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Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

(Fablehaven #4)

Brandon Mull (Goodreads Author)

4.36 · Rating details · 71,658 ratings · 2,908 reviews

Brace yourself for a shocking secret.

Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton’s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Daw ...more

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Hardcover, 535 pages

Published March 24th 2009 by Shadow Mountain (first published 2009)

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4.36 ·

Rating details

· 71,658 ratings · 2,908 reviews

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Oct 30, 2015 Lindsey Rey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015, fantasy, middle-grade

GUYS. This is a five star, first class series right here. DAMN THAT WAS SO GOOD!!!! I am so incredibly upset that I left book five at my apartment and will have to wait an entire 5 or 6 hours to continue with this series.

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Mar 22, 2014 Kimberley doruyter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

bad mister mull ending on a cliffhanger like that.
i did love the completely different take on dragons.

two special words: fairy dragon.

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Mar 26, 2009 Garrett rated it it was amazing

I had a hard time putting this book down. I read all 527 pages in about 8 hours. I forced myself to go to bed even though I was not done with the book, but I was getting really tired and couldn't keep my eyes open.

OK, so let's break it down:

Characters: There were a couple new characters and surprises on existing ones. I am totally liking Seth now that he is not quite so annoying and "stupid" (in that little brother way). And I loved it when Seth was taunting the poison dragon. Too funny! Brandon ...more

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Sep 21, 2014 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 21th-century, fiction, childrens-young-readers, fantasy, magic, young-adult

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven, #4), Brandon Mull
Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary is the fourth novel of Fablehaven series. This book starts off at the end of the third book, where the society of the Evening Star make some dangerous moves. Seth and Kendra are thrust into another dangerous adventure, where they leave the preserve and explore others. In this one they visit a preserve for dragons, wyrmroost, strange changes are wrought in Seth, and the society go farther tha ...more

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Nov 07, 2015 Kells Next Read rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, favorites, magic, fiction, ebook, brandon-mull, my-copy, fairies, children

OMG.....Mind=Blown

Freaking Amazing, Awesome, and packed with Action.

Loved every page of it.....especially that ending Omo!!

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Feb 15, 2016 Kimberley doruyter rated it liked it

things are a little dicey in this one

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Mar 17, 2009 Eris rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 31, 2018 Sam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, 2018-reads, fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 03, 2009 Trent rated it it was amazing

Oh, my. Oh, my. I think I am too into the story. I pride myself in being able to outguess authors. Somehow, I forgot to even try as I read this book. How in the world can an author stay so original for so many pages in a row? This series certainly has the capacity to overtake Harry Potter on the "Freak, that was awesome!" scale. We'll see if Mull pulls it off in the last book.

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Jun 04, 2008 colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, fantasy, middle-grade

2.5

I really liked the first book of this series, and had high hopes for it. I even recommended it to people - people who have gone on to enjoy the series, as a whole, more than I seem to be doing.

But, for me, every book has gotten progressively less interesting, and I'm glad that it's only a 5 book series because I don't think I'd stick around if there were more than just the one book left.

Not that it's all bad. Seth is maturing and his developing powers are interesting, especially the way that 2.5

I really liked the first book of this series, and had high hopes for it. I even recommended it to people - people who have gone on to enjoy the series, as a whole, more than I seem to be doing.

But, for me, every book has gotten progressively less interesting, and I'm glad that it's only a 5 book series because I don't think I'd stick around if there were more than just the one book left.

Not that it's all bad. Seth is maturing and his developing powers are interesting, especially the way that his dark powers interact with Kendra's light powers. And it is very action packed, so for those who like a high amount of action and don't mind sort of shallow characters and rationales for that action, then I'm sure it's a very exciting book.

But therein lies my problem - the characterization remains weak, and this is doubly disappointing 'cause it's one of the things I liked about the first book - the development of Seth and Kendra. But whereas Seth is developing, Kendra seems kind of stuck in a rut - not to mention she refuses (view spoiler)

But the other characters are pretty thin, too. I went back and reread my review from the last book and I said something about how all the adult characters, with minimal exceptions, are pretty interchangeable and just there to protect the kids. This remains true for this book, and is perhaps even worse.

And, really, it's just one adventure after another after another. And they're thrown into these situations, told they have slim chance of surviving, and yet don't seem to have much trouble real with it. They always seem to have the right maguffin for the job, and I just never felt any suspense of intensity.

I actually had to actively stop myself from skimming towards the end. Even after the big twist I still didn't really feel connected. I had a twinge of "Huh, really? Well, that sucked," but that's it. And (view spoiler) I should've felt sad, or angry, or heartbroken, or something. Anything.

I think part of it is the thin characterization, but part of it is the writing, too. There are big info-dumps that arrive at conveniently placed plot-points, the writing - especially the dialogue - is kind of clunky and unrealistic sounding, and everything is spelled out, leaving no room for any kind of subtext.

I know someone is reading this and thinking "you're expecting too much of a kids book", or something to that effect, and all I'll say is that I read a lot of middle grade books that manage it, so that's no excuse.

Anyway, I just really hope that the last book in the series wows me in some way, 'cause I really don't want to walk away from this series feeling disappointed. ...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Heather rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen-lit-and-i-love-it

I just finished reading my PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY of the book last night. Being that it was personally signed by the author means my book was more exciting than just a regular book. Okay, maybe not. But it was plenty exciting on its own. Holy keep me up until 4 in the morning, Batman.

There are some hilarious parts, some tense parts, some sweet parts, some action parts and then some 'he totally snookered me' parts. I knew, I just knew someone was going to betray them but I picked the wrong person ...more

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Apr 15, 2009 Seth rated it liked it

if i weren't such a sucker for juvenile fantasy this book would get maybe 1 star. it's so much fun though. the writing is more similar to a college research paper (awkward, technical, and far from poetic). The story is really interesting if you like magic and fantasy. Don't expect ANY insights into human nature. Don't expect any of the characters to be remotely human or familiar. Don't expect any substance whatsoever and you might have a great time. Fablehaven is like playing video games...its f ...more

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Dec 15, 2014 Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) rated it liked it

{December 17th, 2014} MINI-REVIEW

3.5 stars, would have been 4 to 4.5 originally--reason why in spoilers.

“What you call idiot points, I call awesome dollars."

DRAGONS. This has certainly been one of my fave books but something happened with dinged some starpower for me. Idk. It just made me go NOPE. Honestly it wasn't Seth--Seth, oh he's definitely grown and I've gotten used to his unique brand of stupidity. And everyone else is just perfect as well. The story itself just continues to build and ...more

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Feb 07, 2017 Danica rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was wonderful! I highly recommend it to any fantasy lovers! Personally I am amazed at the detail Brandon Mull wrote about the dragons! Anyways, to the book,
It started off when Kendra got kidnapped when she was working at the day-care, and a stingbulb took place. (Stingbulb stings somebody and then takes their form.) Seth and Warren, (Warren watches over them.) got suspicious because "Kendra" wasn't acting right, so one night they snuck into her room one night and lay'd it all out to he ...more

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Jun 11, 2016 Mina B rated it it was amazing

I am so glad I finished this book. It was definitely long,535 pages to be exact. But it was totally worth it when I finished it. I am not going to give it away though because I know there are people like Liam Michael and Nishi who want to read the series.

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Feb 14, 2009 Seth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-books, read-on-nook-epub, re-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 06, 2017 Kimberley doruyter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

OMG

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Feb 21, 2013 Lydia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fablehaven

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh, the dilemma of posting a fully-detailed review and fan girling over a book to make sure people know how awesome it is, or ignoring all that and starting the next book - pronto!

I pray for even a speck of Brandon Mull's limitless imagination! Such a wonderful world, full of equally wonderful characters...

Kendra and Seth have returned home for school after the rather eventful summer they've experienced in Fablehaven, what with Seth being eaten by Olloch, Warren saved from the revenant's curse, ...more

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Aug 20, 2015 Jane Potter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: great-book-series, 2016, favorites, fun-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This novel starts with quick paced action and does not let up even through the final apge. And I love it. We have Kendra and Seth on separate adventures, their preparation for and travel through the dragon sanctuary (where they get separated at least twice), and their return home to Fablehaven. The novel is action packed but it is not overwhelming. I was able to keep all the stories and characters straight easily.

What I love about this series is how it builds a large plot through all 5 books. Yo This novel starts with quick paced action and does not let up even through the final apge. And I love it. We have Kendra and Seth on separate adventures, their preparation for and travel through the dragon sanctuary (where they get separated at least twice), and their return home to Fablehaven. The novel is action packed but it is not overwhelming. I was able to keep all the stories and characters straight easily.

What I love about this series is how it builds a large plot through all 5 books. You need to read this series in order, because we learn more and more details that become more complex as the novels progress. For example, this book talks about things learned in books 2 and 3 about the artifacts and what they each do. We also learn more about the complexities of running different types of magical preserves (an idea first introduced in book 1). Of course, the final book is the climax of the action but I love the excitement and intensity of book 4 best.

It has been really neat to see Seth and Kendra progress and change through the novels, especially as I have been trying to pay extra attention to their character journeys this time around:) Seth starts as an incorrigible, immature, and rather stupid 10 year old. He opens that window on Midsummer’s Eve that causes the (almost) downfall of Fablehaven in book 1. But in this book, he takes more calculated risks. He thinks before he acts. And he has come to care deeply about Fablehaven and saving the world. I also love his friendly manner and silly jokes that seem apt during several tense and seemingly lost times in the novel. Kendra has also changed. She always follows the rules and tries to keep Seth in line. But she has also become more brave and more bold during the series. She is not as terrified to go to Wyrmroost as she was when she begged the Fairy Queen for help in book 1. She even tries to carry out their mission alone before she learns that her team is still alive. I am impressed by how well she combats so many intense and potentially fatal moments in this novel.

As I continue through the series, I love the little morals that come up. I find myself writing down a lot of great ones. This series teaches such great morals and creates situations where we can learn about right and wrong, light and darkness, good and evil. I love when books forward good morals. And this series is one of the best at it!

This book has one of the most incredible plot twists I have ever read. Its right up there with Harry is the master of the Elder Wand and Ender’s last simulation against the Buggers was not a simulation. I won’t share the specifics because I actually want you all to go read this series. But seriously. Mind. Blowing. It’s one of those twists that catches you completely off guard. You don’t expect it. And yet it perfectly ties into the story and blows your mind. It gets me every time I read the series. ...more

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Nov 02, 2016 rachel ☾ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, paranormal-fantasy-uf

I cannot stress enough how much this series means to me. Not only was the series my childhood but it is honestly one of the most beautifully and brilliantly written middle grade series out there. I know I keep saying that but it’s so goddamn true that it needs reiterating until everyone had read it and knows for themselves that I speak the truth. Mull is so underappreciated and this sequel definitely highlights that.

Honestly, I could go on for hours on end how well written all of the characters I cannot stress enough how much this series means to me. Not only was the series my childhood but it is honestly one of the most beautifully and brilliantly written middle grade series out there. I know I keep saying that but it’s so goddamn true that it needs reiterating until everyone had read it and knows for themselves that I speak the truth. Mull is so underappreciated and this sequel definitely highlights that.

Honestly, I could go on for hours on end how well written all of the characters are but I’ll try to keep it condensed. Kendra and Seth may be ridiculously young to be participating in such dangerous missions but they know it. All of the adults are aware of it and go out of their way to make sure their exposure is minimal. It’s so realistic! I also loved how the balanced this age barrier and their personalities out, especially how Seth was still childish at times with his pranks and antics. I also adore their relationship with their grandparents and the other maternal/paternal figures. Warren, in particular, will forever hold a special place in my heart. He’s everything I wanted Sirius Black to be! Verl also had me in peels of laughter and man, those stayrs had me laughing out loud at times. Raxtus, however, definitely gives Warren some competition as my favourite character. I really hope he turns up in the next book. I cannot remember if he does or not!

The plot was so clever. I forget how brilliant Mull is at weaving complicated plotlines that blow your mind. This book has one of the most shocking plot twists I have ever read in it and even though I knew that it was coming, it still left me slack-jawed. I also love that even though it’s a middle grade story, it doesn’t hold back it’s punch. It’s gritty and raw and definitely gets heavy at times. People die. It’s violent at times but never needlessly so. It will definitely keep you on your toes. We also got to learn some new mythology in this story - dragons, sky giants, astrids, hydras, you name it!

Overall?

This series is near and dear to my heart and always will be. In the stress surrounding year twelve exams, this was the perfect reread. I love these characters sooo much, and that we got to meet some new ones in this sequel. The plotline was completely addictive and kept me on the edge of my seat. Th ...more

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Mar 25, 2009 Rebecca rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 05, 2009 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-first-in-09

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 24, 2015 ⓢ✯ⓘ✯ⓔ✯ⓡ✯ⓡ✯ⓐ rated it really liked it

I swear, I fainted when I read the ending!

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Nov 23, 2018 C.P. Cabaniss rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, fantasy

The ending of this book has me eager to get to the final installment of the series. The ending wasn't a super cliffhanger, but it definitely left some big questions open.

The characters in this series are great. I love the relationship between Seth and Kendra. It is so authentic. Individually they are great, but the sibling dynamic makes them even better. Aside from those two, Warren is probably my favorite. He always has me laughing. And Raxtus, who we met in this installment, was excellent as ...more

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Aug 04, 2008 Luann rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens, fantasy, ms-rec, 2009, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really like the Fablehaven series as a whole, and highly recommend them. I have enjoyed some of the books more than others, but thought this one was very good. It did start out a bit slow, I thought, with only small bits of action here and there. Once the team started their mission to Wyrmroost, the Dragon Sanctuary, though, my attention was firmly caught and I enjoyed the adventure. The twist caught me completely by surprise, and now I feel like I should reread Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow ...more

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Oct 08, 2016 Catherine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-adventure, favorite, ya-fiction

Second Read (2018 Dec 17)
3.5. What an imagination; what a fun world. While I mostly agree with my first review, I wouldn't consider giving this a 5-star rating. I thought it a bit slow this second read, even though I do still concur that the '... story has backbone, a surprise so amazing, and a cliff-hanger ending.' I would add the stingbulb is an interesting, kind of creepy concept. Still enjoyed this installment of the series, enjoyed the dragons and the challenges faced by the team, and that ...more

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Apr 27, 2015 Jonathan Ferrara rated it it was amazing

Fantastic! So far, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by author Brandon Mull is my favorite in the entire series. The Fablehaven series thus far as been about the five magical artifacts hidden on select magical preserves (Fablehaven included). The Society of the Evening Star is after these artifacts in order to unlock the demon prison which basically will allow whoever owns these artifacts to be (for a lack of better words) the king of the world. This brings main characters Kendra and S ...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Janey rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-read, childrens-chapter-read

These books have been so fun to read. I don't know why people insist on comparing Fablehaven to Harry Potter. They are both different enough.

In 'Secrets of the Dragan Sanctuary' I thoroughly enjoyed Seth's personality. In the first book he bothered me because he messed everything up, but this one he's actually growing into quite the hero. He truly provides the comic relief; sometimes I catch myself chuckling out loud.

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Apr 18, 2009 Angie rated it it was amazing

Wow! I loved this book! Brandon Mull's writing was, as always, superb. The plot was well done and completely surprising; great for discussions or book groups. This may be a children's book, but it is written so that it is enjoyable for any age. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series!

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Dec 29, 2008 Leigh Dethman rated it really liked it

Brandon makes every character come to life, from mischievous satyrs, ambitious kids and imposing dragons. I breezed through all four books in this series in two weeks. I couldn't put them down. Book 4 releases on March 24. If you live anywhere near, make sure to come to the launch party that night. For details, check fablehaven.com for more information.

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About Brandon Mull

Brandon Mull

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Brandon Mull resides in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon with his wife and three children. He spent two years living in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile where he learned Spanish and juggling. He once won a pudding eating contest in the park behind his grandma’s house, earning a gold medal. Brandon is the author of the New York Times bestselling Fablehaven series and The Candy S ...more