Andrew and the Firedrake

by Douglas Wilson

The boy in the garden remembers three things: his name, his age, and a command. His name is Andrew. He is fifteen years old. He must guard the entrance to the garden. Faced with a series of tasks, each harder than the last, Andrew sets out on a journey with Kyru the unicorn to face a dragon and rescue a girl.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Christian, Childrens, Audiobook, Christian Fiction, Middle Grade

188 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2019

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[Shawn Paterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story, and I love the leaf mold that a story like this springs up out of.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book worked much better for me on audio than trying to read it visually! Overall impression now is of a fun adventure story. (Though probably more fun if you've experienced lots of other fantasy/adventure stories in the past--I'm not sure this would work as well for a very young reader who doesn't know dragon stories already.)

Original DNF review:
I really hate to DNF this one, because in theory I love what he's doing with the story, and would probably recommend it for children. But every time I force myself to pick it up and read another chapter I'm just BORED.

[Lukas Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some really cool world building aspects of this book, but it was really slow for the first half and felt like an uncanny-valley-esque chimera between allegory and straight fiction. Loved the idea of our world being a river with parallel worlds as eddies on the edge.

[Céline Mehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the build ups in the story didn’t really deliver, but I give it five stars anyways - I love how the story makes you want to live more fully, bravely and cheerfully for God! Engaging and good story.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to revisit this. When I can't settle into a book on a Sunday afternoon, I know I need something light, and kids fiction often fits the bill. Not the author's best fiction effort, but a fun story. A sequel is wanted. I had a quibble with a couple of places where our hero does something just because he feels it's the right thing to do. That felt too vague and insufficient.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a really long time to finish this. I read and re-read sections of it over and over. I think I love it, but perhaps I need the paper copy to fully understand the symbolism therein.

[Katie Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Really solid metaphors, which I enjoyed more than my little sister, who listened to the audiobook with me. 😊

[Joah Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the spirit of Lewis, Tolkien, Beowulf, and others, Douglas Wilson's debut middle-grade fantasy novel is a fun ride with deep meaning. It seems the sort of book that would offer new gems with every reread. 


At first, I had a hard time getting used to the style, but as the story progressed I realized that it is meant to be written in the vein of classic allegory and that the style actually adds a whole lot to the story. 


Halfway through the book, there is a conversation that very well establishes the major theme and plot of the book. Our protagonist, a boy named Andrew, is charged with killing a dragon to rescue a maiden. He asks the one who gives him this charge, a sage called Aelfric, why the dragon is holding the girl captive:

Aelfric said, "[The dragon] has taken the girl hostage because this is how the story goes." 

"You make it sound as if we in this story have no choices at all."

"No, we have choices, and we make them constantly," Aelfric said. "We have a great array of choices before us, and it is our glory to choose between them. But there is one choice we do not have, and that is the choice to be the author of the story. So [the dragon] has chosen what he wants. He does not want to eat hay or become a weaver. He is a dragon, so he wants to hoard gold and capture maidens. You are Andrew, and your fathers were great in the kingdom, and so you want to kill the firedrake." (pg. 69-70)


It is in this theme that we find what I believe is the greatest virtue and flaw of this book. First off, the genius of this book is wrapped up in its allegory of the nature of God's sovereignty and man's choice in the story we are all a part of. God is the author of this story and the creator of its setting. We, as his creatures, are the characters. Since he is the author, we are subject to his will and plan. At the same time, he works in and through our choices as free-willed creatures, while still maintaining full authority over us. These are glorious truths, and ones which Wilson creatively digs into through this story, offering the reader deep insight. 


At the same time, I felt like the characters in this story were somewhat flat. They did not feel very real, but somewhat generic and static, and I wonder if this may arise in part from the dynamic described in the conversation between Andrew and the sage. Although this conversation recognizes that the characters in the story do make genuine choices, I wonder if the plot-driven nature of the story arising from the theme of God's sovereign authorship is not part of the reason behind the flatness of the characters. Because of the focus on God's sovereignty, there is not as much of a focus on man and his choices. Perhaps Doug Wilson designed the story this way to emphasize his point, but it would have been nice if the characters were more full-orbed. The lack of character development made it hard to deeply invest in the story.


Nevertheless, this was a very fun and thought-provoking read. The beginning chapters especially were very mysterious and perked my curiosity. It was also fun to notice references to other great works of literature, like That Hideous Strength and Narnia. I am sure there were many other references that I did not get as well, as the story draws from many wells.


Great stuff!

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me. Begins all soft and dreamlike (perhaps too soft and dreamlike), but turns out there's a reason for that, and it all ties together nicely in the end. It's a Christian Beowulf story for kids and young teens. I loved the throwbacks to history (the hero is Andrew and he remembers something about Scotland, and lo, Andrew was the patron saint of Scotland) and the nods to lessons learned in Narnia (such as the importance of reading the right books and always sticking to obedience). It was also fun to see the inverse of Beowulf. Whereas first Beowulf had to defeat a "brother" twisted by envy and then slay a dragon consumed with cold jealousy, here Andrew first defeats the jealous dragon and then must resist the brother twisted with envy.

Best line: "You were born of a woman, and so you come from a race of dragon-slayers."

[Fëalórin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew and the Firedrake is a hazy, dreamlike tale that feels reminiscent of the works of George MacDonald and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Like MacDonald, it attempts to float profound truth just below the surface, but does so so vaguely that such profundity is likely to be missed by children and adults alike. Like Tolkien, it draws from Scandinavian mythology and the age of chivalry, but unlike Tolkien, the world it builds is not nearly as compelling or real as it could be.

Additionally, Wilson's signature wit and wordplay were disappointingly absent from this book, revealing that his style does not easily translate into children's literature.

This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy dragon tales and can tolerate slight slowness of plot.

[Debbie Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because my middle school writing class chose the book (voted for based on a book recommendation essay written by each child.) I felt like it was very slow and the analogies were too weak for most of the class. That said, almost everyone (10-13yo) enjoyed the story and did a great job narrating it and relating to the protagonist, Andrew. I was pretty much lost for the first 3/4 of the story. Maybe it's truly best understood by a child, yet I can't help but think about what C.S. Lewis said, “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” I almost gave the book four stars because of Wilson's lack of overt moralising - always appreciated in a good children's fiction book.

[Julie Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting and It was hard to predict what would happen next which kept it exciting all the way through. I love the lesson it teaches and all the truths Doug scatters throughout. I think it will be a great book for my future children to read, I already plan to recommend it to my sister for her 8 year old son.

The reason I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it built up to the fight against the dragon being very hard mostly because the dragon would try to deceive Andrew, which, unless I missed something, the dragon did not do. I was a bit disappointed at this but I hardly remembered this fact by the end.

[Abigail Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really quick, fun book to listen to during daily tasks. It was the exact kind of story I wanted to hear. Kill the dragon, get the girl. It is not a complex story but it’s the kind of simple story that is soothing and easy; pleasantly predictable.
I was a bit confused at the start of the story just as the protagonist was in the first couple of gardens. But I came to quickly understand what the story was about and the purpose of the journey just as Andrew did as well. After that, it was fun to be swallowed up in the adventure.

[Luke Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragons. Vikings. Knights. Maidens. Tradition. Philosophy. Theology. What's not to love. As someone who hasn't read fantasy in a while, this book was a wonderful way to re-enter the realm. Wilson has a way of evoking the nostalgia of reading Narnia or LoTR for the first time, and it's an absolute delight. It reminds the Christian reader that they're a chosen people descended from a long line of dragon slayers. Andrew and the Firedrake fed my soul hungry for stories. Overall, I loved it. 8/10

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading this aloud to my eight and ten year old.
Kill the dragon and get the girl!

[Jared Mcnabb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to family. Everyone enjoyed it. Some interesting points like you’d expect from someone like Wilson

[S.G. Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mix of modern and fairy tale with lots of scriptural parallels. Good read.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already want to reread.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read aloud with kids. They loved it and wanted to start it all over again after we finished.

[Anita Harkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story stared off quite slow and I feared that I would have to force myself to finish, but it does pick up a little ways into the story. The slow start makes more sense if you see the book through to the end.

[ValeReads Kyriosity]

It's been so long since I read this that I can't give an intelligent review (I have a vague recollection of a boy, evidently named Andrew, and a dragon, evidently of the fire-breathing variety, but that's about it), but I want to log is as having been read.

[Megan Triplett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our whole family enjoyed this delightful book! A great book to listen to together as a family.

[Elizabeth Tuecke · Rating 3 out of 5]

would be splendid reading-aloud material, I think <3

[Janie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

We listened to it on audio while driving and my kids loved it!

[Rachel Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't precisely hate this, but I certainly don't love it.

First, I want to acknowledge how difficult a task it is to write a morality tale that imparts deep meaning with a fresh spin, that uses characters that aren't simply caricatures, and that doesn't sound trite, cliche, or overly pompous. I understand this. But this story just didn't work for me.
Why? I'm glad you asked ...

I disliked that the only misstep the protagonist took was the one act of disobedience we discover at the end of the book. Throughout the series of tests, he always chooses appropriately. Moreover, multiple times in the story, the author tells us that Andrew didn't know why he was supposed to do X thing, he just knew it was the right choice ... really? Wouldn't it be nice if we all just naturally knew the right thing to do in every situation.? And I'm not talking about just the big things. This carried over into even small, seemingly innocuous actions like when he kissed the girl's forehead. This happened multiple times. I gave it a pass the first time, but after several times, I was eye rolling. We never see him have to struggle with regret, guilt, fear ... just boldly plunging ahead with confidence and good cheer. Andrew read as a cardboard cutout, and I just couldn't relate.

The female characters were likewise shallow and used as a prop for our cardboard hero. Women exist to be the damsel, the mother, or the seducer. (Insert more eyerolling) 🙄

And what was the deal with the cousin? Yes, Let's bring up some major family trauma, grief trauma, and leave it with a hallway discussion where who knows what is happening exactly ... ? Two thumbs down on that call. If this is a morality tale, let's see some redemption. Let's see how grace works through the hard things.

I'm not going to give this one a star rating, but suffice it to say it wasn't my favorite read.

[Rachel Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d pay $11.99 a month for this

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Read this to my three boys, they enjoyed it. I thought it was a good book. As far as worldview and character building goes, it was top notch. As far as story-craft goes, it was fine but not great. I'd recommend it for reading to your boys any time!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun fantasy adventure in the classic style (young hero learning and growing on a quest, riddles to answer, dragon to slay, girl to rescue). Definitely a good read for a MG or younger audience. At times it felt a bit too "allegorical" or "preachy," but then again, since it's a children's book, a more obvious message is usually acceptable.

[Emily Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part Lewis. Part Tolkein. Some Bunyan. All Wilson.

In this delightful tale Wilson weaves gospel into an adventure story. Perhaps wanting in some character development but certainly not wanting in imagination.

Dripping with biblical metaphor and artfully written.

[Miriam Robarts · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

From the cover and description, it looked like this would be a fun, light hearted fairytale type story. For the most part, it is.

One thing that was strange for me, though, was the way the story mentions Christ by name. I am a Christian, and I enjoy stories with uplifting themes like good vs. evil, making good choices, having integrity, etc. I also like stories that are obvious Christian allegories, like 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

I think the author was going for something similar, but more direct. Unfortunately, for me at least — it missed the mark & had the opposite effect. Whenever it would say, 'Christ' in the story, it felt a little jarring and awkward. I think it gave me the wrong vibe because it was trying to mix truth with fiction.

For more explanation:
It would have been fine if the story had used the runes, creatures and characters as symbolism in an analogy. I've even felt fine with a story mentioning a 'God', 'Lord', or 'Creator' in the world of the story. However, explicitly combining real, actual deity with magical, fantasy powers doesn't feel right to me.

The story puts the two on the same plane which presents them as being equally true. A metaphorical story places them on separate but parallel planes, so the imaginary merely reflects truth, but doesn't pose as truth.

It also works better when you let the reader draw out morals of a story for themselves. People can see good things and truths in any type of story. A parable simply makes it easier to do this by having greater correlation to mirror the principles you want to share.

As a result, I didn't feel the comparison the author intended, and it drew me out of the story which I would have enjoyed more if it wasn't interrupted so much.

The story also uses the "It was only a dream — or was it?" trope, which is hard to do in a satisfying way. Worse, it never really resolves the conflict that is hinted at throughout the story. The problem is revealed, but the main character doesn't do anything about it.

I think the "joint dream" trope would have worked better if Andrew had a conversation with his cousin on the island and apologized to Ryan, instead of fighting him. That way, you could have Andrew wake up in the hospital, & start apologizing when he sees Ryan. Ryan could stop him & say, "I know" or something to show he remembered what happened in the dream world.