The Dragon's Pearl

by Devin Jordan

When Niccolo Polo vanishes on an expedition to Asia and his family writes him off as dead, sixteen-year-old Marco knows that it’s up to him to rescue his father. He sets out on a dangerous journey—but it is not the adventure he bargained for. Marco comes face to face with the magical Eastern world we know from mythology and legend, complete with dragons, flying carpets, and genies. And it is here that Marco finds himself caught in a dangerous plot in the court of Kublai Khan while trying to discover the mystical secret of the fabled dragon’s pearl.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Teen, Adventure

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Devin Jordan grew up in Staten Island, New York, and studied English Literature at Wesleyan University and Oxford University. He is twenty-five years old and lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Eva Mitnick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts out promisingly with a swashbuckling practice sword fight between Marco and Amelio and then a quick and smooth transition from Venice to Constantinople. I do love fast-paced buddy stories in which a pair of friends fall into and haul each other out of all manner of scrapes, and at first this seemed to be such a tale. However, although the pace of the action gallops along, the two friends seem at times to be almost accidental travel companions - not only do the boys remain only sketchily drawn as characters, but they don't interact much and thus their friendship remains somewhat theoretical. Amelio has the potential to be a character along the lines of Harry Potter's friend Ron - but he remains a cipher. Even the cool little imp that adopts him is completely ignored except when the plot needs the creature to get the friends out of a jam.

The exotic setting - an Asia as yet undiscovered by Europeans and seething with magic - has lots of potential, some of which is realized in well-written scenes like the ones in the city of Bukhara, with its hillside location and its enormous marketplace full of intoxicating sights, sounds, and scents. However, the Unknown Lands and their people are left almost completely undescribed, leaving the reader with nothing to visualize except dots on a map. Certainly, no effort was made, other than the character of Kublai Khan and the fact that his daughter has black hair, to make this fantasy Asia bear any resemblance to the real thing. And considering what an amazing place Asia of 1300 was, this is a real pity.

This tale also suffers from some clumsy writing. Awkward sentences like "And when Kokachin refused to remove his headdress, they allowed him to remain consumed by his shrouds" are a bit too common. "Consumed" by his shrouds? Did they have teeth? Arghun, the villainous magician, is a stock character of such complete evil that he is of no interest whatsoever, given to spouting such ludicrous phrases as "I shall possess the wind dragon and all will tremble" and "These are my dragon claws. They're about to feast on your flesh."

And one last quibble - although this wonderful world of ours is composed of men and women, approximately 50% of each, you wouldn't know it from The Dragon's Pearl. There is only one female in the entire book, and she only appears as female at the end (having been in a male disguise before). Yes, books about dudes having adventures are all very well - but there was a bit too much testosterone in this one. I'm hoping the next installment will contain a few more female characters.

I do recommend this book as an adequate fantasy adventure with an unusual slant and enough action to carry readers effortlessly to the finish - just don't expect perfection (except in the compelling jacket art by Jim di Bartolo). For ages 11 to 15.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Marco Polo's father is captured by an evil magician during his travels and then his uncle is murdered before he can get together a rescue, Marco is determined to go on his own to do so. His best friend Amelio inadvertently joins him, and soon they find themselves traveling to strange new lands pursued by diabolical creatures under the thrall of the evil magician on the adventure of a life time.

Loosely based on the travels of Marco Polo, this is definitely aimed at the middle grade crowd who enjoys adventurous fantasy. It accomplishes it's task of providing a thrilling adventure story. The book doesn't do so good a job trying to get the 13th century time period. Marco sounds entirely too modern American teen to my ears, but I doubt modern young readers will notice or care. If you're looking for a clean adventure story for middle graders, this fits the bill. Just don't expect too much more of it.

Notes on content: No language issues that I remember. No sexual content. There are a few battles, during which some people and fantasy creatures obtain injuries, sometimes fatal, but no gory details except for the wounds of a giant worm.

[Adam Carman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I've mentioned before that I am constitutionally unable to pass up books on dragons or with dragon in the title. Throw in setting it in the Far East with historical figures like Kublai Khan and Marco Polo and I was drawn in. It was a kind of slow start and I wasn't sure what to think as young Marco Polo and his friend run way from their home in Venice to seek Marco's father who has been taken by dark powers. It seemed a little forced, but about half way through it started to take off and more than made up for it. I enjoy the East vs. West story where the West is hostile to magic and has killed it off, but the East takes it as part of the world to be honored and revered (so the West has killed off its dragons and made the world run like a machine while the East has embraced the magical world). It falls a bit into problematic Eastern sensationalism and exoticism and it's pretty obvious the author hasn't seen any of the places he describes because a sense of place is largely missing. But the adventure story is very engaging, the characters are reasonably well drawn and I like that in the end the Polos embrace a more Eastern view of the world. It ends on a bit of a rough note which I assume was setting up for a sequel. I would likely be interested in reading more. The introduction of Kokachin without revealing much of their character would have been a good avenue of exploring. All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot--the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I hope we haven't seen the last from this author, and his writing style will probably evolve.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenaged Marco Polo sets off to rescue his father and confront the evil mage Arghun. To do this he has to travel to the Unknown Lands. What is special about the blue pearl? Why is everyone looking for it? Will Marco and his companions escape from the Abarimon?

[Dpolonczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good entertaining book

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable, too long, unoriginal in every aspect, clumsy writing, unfocused characters. Meh.