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Sky Pirates: The Dragon's Gold
Echo Quickthorn has been reunited with her sky-pirate mother, Indigo Lil, and is now a fully-fledged member of the Black Sky Wolves. So when Lil is summoned to the Alliance of the Seven Skies, Echo decides to sneak along with her friend Horace. There, Horace is captured by the dastardly Thunder Sharks, a rival pirate clan, who present Echo with an ultimatum: they’ll release her friend in exchange for the legendary dragon’s gold ...
Echo must journey – through underwater libraries and active volcanoes – to the inhospitable Dragonlands, in order to find the dragon’s lair. But can she find the treasure and prove herself to be a true-sky pirate?
Echo must journey – through underwater libraries and active volcanoes – to the inhospitable Dragonlands, in order to find the dragon’s lair. But can she find the treasure and prove herself to be a true-sky pirate?
368 pages, Paperback
Published August 5, 2021
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Alex English
9 books63 followersI am the author of the SKY PIRATES series, published by Simon & Schuster.
I also write funny rhyming picture books for pre-schoolers, including MONKEY BEDTIME, STOP THAT DINOSAUR and YUCK SAID THE YAK.
I also write funny rhyming picture books for pre-schoolers, including MONKEY BEDTIME, STOP THAT DINOSAUR and YUCK SAID THE YAK.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 5, 2021
Though I hadn’t read the first in the series, this works well on its own.
A fun adventure, striking just the right balance between excitement and terror, and one that you can’t help but get caught up in.
Our main character, Echo, is pleased to be a Sky Pirate though she feels she has something to prove. When she hears her mother is planning to take part in the Sky Pirate meeting, Echo is scared of what could happen so she follows her and ends up having a thrilling adventure of her own.
It seems that Echo’s friendship with Horace is quite established and I liked the way they balanced one another out. From a daring air trip to being kidnapped by pirates, forced to head to an underwater library to find a map then straight into the dragon’s lair where they are tasked with guarding three precious dragon’s eggs…the adventure is well-paced.
Thankfully, you never sense things will end badly though they are not without risk. This has certainly made me think I should go back and read our introduction to Echo.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the chance toreador this in advance of publication.
A fun adventure, striking just the right balance between excitement and terror, and one that you can’t help but get caught up in.
Our main character, Echo, is pleased to be a Sky Pirate though she feels she has something to prove. When she hears her mother is planning to take part in the Sky Pirate meeting, Echo is scared of what could happen so she follows her and ends up having a thrilling adventure of her own.
It seems that Echo’s friendship with Horace is quite established and I liked the way they balanced one another out. From a daring air trip to being kidnapped by pirates, forced to head to an underwater library to find a map then straight into the dragon’s lair where they are tasked with guarding three precious dragon’s eggs…the adventure is well-paced.
Thankfully, you never sense things will end badly though they are not without risk. This has certainly made me think I should go back and read our introduction to Echo.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the chance toreador this in advance of publication.
August 5, 2021
In 2020, Alex English delivered a debut book that was one of my favourite reads of the year so I was very excited for the sequel.
Echo is loving life aboard the Scarlet Margaret. Reunited with her mum, Lil, she spend her days searching for treasure, exploring the skies and learning what it takes to become a true sky pirate.
When Lil is summoned to a meeting of the Seven Skies Alliance, a worried Echo, along with best friend Horace, finds herself on a spying mission that quickly presents itself with the perfect opportunity for Echo to prove her abilities as a sky pirate. Legendary treasure lies deep in the heart of a dragon’s lair and the first sky pirate crew to find it will rule over the Seven Skies. But does Echo have what it takes to find the treasure before the rival pirate clans…
Skulduggery in the skies, underwater libraries, pirates behaving badly, fabulous contraptions and exploding mechanical birds. This is Echo’s biggest adventure yet and it makes for a brilliant read that had me racing through the pages desperate to find out what would happen next. It was a great deal of fun to be back with Echo, Gilbert and Horace and it didn’t take long for me to be swept back into their world and journeying through fantastical lands of ice, volcanoes, dragons and my favourite of all…marshmallows. Who wouldn’t want to visit a land where marshmallows grow instead of flowers, marshmallamas roam freely and the local tavern serves marshmallarmalade on toast and marshmallama milkshakes!
Like all the best adventures, peril, danger and close scrapes are never far away whether it be from rival private crews or having to face-off with a dragon. Echo has a knack of always getting herself into a pickle. Her plans often go wrong and things always seem to go from bad to worse yet I never lost faith that she would find a way to fix everything. Flawed, fearless and desperate to prove herself, Echo is easy to root for and accompanied by her trusty lizard sidekick Gilbert and nervy yet loyal friend Horace, the trio are the perfect team.
Bags of excitement and full of friendship and heart, this fast-paced, swashbuckling story is a fresh and original pirate adventure that will have readers wanting to fly away to uncharted lands in their own airship. Loved it!
Recommended for 8+.
With thanks to Alex English and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy that was received through NetGalley.
Echo is loving life aboard the Scarlet Margaret. Reunited with her mum, Lil, she spend her days searching for treasure, exploring the skies and learning what it takes to become a true sky pirate.
When Lil is summoned to a meeting of the Seven Skies Alliance, a worried Echo, along with best friend Horace, finds herself on a spying mission that quickly presents itself with the perfect opportunity for Echo to prove her abilities as a sky pirate. Legendary treasure lies deep in the heart of a dragon’s lair and the first sky pirate crew to find it will rule over the Seven Skies. But does Echo have what it takes to find the treasure before the rival pirate clans…
Skulduggery in the skies, underwater libraries, pirates behaving badly, fabulous contraptions and exploding mechanical birds. This is Echo’s biggest adventure yet and it makes for a brilliant read that had me racing through the pages desperate to find out what would happen next. It was a great deal of fun to be back with Echo, Gilbert and Horace and it didn’t take long for me to be swept back into their world and journeying through fantastical lands of ice, volcanoes, dragons and my favourite of all…marshmallows. Who wouldn’t want to visit a land where marshmallows grow instead of flowers, marshmallamas roam freely and the local tavern serves marshmallarmalade on toast and marshmallama milkshakes!
Like all the best adventures, peril, danger and close scrapes are never far away whether it be from rival private crews or having to face-off with a dragon. Echo has a knack of always getting herself into a pickle. Her plans often go wrong and things always seem to go from bad to worse yet I never lost faith that she would find a way to fix everything. Flawed, fearless and desperate to prove herself, Echo is easy to root for and accompanied by her trusty lizard sidekick Gilbert and nervy yet loyal friend Horace, the trio are the perfect team.
Bags of excitement and full of friendship and heart, this fast-paced, swashbuckling story is a fresh and original pirate adventure that will have readers wanting to fly away to uncharted lands in their own airship. Loved it!
Recommended for 8+.
With thanks to Alex English and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy that was received through NetGalley.
June 21, 2021
What an amazing chapter book! A gripping pirate adventure for confident readers in Key Stage Two.
This is the second in the series although this can be a stand alone book.
Echo is a young sky pirate, desperate to prove herself to her mum, the captain of the Black Sky Wolves. When she over hears her mums intention to attend a dangerous meeting with the six other pirate crews (the alliance of the Seven Skies) Echo follows her with her friend Horace.
She soon finds herself on a frightening adventure to find a treasure map and then a dragon, encountering different tribes of rival pirates along the way. Can she find the cutlass and the gold before the others and safely return to her ship?
I loved this imaginative adventure and couldn't stop turning the pages! There were some really clever ideas. I loved the mechanical parrot that delivered messages and then self destructed and the invisible Aethernets (woven by aether spiders from the Caves of Cape Cinnamo) that were used to catch clouds to power the ship.
Echo and Horace are both great characters and I was willing them on their quest. This was a brilliantly written book: full of friendship and humour mixed with excitement and trepidation. A great read. My daughter is seven and I know she will love this. I've just bought her the first in the series to read too. There are some fantastic black and white illustrations throughout the book which really capture some of the best moments in the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this eARC. This book will be published on 5th August.
This is the second in the series although this can be a stand alone book.
Echo is a young sky pirate, desperate to prove herself to her mum, the captain of the Black Sky Wolves. When she over hears her mums intention to attend a dangerous meeting with the six other pirate crews (the alliance of the Seven Skies) Echo follows her with her friend Horace.
She soon finds herself on a frightening adventure to find a treasure map and then a dragon, encountering different tribes of rival pirates along the way. Can she find the cutlass and the gold before the others and safely return to her ship?
I loved this imaginative adventure and couldn't stop turning the pages! There were some really clever ideas. I loved the mechanical parrot that delivered messages and then self destructed and the invisible Aethernets (woven by aether spiders from the Caves of Cape Cinnamo) that were used to catch clouds to power the ship.
Echo and Horace are both great characters and I was willing them on their quest. This was a brilliantly written book: full of friendship and humour mixed with excitement and trepidation. A great read. My daughter is seven and I know she will love this. I've just bought her the first in the series to read too. There are some fantastic black and white illustrations throughout the book which really capture some of the best moments in the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this eARC. This book will be published on 5th August.
July 26, 2021
I really enjoyed Sky Pirates: Echo Quickthorn and the Great Beyond, so I was pleased to receive an ARC of Sky Pirates: The Dragon’s Gold, which is book 2 in the series.
It was great fun to return to the world of Echo, and to see Gilbert (possibly my favourite character) again. In this book, Echo is feeling somewhat inadequate, and like the other sky pirates aboard her mother’s airship don’t really think she’s a proper sky pirate. In trying to prove she is, she gets herself (along with Gilbert and Horace) into all sorts of entertaining trouble!
This story is full of adventure among the clouds (not to mention under the sea, and on the ground). As well as the excitement, there’s the theme of friends working together. And, of course, a dragon!
The writing flows really well, and I love the illustrations - especially the chapter headers, which show an airship. They come across well, even on my kindle.
Overall, this was a fun adventure, with well-loved characters, in an exciting alternate world. I recommend it for children and adults.
I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.
It was great fun to return to the world of Echo, and to see Gilbert (possibly my favourite character) again. In this book, Echo is feeling somewhat inadequate, and like the other sky pirates aboard her mother’s airship don’t really think she’s a proper sky pirate. In trying to prove she is, she gets herself (along with Gilbert and Horace) into all sorts of entertaining trouble!
This story is full of adventure among the clouds (not to mention under the sea, and on the ground). As well as the excitement, there’s the theme of friends working together. And, of course, a dragon!
The writing flows really well, and I love the illustrations - especially the chapter headers, which show an airship. They come across well, even on my kindle.
Overall, this was a fun adventure, with well-loved characters, in an exciting alternate world. I recommend it for children and adults.
I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.
December 6, 2022
Lacked some of the excitement and imagination that the synopsis promised. The main character wasn’t very likeable. I liked that the ending was more realistic than most children’s fantasy; not everything worked out in the way the characters had hoped but they accept it and believe that they can make the best of the situation.
December 25, 2021
Bajeczka o podniebnych piratach i przygodzie ze smokiem.
Wysłuchana po łebkach w celu nabycia umiejętności rozumienia angielskiego ze słuchu.
Miła, przyjemna choć dla młodszych...
Wysłuchana po łebkach w celu nabycia umiejętności rozumienia angielskiego ze słuchu.
Miła, przyjemna choć dla młodszych...
August 5, 2023
Another amazing addition to the series. I loved watching the story develop, meeting new pirates and just going along with the adventure.
August 19, 2021
Following the adventures of the first book in which Echo Quickthorn, alongside friend Prince Horace, is reunited with her mother sky pirate Indigo Lil, Echo is off on another journey. She and Horace follow her mother to a meeting of the Alliance of the Seven Skies and soon find out that the death of a famous pirate has led to the discovery of a legendary cutlass that marks the leader of all Sky Pirate clans. It’s a race against the other clans to find the cutlass, save Horace from the dangerous Thunder Sharks and maybe find some dragon’s gold!
I absolutely adored the first story about Echo Quickthorn – an intriguing almost mystery story with heaps of adventure and magical fun (it gave me real Brightstorm vibes which I loved!) – and the second was also fantastic and filled with swashbuckling fun. I’ve read a few stories about pirates recently and adventures at sea are always great as the pirates are never quite trustworthy enough! There was real peril for Echo and Horace with some dastardly pirate clans plotting kidnap and backstabbing one another. Sky Pirates 2 was a quick page turner that will leave readers expecting and wanting more from this series!
Echo continues to be a likeable protagonist and readers will feel for her as she tries to find her place amongst the sky pirates. Having lived in a city most of her life, she struggles to fit in and desperately wants to be seen as a real pirate and allowed her own sword! Echo is fierce and daring and young girls and boys alike will want to have adventures like her. Her impulsivity is in contrast to the bookish Horace who she drags alongside her. Horace is an incredibly loyal friend to Echo and it’s lovely to see this dynamic continue between the two. As well as the two main characters, the cast of pirates were fantastically realised with a great many fascinating captains and ship mates to enjoy. And who could forget Gilbert, Echo’s lizard companion? I do love an animal sidekick and Gilbert had a very important role to play towards the end of the story.
Sky Pirates, lizard sidekicks, dragons? Definitely 4 out of 5 stars to this fantastic sequel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s UK for providing an e-book review copy.
I absolutely adored the first story about Echo Quickthorn – an intriguing almost mystery story with heaps of adventure and magical fun (it gave me real Brightstorm vibes which I loved!) – and the second was also fantastic and filled with swashbuckling fun. I’ve read a few stories about pirates recently and adventures at sea are always great as the pirates are never quite trustworthy enough! There was real peril for Echo and Horace with some dastardly pirate clans plotting kidnap and backstabbing one another. Sky Pirates 2 was a quick page turner that will leave readers expecting and wanting more from this series!
Echo continues to be a likeable protagonist and readers will feel for her as she tries to find her place amongst the sky pirates. Having lived in a city most of her life, she struggles to fit in and desperately wants to be seen as a real pirate and allowed her own sword! Echo is fierce and daring and young girls and boys alike will want to have adventures like her. Her impulsivity is in contrast to the bookish Horace who she drags alongside her. Horace is an incredibly loyal friend to Echo and it’s lovely to see this dynamic continue between the two. As well as the two main characters, the cast of pirates were fantastically realised with a great many fascinating captains and ship mates to enjoy. And who could forget Gilbert, Echo’s lizard companion? I do love an animal sidekick and Gilbert had a very important role to play towards the end of the story.
Sky Pirates, lizard sidekicks, dragons? Definitely 4 out of 5 stars to this fantastic sequel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s UK for providing an e-book review copy.
December 15, 2021
I really enjoyed the first book in this series during lockdown last year, so I’ve been looking forward to the second installment ever since and it didn’t disappoint. It sees Echo become a member of the Black Sky Wolves, a sky pirate crew, and tells the story of what happens when she and her cousin Horace are kidnapped by rival sky pirates, the rather unsavoury Thunder Sharks, and forced to go on a hunt for treasure into the dangerous Dragonlands. I love this world, and it was wonderful to not only see it again, but to learn about places we didn’t see in book one, and other new elements such as cloud catching were also great. It was also nice to see Echo and Horace again, especially now their relationship has evolved into a much friendlier one despite their differences, and I still absolutely adored Echo’s chameleon Gilbert, especially since he reminds me so much of Pascal from Tangled (which is my very favourite Disney film just for the record!). I also loved getting to know the Black Sky Wolves better, especially Bulkhead, Flora and Echo’s mum Lil, whose relationship with her daughter and how it’s different to what Echo expected or hoped for is a big part of the story. The adventure plotline zipped along at a great pace, and if I’m correct that this is a duology rather than a trilogy, I look forward to reading whichever worlds Alex comes up with in the future.
January 10, 2022
Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Firstly, I want to quote myself from when I reviewed the first Sky Pirates book; "This is so cute and I can't help loving Echo!". It still stands... and man does she like adventure! Trouble follows her like a shadow, and she's too nosey for her own good, but if that isn't a lot of the reasons I loved her, then I don't know what is! Hah.
I had such a good time reading this book - and have since listened to some of the audiobook. I'd highly reccommend it too ^_^
Firstly, I want to quote myself from when I reviewed the first Sky Pirates book; "This is so cute and I can't help loving Echo!". It still stands... and man does she like adventure! Trouble follows her like a shadow, and she's too nosey for her own good, but if that isn't a lot of the reasons I loved her, then I don't know what is! Hah.
I had such a good time reading this book - and have since listened to some of the audiobook. I'd highly reccommend it too ^_^
November 26, 2024
Once again I enjoyed our tales of the sky pirates although there could have definitely been more dragons for a book with dragon in the title 🤣
January 4, 2022
Brilliant once again I want more
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews