City of Fire

By Laurence Yep
Starscape, $15.99, 320 pages

San Francisco author Laurence Yep has two Newbery Honor awards for two of his historical YA books in the Golden Mountain Chronicles series. In his new book, City of Fire, he again combines his regular themes of history, fantasy, and Asian culture into an exciting YA story set in an alternate history of 1941. Dragons can take on human form, griffins are small enough to be considered lap pets, and magic exists in the world. Following the quest of Scirye, Leech and Koko as they attempt to retrieve a stolen ancient ring, and revenge the death of Scirye’s older sister from during the theft, City of Fire brings to life ancient myth and legend, in an easy and run to read book for tween readers on up.

Scirye, Leech, and Koko are aided by Scirye’s griffin Kles and Bayang, a dragon assassin with her own agenda. Together, they have to face down the powerful businessman Mr. Roland, a man whose company has so much influence he dines with the King of England, is nicknamed “Uncrowned Emperor.”

This is the first book in a planned three-book series and should entertain readers looking for something new and different in a sea of Harry Potter-cloned books.

Reviewed by Ross

Listen to our interview with author Laurence Yep.