Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

Have Sword, Will Travel #2

by Garth Nix, Sean Williams

Sir Odo and Sir Eleanor still think of themselves as unlikely knights. But when their kingdom is threatened by forces of significant nefariousness, they and their talking swords join a bold quest to rescue a monarch, vanquish deadly beasts, confound a prophecy, and (if they're lucky) avoid stepping on the tail of a very powerful dragon.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Audiobook, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2018

About the author

Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing 'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly 'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.

Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher's sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.

He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.

Reviews

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to Have Sword, Will Travel. Spoilers for that ahead.

It opens with Odo and Eleanor, and Biter and Runnel, running to fight bilewolves, who are attacking two travelers and others. Sir Halfdan fights, and dies.

And one traveler, they realize, is Edga -- the king who abdicated. Soon after, an Instrument (a new title) arrives to take over the role of steward. Edga with their help puts him down, but obviously, he must see to his grandson, the rightful heir, and his grandmother regent.

It involves spelling, the nick in Biter, craftfires summoning creatures, a machine to control the weather, and more.

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story put a smile on my son's face.

Enchanted swords, brave children, adventure, good humour and a Dragon! What's not to like?

Also, some lovely underlying messages about fairness and equality.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a nice read. Admittedly, it is less fun and quirky than its predecessor, "Have Sword, Will Travel," but it feels more mature and like an actual adventure. It has more substance, the characters no longer need to be fleshed out, as we've met them in the previous volume, and so there is much attention to the story. It's still a kid's adventure, to be sure, and the eventual resolution of the conflict felt imbalanced, but the epilogue promises more to come. I, for one, will keep my eyes open for that one.

[Anthony Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book, well targeted at the age range (10-12 maybe?) and pretty entertaining for those of us that are a little older. Perhaps lacks any outstanding attribute that would prompt a recommendation.

[Kat Drennan-Scace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun sequel to this book series. Lots of fun adventures & new characters. This isn't a lifechanging book but is a fun fantasy series and the audiobook is well done. Recommended for young fantasy readers.

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well dang. That ending though.

[Elizabeth Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, to whoever decides on the marketing, this is NOT a book for only 10-12 year olds.
That is what the clever cover seems to imply.
It is, in fact, a well structured fantasy for any age up 100 or so.
Very cleverly done with solid characters.
Classic good vs evil and it looks like more to come!

[erebus K Rushworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the first book in the series, this one chugs along with good pace. Eleanor and Odo are a little older and a little wiser, and cut a dashing figure with their synchronised sword-wielding. They are still only 12. ... but they are Knights, and they behave accordingly. This part of the tail starts to deal a little with the ideas of power, control and government.. in a low-key, child appropriate way.

This story deals more with mourning than the previous one, and although the young knights focus on being a generally non-lethal force, travelling with old warriors who have seen the worst of it, starts to get the children questioning whether all this fighting is "glorious" after all.

The characters are great and it's cool to see the return of Old Ryce- the eccentric maker, and some of the Earthkin. A tame bat is an unlikely companion and a bit silly.. but certainly a fun addition to the story.
The ending of the book contains components of a traditional Chinese story, that I won't go into because SPOILERS! heh, and the Epilogue hints strongly at the direction of the next instalment of the story.

Narrator Oliver Hembrough, does a passable job, but as with many audiobooks (that I have to use because my eyes fail me a lot of the time), I don't get to find out how a name is spelled until I look it up afterwards. Due to the pronunciation I knew that the older man was not called Edgar (as he would be commonly in Britain today), but the narration was not consistent on this. I deliberately went back and listed to passages and could swear that in places his name was pronounced Eg-da and in other places it was Ed-ga. It may just be my ears, but online it is similarly confusing and inconsistent. Thankfully I own the paperback and can confirm, it's Egda.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Eleanor and Sir Odo plus their magical swords find themselves facing an awful plague of usurpers. People calling themselves Instruments are showing up and deposing the knights, usurping their authority with supposed approval of the crown. The crowned prince's regent has decided that usurping her grandson's throne sounds like a delightful idea and is slowly setting her plans in motion. Some of those being the Instruments and other new authorities she's sent out. Another is crafty assassins sent to deal with the slight danger of her brother, the former king who abdicated when he went blind. Sir Eleanor and Sir Odo, Biter and Runnel, run into the former king while dealing with some nasty magical creatures. They are then recruited by him and his guard Hundred, to see if they can deal with the regent and save the crowned prince before it is too late. But it is going to be a long and dangerous journey to the capitol and the young knights have much to learn.

A good old fantasy adventure with two colorful older characters with some serious fighting skills and secret allies. I was a little disappointed because Biter isn't quite as funny in this book as he was in the first one. Runnel provides a voice of wisdom that keeps his ranting to a minimum and he's lost most of his bloodthirstiness. He does have occasional moments. I did like the addition of a little bit who can carry messages and spy for them. It was a cute new character. The places they visit were imaginative, and the door sled down a frozen waterfall scene was something I don't think I've ever even heard of in an adventure before but was quite brilliant even if it would be totally deadly. The climax had more than one element I was not expecting, and pleasantly surprised me. The epilogue in this leaves me wondering if the two authors are working on a third book. It certainly seemed like they were setting things up for a decided need for a third adventure. I'm all for more adventuring with Odo and Eleanor if that's the case.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some fantasy magic fights and sword fights and run-ins with vicious wild animals. Some are injured or killed in these fights (this is mostly stated rather than shown).

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our twelve year old knights have another adventure when bile wolves and bureaucracy show up in the village on the same day.

An old blind man and one knight, defend the village. The aging village knight refers to the old man as the King. But he abdicated when he lost his sight, leaving the throne to his great nephew who rumour suggests is being controlled by his grandmother, or has gone quite mad, or both.

The regent is using an unholy mix of magic (craft fires) and bureaucracy to replace the old ways. These new changes to the kingdom are not popular with the talking swords; ceremonial knights indeed and they also break long standing promises and treaties with other magical creatures.

So off they all go to help King Edga find out what is happening.

I love the way it is so feminist; women are knights, bad guys, and magic sword blacksmiths.

Biter is such a himbo sword, bless him; more brawn than brains.

And the ending? chef’s kiss.

4 stars

So far this year my library saved me $184.22

[American Mensa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie is the thrilling second edition to the amazing series called “Have Sword Will Travel”. This book would be considered the fantasy genre and is for ages 7 and up. Let Sleeping Dragons Lie is filled with adventure and excitement, taking place in medieval times, in areas all over the kingdom. The two main characters, Eleanor and Odo are now on their second adventure as knights! It has a thrilling storyline, where Eleanor and Odo must embark on an adventure to save the kingdom once more. It even has serval crazy twist, and all will leave you awe struck! Eleanor and Odo each have amazing attributes. Eleanor is always ready for adventure and can never sit still. Odo is never really ready to save the world again, but is always ready to lend a hand. By the time you finish reading this book, you will be excited for a sequel! The authors of this book have created a spectacular story!
Reviewed by Ryan B, age 13, Broward Mensa

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first one was really good, it was fast-paced, it was exciting, it was humorous, the characters grew and changed, and everything was new.

Everything was the opposite for this. I stopped around page 150, all they had done was walk down a road. Very little had happened, and they had run from all their challenges, when not being completely deus-ex-machina-ed out of a situation.

It wasn't funny, the swords were barely in it at all. Why do they even need enchanted swords? Hundred took care of everything anyway.

All the agency was removed from our characters, while our two adult characters were wildly inconsistent with their powers and strengths.

This was so incredibly boring. Three weeks to get 150 pages into a kid's book? Something is definitely wrong.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, I need to go back and read my review of the first book. I might be at risk of repeating myself. This book was entertaining at a juvenile level. While maintaining a simple plot with simple goals, the authors were able to maintain a storyline and set of characters that appealed to their audience.

The best thing about this book is actually the epilogue. This postscript kicks off the next conflict, which was set up by both book 1 and 2. If not for that I think I would be done with this series, but now I might consider reading one more. Time will tell.

[Junius Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So my sense that the first book was setting up the second really well was rewarded: the second book begins exactly where the first ended, and with minimal retelling (curse publishers for making authors do this!).

I enjoyed the second book immensely, and felt that it really delivered on the promise of the first book. The characters grow nicely into their roles, the new characters are compelling and endearing, and the climax manages to match that of the first book and deliver a satisfying conclusion. There is obvious setup for a third book, which I would greatly welcome.

[thevintagechronicles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libby/audio

I enjoyed this one much more than the first. It starts off right where the last one ended, and the adventure is pretty nonstop from there.

We meet some new characters, and i really enjoyed them. Tip is a new favorite. We get to learn some things about the swords too, which was something i was missing in book one.

The scope of this story was much broader, and the stakes felt higher.

The ending is a little cliffhanger-y so i hope the authors have plans to continue the series.

Overall, a very engaging series so far.

[Freddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 and 9yos loved this. It's a bit denser than the first book ("Have sword, will travel") and so my 6yo needed quite a bit more help following the goings on. I enjoyed it too!

Eleanor and Odo are still great and some of the new characters are a real treat. The story is typical fantasy fare: imprisoned royals, scheming members of the court, and plucky and determined goodies overcoming all odds. On top of that, the total disregard of traditional gender roles entirely refreshing.

[Jessica F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun adventure with Eleanor and Odo. This time they learn more about what it means to be a "toiling knight" and the true measure of a king. Biter learns more about his past and the ending sets the stage for the next book, which I'm assuming will result in a deadly confrontation with enemies old (some very old) and new. Pretty predictable, no real surprises, but a solid sequel nonetheless.

[Lalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was action packed I loved both of the books in the dulogy we got to see a lot of familiar and new faces .Odo should have been king instead of Kendrick he deserved better also he should have killed the instrument people and kill his grandmother. He also should not have tried to kick out odo and Eleanor. I love him none the less

[VeeDawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sir Odo and Sir Eleanor still think of themselves as unlikely knights. But when their kingdom is threatened by forces of significant nefariousness, they and their talking swords join a bold quest to rescue a monarch, vanquish deadly beasts, confound a prophecy, and (if they're lucky) avoid stepping on the tail of a very powerful dragon."

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as humorous as the first but it was still good! I enjoyed the new characters although the same kind of feministic bent was still there. The villain is a woman who wanted to crown herself "king," which was just so unnecessary. But overall, another fun adventure!

Found in L4M OT Volume 107

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read, but sadly never reaches the wonderful heights of much of Garth Nix's other works. It lacks that certain something that makes so many of Nix's other books so wonderful.

It's a fun read, but not much else.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't as good as Have Sword, Will Travel. There is a bit of action and some useful information, but the story is slow. It wasn't as fun or humourous as the previous book. There is an open ending, so maybe there will be a third book someday.

[Tollers Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

For an advanced fantasy reader, this book will be much more fulfilling and of a higher quality than than the previous one in the collection. It wasvery interestting and original, and dealt with some very unexpected twists and amazing descriptions. Very good.

[Geof Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as clearly original as the first, though it has some classic Nix elements (a fallen king, etc.) as filtered through Troubletwisters. The more I think on it, the more I feel this book is Ye Olde Troubletwisters, which similarly suffered from a drop in quality after the first half.

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great adventure!

Garth Nix rocks. I didn't know Sean Williams before these two excellent books but the writing is seamless.

Bravo, gentlemen, when can we expect the next installment?

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books aren't masterpieces, but they're fun and adventurous. Interested to see how the story goes from here, with that ending...

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read & the storyline flowed well in the book.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun quick book. I might have liked this one more than the first

[Lisa Tollefson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun sequel that leaves further installments open. Well written, well read.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable middle reader