2021-09-24
A series opener about students at the school that trains monsters for Dungeons & Dragons.
Even though the monsters of Dungeon Academy are penalized for acts of niceness, Zelli still stands up for bullied beings. That’s not the biggest way she doesn’t fit in, though: The horns and tail she wears are fake; she’s secretly a human who was adopted by her minotaur mothers (one a Dungeon Academy teacher). When Zelli notices that the illustration of heroic adventurer Allidora Steelstrike is the spitting image of Zelli herself, she realizes she’s actually the daughter of the dungeon dwellers’ mortal enemies. When a group of top students goes missing at a nearby village where a Steelstrike’s been spotted, Zelli decides to take a chance to find the students—and her birth family. Accompanying her are fellow misfits: a thoughtful vegetarian owlbear named Hugo; Bauble, a book-smart mimic who prefers taking a book form to fighting; and enthusiastic kobold Snabla, who wishes he were scarier than he is. The monstrous party works together to discover the fate of the students and to find Zelli’s birth mother. The themes of belonging and purpose are spelled out, but in the setting it works. There’s enough humor that even those new to tabletop gaming will find plenty to chuckle at. Humans Zelli and Allidora have black curls and dark skin; Bauble uses they/them pronouns. Final illustrations not seen.
Readers will clamor for the party’s next dice-y adventure. (Fantasy. 8-12)
