I didn’t plan on reading  How To Train Your Dragon, and given how extensive my current TBR is, I probably shouldn’t have. But I’m glad I did. This book was an absolute delight and I would highly recommend the audiobook to anyone with access to it and an inclination to be charmed for 3½ hours.

How To Train Your Dragon is the first instalment of the legend of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Hiccup is the puny son of the chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. While he’s expected to one day lead the tribe Hiccup doesn’t have the natural inclination of a ‘true warrior’. Our adventure begins on initiation day for the young men of the tribe. Each is challenged to burgle a wild sleeping dragon. Unfortunately Hiccup’s selection, Toothless isn’t as ferocious or intimidating as the dragon of the future chief ought to be. The book follows Hiccup’s adventures in attempting to train Toothless and taking his first steps on the journey to becoming a true hero.

If I’m being honest this book had a lot to live up to. Its adaptation is one of my favourite movies of all time and while I knew it was unfair to compare the two it was impossible not to in the beginning. A big reason it took me a while to get into this story was my constant comparisons of the two. How To Train Your Dragon and its movie are wildly different entities with different tones and audiences in mind. I would recommend anyone incredibly attached to the film franchise, like I am, to divest themselves of expectation (regardless of how hard that may be) because this book wasn’t trying to do the same things as its movie. It will be hard but doing so will drastically improve your reading experience.

With all that aside I do think this book was ultimately a delight to read. Hiccup is a charming protagonist and the highlight of the story was seeing the development of his relationship with Toothless. While these two have a classical, and the more cynical might say predictable, antagonistic relationship from the start, Cowell imbibes the story with enough humour and sincerity that seeing the overall arc of their bond tugged at my heartstrings.

Like I noted before I was slow to warm on How To Train Your Dragon, but the second half of the story gripped me. The emotional resonance of the story arc made the build-up of each chapter incredibly satisfying. One thing I especially appreciated was how Cowell challenged toxic masculinity in the text. For most of the story, Hiccup is told to be worthy of his tribe he must become a ‘true hero’ and embody masculinity through brute strength. The ultimate pushback at that idea was beautiful to see and seeing Hiccup have the courage to face off against his father and the whole tribe about how much they value the idea of a true warrior and Viking law more than their children was one of the best moments in the book.

I adored the antagonist of the story. The nameless Green Dragon was a delightful character and his witty repartee with Hiccup was such a treat. As someone who loves conniving, cunning and ultimately overly-confident antagonists (especially in campy stories) the Green Dragon’s lighthearted menace and jaunty songs were a treat from start to finish.

I think what I loved most about this novel was how satisfying the pacing was. While this story was short Cowell packed in a fully emotionally resonant character arc for Hiccup within. Her third act in particular was stunningly fast-paced and filled to the brim with tension. Her story ended with a true bang and her resolution left me salivating for more because she set up such good intrigue in the final moments of her story while still writing a whole and complete narrative.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to David Tennant’s excellent narration. His performance throughout the novel was filled with so much charm. He brought the world of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe to life and embodied its people with his whole chest. His comedic timing was excellent and his Scottish accent just transported me to the world. If you have the opportunity to pick this one up via audio I would highly recommend it.

How To Train Your Dragon was a delightful read. David Tennant’s narration was sparkling and Cowell has a knack for whimsy and charm. I can see this series being one I go to when I need a little bit of hooliganry in my life and I can’t wait to dip into the next book when I need a pick me up.