So what happens in this book? Do people ride dragons?
Well, yes, they do. However, that is far from being the main plot of the story. In the beginning, we find ourselves in the valley of the dragons, near both sea and mountains. This is one of the last few places in the world that dragons can live in safety, away from humans. Bad news is about to strike, though. A friendly rat has news of humans planning to come and flood the valley; they know nothing of the dragons that live there. The dragons must either stay and die or find a new place to live. The second option seems the prime choice to many of the creatures, but where will they go? Slatebeard, the oldest dragon in the valley has an idea. Long ago, almost out of his memory, he remembers a place called the Rim of Heaven where the dragons lived in safety. What he doesn't remember is what chased them out of that place and forced them to come here.
One of the dragons, named Firedrake, volunteers to go searching for the rim of heaven. He and a brownie named Sorrel set out that very night. First, they go to a big city, where they buy a map showing half of the whole world on it, including the Himalayan Mountains, where the Rim of Heaven is said to be. There the two friends also find an orphan boy named Ben who, apart from never having seen a dragon before, is quite useful in navigating a human city. Ben decides to travel with them, and the three become good friends.
The first part of the journey they take ends up to be off course. Instead of traveling to a safe place, they end up in a seemingly harmless meadow with large rocks and trees. This area turns out to be the habitat of several dwarves; one of them, who is a spy, reports the presence of Firedrake to his master.
The dwarf's master is another dragon, a much bigger, golden dragon, who eats smaller silver dragons like Firedrake. He has been searching for his prey for many years now, and Firedrake is the first sign he has had of one since a long time ago. This golden dragon, whose name is Nettlebrand, decides not to pounce on Firedrake right away; on the contrary, he devises a plan to have his servant, Twigleg, follow them, so that Firedrake can lead Nettlebrand to other dragons.
The first settlement after the meadow the three, (and Twigleg, who is following them,) encounter is at an archaeological camp. Sorrel wanders off by herself, and humans capture her, and along with her, Twigleg. They put the two creatures in cages and speculate about what kind of animals they are. Only one man, Professor Greenbloom seems to realize what they really are. Ben first befriends Twigleg, and then Professor Greenbloom. Sorrel does not approve of either of these friendships at first, but she is overruled by Ben and Firedrake. The professor, who studies fabulous creatures such as dragons, is clueless as to where the Rim of Heaven is; however, he has some advice for them: seek a djinn and ask him where it lies. The professor also warns them of a great golden dragon; he has found two scales that might belong to him. The four wave goodbye to Professor Greenbloom as they fly off in search of the djinn.
At this point in the story, I was hooked. There were many questions that had to be answered. Would the djinn help Firedrake? Would Sorrel find out that Twigleg was actually working for the evil Nettlebrand? Did the two golden scales belong to Nettlebrand? Did the Rim of Heaven even exist? And if so, were there any dragons yet alive there? I just had to keep reading!
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