The Dragons Cometh - A Look At The Lost City by Ashleigh Oldfield.

I always get a thrill when Melbourne author Ashleigh Oldfield announces a new book in her steadily growing repertoire and I'm especially pleased to see the long awaited sequel to her 2017 dragon fantasy "Fyrebyrne Island" has finally landed in the laps of her fans. Titled "The Lost City", this second entry in Oldfield's Rachaya series, builds upon the rich mythos from her debut and goes in some really interesting directions that are pleasantly unpredictable. Of course, before I say more, let me give you the guff on Book 2; 

"You play a dangerous game, dragon, you and all your friends. I will not forget that you have spurned my advice and refused to meet with me in parley. You will come to rue this day, of that I can be certain."

Rachaya is well on her way to becoming a fully-fledged dragon and she is determined that when the time comes, she will also be a queen that her people can be proud of. But when dangerous secrets surface from the past, Rachaya realises she is running out of time to help her people return to the fierce, powerful and proud dragons that they once were.

So, as with any second act of a three act play, the objective is to deepen the characters, situations and mythology that have been established. Oldfield has achieved this in spades and has added some really innovative dramatic elements that provide tension and gravitas. Aiming her stories at young adult readers, Oldfield doesn't talk down to them and her writing is really intelligent and thought provoking. It is also tightly woven, with no wasted narrative or unnecessary exposition. Oldfield gets to the point from the get go. There's a great cinematic quality to the story and her visualizations and world building just cry out for a big screen adaptation. There is much here that would translate effortlessly to the screen. 

I guess the only bad point to make about this book is that I now have to wait for Book 3 to see how Ashleigh Oldfield wraps it all up. 

Ash Oldfield & friend at Supanova, Melbourne, 2018.

Ashleigh Oldfield is a fantasy fiction and children’s writer from Melbourne, Australia. Always having a love for the written word, Ash wrote her first stories by moonlight at the tender age of five, long after her parents thought she had gone to bed. To this very day Ash still prefers to write by the light of the moon long after any sensible person has succumbed to sleep. 

with Steve De Niese of The Book Stash podcast.

When she is not working on her latest piece of fiction, Ash enjoys drinking good coffee, taking her dog for walks on the beach and hanging out with her two cats. This year, Ashleigh kicked off a weekly podcast with her husband Steve De Niese. Called "The Book Stash", the podcast is a great little show about reading and writing in which Ashleigh and Steve talk about the craft and what inspires them in the journey. For new writers with an eye to improving their own method, The Book Stash is a must listen. 

The Lost City: Book 2 of the Rachaya Series is out now where good books are sold. 

Buy The Lost City here.

Visit Ashleigh Oldfield here.

Connect with Ashleigh Oldfield here. 

Tweet with Ashleigh here. 

Tweet with The Book Stash here.

The Book Stash is on iTunes here.

DFA.