Dragon Defenders Paddy and Flynn miss their island, their dragons and their old life. Now living with their grandparents in the city, Paddy 
feels claustrophobic, lost and angry. Especially at Briar who he believes has betrayed them all.
On their way to their first day at school the trio are shocked to see one of their beloved dragons snarling from a billboard. It’s part of an advertisement for Pitbull’s Dragon World. It’s opening Saturday night.
Meanwhile, The Pitbull is reveling at his sudden and large bank account balance after finally announcing the Dragon World opening. 2 million tickets have been sold in a very short time, and he is looking forward to being the most famous man on the planet.
After the relaxed schooling on the island, Paddy finds city school confusing and boring. The only good thing about it is a girl called Beth. She doesn’t believe the hype about Dragon World that everyone is excited about, believing real dragons impossible. Besides, caging such amazing creatures would be horrible.
Once Briar and Paddy finally clear the air between them, Beth’s like minded thinking soon has all of them working on a plan to stop The Pitbull once and for all. Beth has lots of great ideas, and she is tech savvy. Join that with the brother’s courage, Briar’s link with Pitbull as his niece, and their animal friends Lightning and Coco, they are determined to free their dragon friends.
As the Grand Opening approaches, The Pitbull runs his crew and the dragons through rehearsals. He knows the brothers are in town and sends his people and corrupt police after them. Nothing and no one will stop his dream from happening – especially a bunch of kids who have sparked protests about Dragon World.
With the police on their tails, and going home impossible, the brothers take up a past offer of help from the last time they were in the city. Their plan comes together and the day of the grand opening quickly arrives. They are ready.
It’s going to be dangerous. Timing is everything and there are so many things that can go wrong, but they decide they at least have to try.
Quick Review
This Dragon Defenders series just gets better and better. The Grand Opening is No.5 in the series and the Grand Finale. It’s fantastic! Starting off slowly with Paddy’s grief at leaving the dragons behind, and his confusion about city schools, I was quickly drawn right back in to just after the series left off in No.4 All is Lost.
Viewpoints switch between The Pitbull and the Defenders, steadily building tension between the two. The Pitbull is excited at his dream finally becoming reality, at the same time 4 kids are planning to steal it from him.
Plans go awry on both sides, the action is intense, and the danger magnified. What a fitting finale to a hugely popular series! In fact I’m keen to start again at the beginning and make more use of the amazing AR Reads App that brings parts of these books alive!
Find this series. Read them. Love them. I guarantee it!
Author – James Russell
Age 7+
See Dragon Defenders (1) here
See Dragon Defenders (2) here
See Dragon Defenders (3) here
See Dragon Defenders (4) here
See the entire series here
(Dragons, Action, Evil, Series, Family, Friendship, Technology, Hacking, Danger, Guards, Guns, Protesting, Animals, Trust, NZ Author, New Zealand Author, Kiwi Author, Crime)