Though I’m eagerly awaiting the final volume in Tad William’s Shadowmarch trilogy (Shadowrise, not due out until 2010), I’m glad to see he has more on his plate. The Dragons of Ordinary Farm is the first volume (of a planned five) in a new YA series by Williams, called Ordinary Farm
Tyler and Lucinda have to spend summer vacation with their ancient uncle Gideon, a farmer. They think they’re in for six weeks of cows, sheep, horses, and pigs. But when they arrive in deserted Standard Valley, California, they discover that Ordinary Farm is, well, no ordinary farm.
The bellowing in the barn comes not from a cow but from a dragon. The thundering herd in the valley? Unicorns. Uncle Gideon’s sprawling farmhouse never looks the same twice. Plus, there’s a flying monkey, a demon squirrel, and a barnload of unlikely farmhands with strange accents and even stranger powers.
At first, the whole place seems like a crazy adventure. But when darker secrets begin to surface and Uncle Gideon and his fabulous creatures are threatened, Lucinda and Tyler have to pull together to take action. Will two ordinary kids be able to save the dragons, the farm – and themselves?
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm is co-written by Tad’s wife, Deborah Beale, and will be released in June in the US and August in the UK.
hmmmm… this sounds like the Fablehaven series!
Well, the premise seems very similar indeed, but I know from interviews with Tad Williams that this has been in the works for quite some time. The oldest mention of Dragons of Ordinary Farm that I could find dates back to 2003! So, maybe it is case of parallel genesis.