Free Lance and The Dragon's Hoard: 1 - Hardcover

Stewart, Paul

3.51

72 ratings by Goodreads

9780340874042: Free Lance and The Dragon's Hoard: 1

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 034087404X ISBN 13: 9780340874042

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books, 2005

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It's a routine job for a freelance knight: a wealthy merchant needs protection on the journey back to his remote home town laden with goods. But on the last night he is woken by the terrified merchant insisting that a dragon said to guard a fabulous hoard in the region has attacked and killed his favourite horse. Free Lance finds the remains of the horse and decides wolves are responsible - dragons aren't real, are they?

On entering town, the merchant immediately tells everyone of the attack, and as evening falls, Free Lance witnesses a strange procession of townsfolk taking a beautiful but frightened girl dressed up as a princess out into the wilderness. He follows and realises that they are offering the girl as a sacrifice to appease the 'dragon'.

Determined to rescue the damsel, little does Free Lance realise the danger he will face in this cracking, wonderfully-illustrated story.

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Review:

Praise for the FREE LANCE series

FREE LANCE AND THE LAKE OF SKULLS

'The language has the easy clarity of a Paul Jennngs story with a similar wealth of episode ... The energy of Riddell's line drawings matches the hectic pace of the storytelling.' - Books for Keeps

'Funny with a good line in irony ... an engrossing story.' - School Librarian

'Raymond Chandler goes to Camelot ... Narrated in a hard-bitten, sardonic voice ... aimed at children of 10 upwards whose reading ability is some way behind their chronological age, but it could be equally enjoyed by word-savvy eight and nine-year-olds.' - TES

FREE LANCE AND THE FIELD OF BLOOD

'Nail-biting excitement ... Beautiful production and superb integration of illustration and story make this a very attractive book.' - TES

'A smashing mix of modern, wry humour and lots of manly fighting ... The language has a comic-book style narrative which is balanced with delightfully gross descriptions. There are plenty of short sentences to make the text accessible to the weaker reader, while there's enough humour and plot to keep better readers interested. There's even a teasing wench to add sex-appeal.' - School Librarian

'Thrill-a-minute quests that are fraught with danger. They may be short on words but these great little books are jam-packed with excitement and double-dealing thrills.' - Sunday Times

Packed with action and laughs - plus great illustrations - you'll be gripped until the last word (Sunday Times)

Amusingly and compellingly written by Paul Stewart and distinctively illustrated by Chris Riddell... will appeal to 8 to 12-year-old boys and older reluctant readers. (School Librarian)

Book Description:

The third in a compelling, wonderfully-ilustrated series by a bestselling author/illustrator team.

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