Search for the Astral Dragon

by Bryan Davis, Melie Williams (Narrated by)

Overview

This fast-paced YA space opera (reminiscent of Star Wars) follows a strong female protagonist, Megan, on an interplanetary search for her mother. On her journey, Megan witnesses the horrors of child trafficking and slavery and joins with a group of other teens to fight against corrupt systems and stand up for the vulnerable.

Full of unusual characters and daring escapes, Search for the Astral Dragon draws readers into a world of snarky spaceship computer systems, a variety of different sentient species, spaceship tech, and magical elements. Megan is smart and quick-thinking, competent with spacecraft technology, and a person of strong character who’s experiences give readers difficult questions to consider.

Themes:
What is Justice?
Slavery
Violence

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781685921279
Publisher:	Oasis Audio
Publication date:	05/07/2022
Series:	Astral Alliance
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.12(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Bryan Davis is the author of the following young adult fantasy series: Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire, Children of the Bard, The Reapers Trilogy, Echoes from the Edge, and Dragons of Starlight. He also wrote I Know Why the Angels dance, a contemporary novel for adults.
After working as a computer geek for 20 years, Bryan followed a dream to become an author. He began by writing a story to motivate his seven children to gain some excitement about writing, and that story grew into a novel. After spending the next eight years learning the craft and enduring more than 200 rejections from publishers and agents, he broke through with his best-selling series Dragons in our Midst. He is now a full-time author and lives with his wife, Susie, and their children in western Tennessee.
Bryan's novels have been readily accepted in schools worldwide, whether public, Christian (Protestant or Catholic), Jewish, or otherwise. Such is their wide appeal. For more information, see his website - http://www.daviscrossing.com

Editorial Reviews

2022-01-26
Set against an interstellar backdrop, this gritty science-fiction thriller explores concepts of humanity and mercy.

When the Willis family is convicted of piracy in an intergalactic court, 12-year-old Megan is branded with the mark of a criminal, made to wear a shock collar, and forced to work on an Alliance spaceship under near-constant surveillance. Unexpected events allow Megan to escape, and she finds herself on a planet known for selling human children into slavery in dangerous mines filled with large, venomous bees. Determined to free the kids, she goes on a crusade to take down the slave trade but learns that its roots may be more insidious than she imagined. Faced with more hardship, Megan implores her deity, the Astral Dragon, for guidance. With the help of other young people—Dirk, Crystal, Oliver, and Zoë—Megan must find a way to expose the traitorous adults. But can she stay true to the merciful ways of her dragon god? Davis’ expansive romp is lushly imagined, filled with talking birds, gruff aliens, perilous planets, and many exciting near misses. However, the plotting is overstuffed, leaving certain threads frustratingly less developed; perhaps future installments will resolve this. Davis does not shy away from the horrors associated with slavery, with gritty, dark twists evincing the physical abuse the children must endure. Megan, Oliver, and Crystal are White; Dirk and Zoë are cued as Black.

Intense and richly detailed but not without a few stumbles. (cast of characters) (Science fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews