Dragon Girls #13: Hana the Thunder Dragon (Book Review)

Ursa minor knockoffs!

Hana the Thunder Dragon is the first book in the Storm Dragons trilogy. Yeah, the narrative structure of this series is something I failed to explain properly in my past posts...

Every three books have a new trio of human girls transported to a realm called the Magic Forest, by its benevolent ruler, the Tree Queen. There they find themselves transformed into specific dragon types. Books #1-3 form the Glitter Dragons trilogy, Books #4-6 form the Treasure Dragons trilogy, et cetera. Each individual book of a trilogy will also have a focus on one particular character.

The 13th Plot:
Twin sisters Hana and Mina, and their cousin, Zora, are attending a big family reunion to celebrate their grandmother's 80th birthday. Hana and Mina's mother wants to give them French braids for the occasion, but the two hate getting their hair done so they run off. By the way, these girls are said to be online gamers, tempting me to make degen jokes: "Hey mom, might wanna wash their hair first. It's likely been a while..."

Hana ends up outside as a storm is brewing. She then hears the faint song that all these girls hear before they are summoned out of the human world:

Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore.
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, hear my roar!

Hana suddenly finds herself in the Magic Forest, along with Mina and Zora. Their bodies are those of Storm Dragons. They are informed by the Tree Queen that there's an endless thunderstorm which is disrupting the realm's natural order. Birds are howling like wolves. Rivers sound like crackling fire instead of rushing water. Even the Tree Queen's own magic is glitching.

Turns out a villain called the Chaos Queen has sabotaged the Thunder Maker, a machine which controls the Magic Forest's weather. The Storm Dragons are tasked with fixing it, with Hana being team leader. Naturally, this being a kids' wish fulfillment fantasy, no one ever refuses these quests or cracks under the pressure. Dragon Girls is a Shinji-free zone

They need a replacement part from the Grizzling Bears. No, not grizzly. Grizzling, as in loud complaining which these creatures constantly do. HOWEVER, it's their appearance which is the main reason I'm writing this review:

"Then one of the bears moved and Hana saw it wasn't brown. It was midnight blue! It had little dots of silvery white in its fur that looked like twinkling stars. Were twinkling blue bears dangerous? Hana had no idea!"
(Pg. 64)

My pet theory stills stands: Somebody involved with this series watches MLP.

Beyond that, there are a couple other moments which stand out as lore-significant. For the first time, another dragon team gets mentioned:

"Oh! I've never met a Storm Dragon," said the badger. "But I have met the Treasure Dragons. They weren't as shouty as you."
(Pg. 91)

Before this, I questioned if there even was genuine continuity with this series. I wondered if the trilogies were meant to be self-contained, nothing more than a marketing gimmick. But now I'm curious if team-ups between the various dragon teams are planned for the future.

Finally, there's this bomb:

The Tree Queen's smile grew broader. "Then I will send for you again soon. Watch out for a storm - that will be my signal."
(Pg. 121)

Yes, the Tree Queen can create storms in the human world. It was already evident that she had clairvoyance to seek out humans, teleportation abilities to bring them to her, and transformation powers to turn them into dragons... but causing storms in another world? What's the limit to her power? IS there even a limit?

People of Earth, don't piss off the Tree Queen. She'll destroy us all