still took me a couple of chapters before I understood things. And even then, I didn’t know exactly why they were doing it or why the characters they kept referencing from the first book mattered so much, but I kept on reading.
I have stopped reading books before. Life is too short to waste on books that aren’t entertaining. The Rise of Neptune does not have that issue. On the contrary, there is so much happening in The Rise of Neptune, it wasn’t confusion that I encountered, but a desire to learn more.
What I knew: Lunar is a leader in the Dread Knights, a group of dragonriders who protect the planets. Dragons are in space, that’s cool. What are they doing there? Didn’t any scientists on Earth see them flying around in space? How can people ride them, are they just a human speck on the back of a huge beast? The questions around the second book are obvious and while they’re kind of answered in The Rise of Neptune, you don’t spend too much time worrying about them because it moves at such a brisk pace.
At some point in the first book Lunar receives a warning from Dav Robinson. Robinson is killed but not before he gives the Dread Knights a warning that Neptune is going to attack Mars. Early in The Rise of Neptune, foreshadowing!, Lunar sees ships leaving Neptune on its way to attack the red planet. Wait, I thought they were dragons that flew, where did the ships come from? Again, don’t worry about it, just keep on reading.
The ships are vast, too numerous to count, but they’re easily defeated, like me destroying Galaga back in 1986. Lunar and his forces are wondering why they’re so easy to shoot down. They realize that they need to speak to, and possible invade Neptune. The Dread Knights tried to speak to the Neptune authorities, but they weren’t open to any dialogue and started sending more of their easily defeated ships.
The Rise of Neptune is mglit that brings together science-fiction and fantasy. It’s the chocolate and peanut butter mash-up that brings together fans of one who might not like the other. Oh, my dragon, who is protecting the planet, accidentally ran into your space ship, sorry about that, but it works. Every planet has a dragon. Every dragon has a pilot. The pilot is able to ‘speak’ with the dragon and has a symbiotic relationship of sort.
It works because of the short chapters and lexile level. This is comfort reading food for those in fifth through eighth grade. Those on the younger side of that scale will struggle with some of the words. The kids that are on the older end of the scale should be able to read it easily. The great effect of a kid reading something at a perceived more challenging level is the growth in their confidence. They might read The Rise of Neptune because their buddies read The Last Dragon on Mars. The concept of dragons who protect planets is something that gets their imagination’s firing. They’ll hear that the dragon that protected Mars was killed by humans (figures…); but that the action is fast and it’s a book that will hook in reluctant readers.
OK, they haven’t heard that final point-and I used that sentence to act as a quick summary of book one. But, I also used it to whet the appetite of any curious readers who wanted a synopsis of the story up to this point. One metric we use for a great book is the ability of readers to jump into an existing series, with the second (or higher) book. There aren’t many books that we’ve read that are able to continue in the world its created, while simultaneously welcoming new readers into the fold who didn’t experience previous acts.
As if I needed reminding as to how easily the book hooks readers in, I just re-read the first page. It hooked me again. Luna, the first dragon is soaring in the sky and her brilliant luminescence is akin to opening a history book. She is what saved humans, provided them their inspiration, as well as, the reason that they’re on Mars now.
The Rise of Neptune builds on that spirit and packages it in a bonkers story about teen growth, planetary explorations, and space dragons. It works and is going to stick to upper-elementary through middle school readers like glue. The series fits in with Eragon, as well as, the other go-to book series those ages are going to see in classrooms and libraries. This series though has space dragons, an idea so wacky that it’ll bring in new readers, but has the story elements and pacing that fans of mglit expect with the books that will hook (reluctant) readers.
The Rise of Neptune, or book number two in The Dragonships Series is by New York Times Bestselling author, Scott Reintgen and is available on Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Books.
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