Also known as the Golden One, Nettlebrand is a fearsome monster who lives to hunt, kill, and eat dragons. Firedrake rests while the sun is up, and as he sleeps, a dwarf Gravelbeard runs to a nearby castle to inform Nettlebrand of their presence. Firedrake and Sorrel decide to take Ben along with them, and the three set off into the night-the only time Firedrake can travel because the moonlight allows him to fly.īen and Sorrel argue about when they should turn eastward, and they wind up landing in a mountain range that is full of dwarves. Gilbert marks dangerous areas they will encounter along their journey. Sorrel finds and pays Gilbert for a map that leads to the Himalayas. To repay him, Ben gives Sorrel human clothes so she can wear a disguise as she searches for Gilbert, while Firedrake hides. Soon after he lands on the docks of London, Firedrake rescues Ben, a young orphan boy, from dangerous dockworkers. Firedrake heads to London alongside his friend Sorrell, who is a brownie, which is a kind of spirit, in order to locate Gilbert Graytail, a mapmaking rat.

After receiving guidance from the oldest member of his dragon clan, Firedrake decides to set off to find the legendary Rim of Heaven, a fabled haven where all dragons can go. He learns that nearby humans are planning to flood the valley and realizes the dragons are no longer safe there. When the book opens, we meet Firedrake, a young dragon who lives with other dragons in a hidden valley just outside of London. On their journey over distant lands and shining seas, the trio encounters strange new creatures, a merciless villain bent on ending their quest, and a secret destiny they never could have imagined. They are seeking a safe location for Firedrake’s family to live after they discover that humans are going to flood the valley in which he and the other dragons live. Dragon Rider (1997), a children’s novel by Cornelia Funke, follows a silver dragon named Firedrake, a brownie named Sorrel, and a human boy named Ben, who must join together to search for a mythical area in the Himalayan mountain range known as the Rim of Heaven.

Cornelia funke dragon