Master of the Phantom Isle

Dragonwatch, Book 3

By: Brandon Mull

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

In the third book in the Dragonwatch series, Kendra leaves the timberland dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost and travels to the other side of the world to a new and aquatic dragon preserve that teeters on the brink of being overthrown in the ongoing global dragon uprising.

The dragons have formally declared war on anyone who stands in their way of freedom and unrestrained power. With every dragon sanctuary that falls, Celebrant, the Dragon King, comes closer to his goal of world domination. No single mortal or creature can stop Celebrant. Kendra will need to raise an army of friends and allies to accomplish her mission to thwart Celebrant because her brother Seth and her closest ally, Bracken, are missing.

Cursed by the Key of Forgetting, Seth’s memories of his past - his relationships, experiences, and who he really is - are gone. For now he will align with his new mentor, Ronodin, the Dark Unicorn, who brings him to the Phantom Isle, the secret gateway to the Underworld. Though not formally a prisoner, Seth is heavily influenced by Ronodin, who wants to use him and his special Shadow Charmer powers for his own dark ends.

Seth and Kendra have braved the Fairy Queen, battled the Demon King, and survived the Dragon King during the dragon uprising. Now alone, Seth will face a new dark foe: the Underking - the ruler of the “undead”: the zombies, skeletons, and restless wraiths who tirelessly serve their dark master. He will find himself in bondage to the Underking and obligated to complete nefarious tasks for him.

Also on the Phantom Isle, but imprisoned, is Bracken, who claims to be a unicorn, the son of the Fairy Queen, and a former friend of Seth. Bracken and Kendra try to remind Seth about his past, but, unable to access his memories, he isn’t sure who to believe. For now, he will use his newly discovered magical abilities, which could be a game changer in helping Ronodin create chaos.

In this new fantasy adventure, Dragonwatch: Master of the Phantom Isle, listeners travel to a ghost island, a mermaid city, and a dangerous archipelago as they meet new fantastical characters and get reintroduced to old friends from Fablehaven. As power shifts back and forth from the forces of light and dark, who will gain the ultimate advantage to win the epic dragon war?

©2019 Brandon Mull (P)2019 Brandon Mull

LOVE

We love this series and the prequel dragon watch. We cannot wait for the next book 🤞

Love this Series

I can’t wait for the next book! It was really interesting getting to know other sanctuaries & meeting new characters. Kendra never ceases to impress.

Another excellent installation

the old voice for the Sphinx was better in my opinion
good book and good read though!

once again a great story.

once again a great story by Brandon Mull and the narrator was very absolutely splendid.

A Return to Form for Fablehaven

This installment felt like a true return to what made Fablehaven so loveable. Crescent Lagoon brought back the spark of Fablehaven's expansive and diverse worldbuilding, bringing a fresh location that was sorely needed. Wyrmroost was always my favorite sanctuary from the original series, but Fablehaven thrives when it moves and explores folklore. This book did that for me, and I felt thrilled with every new development, compared to the last two books. Dragonwatch 1 and 2 had great moments (especially the climaxes) but the bulk of the books dragged a lot for me, so I was pleasantly surprised when this book felt much better paced and engaging, flying by. I especially loved Grady despite his small role, as I love Irish folklore and didn't expect to see it. Basically, getting a look into sea based fantasy creatures and folklore was super interesting and new for this world and I loved it!

Ronodin is still unlikable, but much more intentionally this book. Thanks to the minimal interactions with Kendra, he felt more like a real, complex character and threat, instead of another grown man for Kendra to be fawning over. His gaslighting and flowery language was repetitive at times, but overall was well done in showcasing how slippery he is. Seth is my favorite character, so while I'm not the biggest fan of this arc for him as he feels majorly subdued and his growth pretty much reset, I found the plot line more tolerable as the book went on.

Kirby Heyborne is still overall preferable to E.B. Stevens for me, as his voices for the integral main cast is a lot less grating. But I was majorly disappointed by his interpretations of Warren, Vanessa, and the Sphinx. I understand avoiding accents if you can't do them well, but Vanessa and the Sphinx especially lost a lot of their charm and wit in Heyborne's portrayal. And while I understand Seth is going through A LOT and would be more relaxed and even melancholy, Heyborne's delivery of what should be more sarcastic, funny, and upbeat moments was regularly dry and dull. I liked it in the first book, as sometimes E.B. Stevens missed out on chances for dry humor that I think Mull intended, but Heyborne has gone too far in the opposite direction now. I can see why some people don't love his performance as it can be very monotone at times when doing Seth and Kendra specifically. So overall, I still like his more mature approach to the material, but his lack of variation is a bit telling when the cast grows.