The Enchanted Bridge

After being appointed as the ambassador to Palmara by the Supreme Council, Jaxon and his friends, Vik, Kenny, and Kavita, travel there to convince the Guardian, Sis, to reunite the realms for the future of magic. However, on their way, Jax is separated from his friends by Ol-Korrok, Sis’ estranged twin brother, who takes the opportunity to tell Jax the history between Sis and himself before allowing Jax to continue his journey. After catching up with his friends and reaching Palmara, Jax learns that his grandfather, Trub, is missing, and Sis believes that Trub released Ol-Korrok from his prison. Jax decides he must go to the Forgotten Tower where Ol-Korrok was imprisoned to find Trub and prove his innocence to Sis. Vik joins Jax on his journey to find Trub, but Vik is called away by the Great Spiders who tell him the origins of magic and the Ol-Korrok’s true intentions; he built the Enchanted Bridge to summon the Scourge, an ancient power that will devour both realms if it is unleashed.

Meanwhile, Jax manages to find Trub and rescue him from the Forgotten Tower with the help of the Phoenix. Jax and Vik reunite on the way back to their friends, and Vik informs Jax of Ol-Korrok’s plan. Arriving just in time for his audience with Sis, Jax manages to convince her of the need to open the gates of Palmara with the help of his friends and the magical creatures that Sis guards. The exciting moment is diminished, however, when Trub, Jax, and Vik explain Ol-Korrok’s plan to Sis. Jax learns that he and the phoenix must destroy the bridge before it can summon the Scourge. Jax destroys the bridge, but not before seeing Sis and the phoenix battling the Scourge. Jax then returns to Brooklyn with Kenny and Trub. Reuniting with his mother and Ma, Jax learns that, even though he succeeded in destroying the Enchanted Bridge, the Scourge was still called and that it has taken Sis hostage. Ma tells Jax that it is time for war.

This action-filled installment of the “Dragons in a Bag” series lives up to the standards of its predecessors. While plot-heavy and action-oriented, Elliott still manages to have some character moments with Jaxon, exploring his feelings of inadequacy and loneliness experienced when he is left to his own devices without his friends for backup. Readers are also given time to connect with Vik and Kavi on a deeper level as their characters are explored more in this novel.

In addition to striking an excellent balance between plot and character, The Enchanted Bridge also makes some stylistic departures from some the previous books in the series. One of the more interesting aspects of this novel is its new points of view from the magical creatures that the children are connected to. The book opens with readers hearing from the phoenix and later from Kavi’s dragon, Mo, and the spiders that Vik is bonded to. These moments offer more than stylistic differences though as they are quite pivotal to the plot of the novel, with the last chapter being written from the Scourge’s perspective, thereby giving readers a foreboding look into what that force is capable of and setting up the next novel in a single stroke.

Zetta Elliott’s newest “Dragons in a Bag” book is one that is filled with adventure, depth, and love, a novel that has something for every reader to latch on to. The Enchanted Bridge is a story that blends seamlessly from its predecessor and brings readers into magical new lands and creatures.