Sandrider by Angie Sage

The Magykal World of Todhunter Moon bk 2. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408869420
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Themes: Magic, Fantasy, Adventure. Angie Sage's second book in the TodHunter Moon trilogy, will delight fantasy readers with its rich cast of characters, exotic locations, powerful and appealing descriptive language, and the well-crafted scenes involving mystery, Magyk and mayhem. The main character Tod enters the story much later; Sandrider opens with the dragon Spit Fyre observing the sorcerer Oraton-Marr depositing the Orm Egg in the care of a young boy in the Desert of the Singing Sands. Each section begins with a dark sketch of an Egg Timer and a countdown to the dragon egg hatching. The wizard kidnaps the apothecary's baby daughter to ensure the egg is cared for. Kaznim her big sister determines to look for her kidnapped sister, steals the egg timer and unfortunately stumbles through an unstable Way meeting an injured Sam Heap and Marwick.
Kaznim ends up in the snowbound city of Castle, where she meets TodHunter Moon, apprentice to the Extraordinary Wizard Septimus Heap. Here the pace of the story becomes faster, more and more crazy characters are involved and the plot develops in complexity. There's a transforming jinni Jinn Knee, beware of his tiger form, dark witches lurking in the forest, a wild sled race, Tod's best friends being taken for Snow Sprites, a malicious ghost and an evil queen. Will they reach the Egg before it hatches or will the new baby Orm imprint on the evil sorcerer giving him unlimited Magyk powers?
Angie Sage's Sandrider celebrates the importance of charting your own course, valuing friendships and developing resilience.
Rhyllis Bignell