The Curse of the Thrax (Book) Review

Jaykriss is just your average fourteen year old.

He’s a little but preoccupied with girls, not real interested in his studies, and loves to hang out with his best friend Marda. Of course, there are a few things about Jaykriss that aren’t quite so average. For one thing, his father was killed by a magical dragon called the Thrax, who confiscated the heirloom family weapon, the Bloodsword. Now, he’s determind to get it back, but there are a whole lot of things standing in his way, from powerful trees to drunken weapons masters to a dark king who seems to be immortal. It will take every bit of courage and intelligence that Jaykriss has to save his family, and perhaps his whole kingdom – all with a little help from his best friend, an eccentric old scientist, and one special girl.

The Curse of the Thrax is written in the style of many recent teen novels, with Jaykriss telling his story and getting into all sorts of scrapes and mishaps at seemingly every turn. His feelings and reactions are often typical teenaged stuff, with girls and hanging out often overshadowing the cataclysmic events taking place around him. He and Marda are presented as just typical teenagers who have an extraordinary mission, but the two story arcs don’t always mesh well together. One minute he’s a hotheaded teenager, ready to take on the world somewhat foolishly, the next he’s waxing poetically about accepting a new stepfather for who he is. Often, the twists and turns that are meant to throw you off end in ways that are unexpected – but also not really all that believable.

The setting for The Curse of the Thrax was somewhat a source of confusion for me. On the one hand, it is obviously meant to be some sort of post-apocalyptic place, which is honestly a pretty cool concept. What will the world look like, centuries after the world we know it has fallen? It’s a fascinating premise, but it sort of falls flat in execution. Although there is hint after hint about it, at the same time it just isn’t plausible. For one thing, where did the dragons come from, if it’s a post-modern world? And immortality – that may well be a question that’s left unanswered, as are many in the book, presumably leaving room for a sequel, things just don’t add up to a believable world.

The Curse of the Thrax is a book that is out to capture the heart of teen readers everywhere. With a likable main character and an interesting setting, it has a lot of the right elements in place to be a great story. Unfortunately, it suffers at times from issues with believability. It’s an interesting concept that needs some tweaking before it becomes great.