Book Review: Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis

Do you have a book from childhood or your teen years that has always stayed with you?

No matter how long it’s been since you first read it, you continue to be pulled in by its characters or premise or prose.

For me, Raising Dragons is that book.

I was first introduced to Bryan Davis’ work through book one of his Dragons in our Midst series when I was in my teens and have been a fan of it, and its spin off series’, ever since.

The Premise (Spoilers)

Raising Dragons is a Christian fiction urban fantasy.

A young boy, Billy Bannister, has an unusual quality. His breath is as hot as fire.

Only it isn’t just hot like fire. It actually is fire!

Because Billy is a half dragon.

As Billy learns the truth about his dragon turned human father, the other dragons hidden in plain sight, and the evil forces trying to hunt them down, he is thrown into a world of supernatural occurrences that change his life forever.

My Thoughts

You can probably tell from my opening that I enjoyed reading this book very much when it first came out.

And even recently, I did a video on Instagram where I re-read a pivotal scene in the story and was immediately sucked back into the world of dragon hybrid kids fighting for survival and, often times, even more (such as the fate of the whole word).

There are many Biblical references as, again, this is a Christian fiction book. And, though I’ve heard some people say Mr. Davis takes too many creative liberties with the content he pulls from the Bible, I personally think he never strays too far from the true message, that only Jesus can save.

No Christian fiction can, or ever should try, to take the place of the Bible. And I would hope that no one goes into such a book expecting it to do so.

In my opinion, Mr. Davis finds the right balance between sharing about the Bible and creatively weaving a unique narrative.

This book also contains some violence. It is about battling against evil knights and demons, after all. And while it is recommended for kids 13 and up, I think it is probably best for kids maybe a bit older, 15 and up. But each parent will have to make that decision for themselves. I think I read this book at fifteen or so and was not fazed by the more violent scenes.

Still, I think this is one of Christian fictions best fantasy series.

I give it five stars.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a Christian fantasy series that contains; Authurian legend, found family and reconciled birth families, half dragon teens, and epic battles between good and evil, Dragons in our Midsts is the series for you.

You can find Raising Dragons the first book in this line of series here:

Raising Dragons

And here is a list of links to each of the other books in this sprawling series: