The secrets of Droon
OK so this might turn into more of a live blog at some point of me reading this series (I'm about half way through my first time rereading this in over 10 years)
This series starts off slow, it almost feels like an entire reading level or two lower than some of the later books. this doesn't mean its bad though. coming back at a much higher reading level than before I am realizing that part of what I loved so much when I was younger was how despite using much easier wording and vocabulary, it still embraces complex topics and themes.
A non exhaustive list of some of the more complex ideas include: Keeah (the princess from the magic realm) has both wizard (good) and witch (bad?) powers and doesn't magic away the witch powers or remove them by the end but instead they save her or her friends multiple times and in the end she just learns to control them (a great metaphor for the "evil" emotions inside us). almost every villain in the series is not actually evil and instead was just hurt in some way and don't know how to handle that, or wanted something and got lost in their quest to get that, not noticing how it hurt others. Eric has multiple prophecies about how he will help the main villain sparr, and while every time he does, there was context missing about how it was with good intentions, or to save something else more important.
Also I love that the main kids all get different powers. Eric gets wizard magic like Keeah, this makes him closer with her than the other two and I always shipped them but in like the hold hands in middle school way. Julie gets a assortment of different magic powers including flight [i'm jelly] and shapeshifting [see previous comment] and I think a few more later but I haven't gotten far enough for any of them yet, and importantly flight was always a lifelong wish of hers, the joy she takes in flying is so amazing; she almost has a hard time staying on the ground sometimes, which is super relatable. And Neil gets genie powers IIRC ---still havn't gotten there yet--- but also has a great sense of humor and some relatable moments about the fact that both his friends get powers before him; and he finds ways to contribute and help in ways that the other two can't despite having powers.
which leads me into my next love of the writing, They all are equally important. I have seen this compared to harry potter a number of times [fuck JKR btw, terfs suck] and I think that is a discredit to Droon, unlike in HP where Harry is clearly the main character and therefore when its time to save the day it's him doing it (his friends may help but he does the actual day saving basically every time), in droon everyone works together; Sometimes its Keeah who masters some new power and is able to use that to win, Sometimes its Neil approaching a situation in a unique (and very often silly and food related) way, sometimes its Julie with a clever plan to trick someone, sometimes Gallen just shows up and uses his crazy powerful magic, and sometimes its a side character who gets their moment to save the day and the group is paid off for befriending everyone along their way ---who doesn't immediately try to kill them that is---. Eric often feels like a main character, usually books are from his perspective [I can't actually remember at the moment if any aren't) but despite him being the narrator, he has about equal plot importance as any of his friends.
This series was way better than people give it credit for and I wish more people knew about it and gave it the love it deserves. this was the second book series I ever got hooked on [I have "Junie B. Jones" to thank for my reading obsession] and by far one of my favorites to this day. If you don't mind reading books at a lower reading level, or know a kid who needs a good book series, I Highly recommend this one.
