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PaperbackAuthor's Website
www.ologyworld.comPublisher
Templar PublishingPublication date
1st July 2010ISBN
9781848770959Publisher Profile
Templar publishes books that children love and that librarians and parents want to share with children. These are quality picture and novelty books which children treasure and want to read over and over again. From the amazing baby® range, to Maurice Pledger’s delightful Sounds of the Wild titles and, of course, the best-selling Ology series, which sees Vampirology just published – and look out for our tenth Ology title in autumn 2010. Templar has also launched a brand new fiction list featuring debut authors, Teresa Flavin with Blackhope Enigma and Stephanie Burgis with A Most Improper Magick for 9-10 year olds. Young teens should watch out for the extraordinary ‘The 10pm Question’ by New Zealand writer Kate de Goldi and the amazing World Shaker by Australian writer Richard Harland. Johnny O’Brien’s second Jack Christie adventure, Day of Deliverance is out in June. Ever popular Simon Bartram continues his lunar adventures with Bob and Barry – new titles this year include A Right Royal Disaster and The Heartless Robot. In 2009 look out for the second novel in the Dragonology Chronicles – The Dragon Diary by Dugald Steer: a debut novel by Johnny O’Brien – Day of the Assassins, and for the 5-8 year olds, The Lunar Adventures of Bob and Barry is a new series of early readers written by Simon Bartram.
Publisher's Website
www.templarco.co.uk/ 
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The Dragonology Chronicles (Vol II): The Dragon's Diary
Dugald Steer
Part of the 'Dragonology Chronicles' Series
This title is in stock
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
The dragonological adventure continues in this eagerly-awaited second instalment of The Dragonology Chronicles. An illness has spread among the dragons and Daniel and Beatrice must deliver a strange book to Dr. Drake so that the cure that lies therein can be put to good use but the evil Gorynytchka lies in their way. Full of action-packed adventure and strange goings-on it will be just as addictive as the first volume in the series - The Dragon's Eye.
A message from the Publisher:
'Looking for proper old-fashioned storytelling, an amazing fantasy adventure, stunning illustrations and plenty of dragons? The Dragonology Chronicles has them all and dragonology fans simply cannot get enough of them'.
For all dragon enthusiasts, do you think you could be the Ultimate Ologist? If so then click on to www.ologyworld.com to find out more.
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
The Dragonology Chronicles (Vol II): The Dragon's Diary by Dugald SteerIn the second instalment of this acclaimed series, a mysterious illness is spreading among dragons. The fate of dragonkind rests in the hands of Daniel and Beatrice – can they reach Dr. Drake and work out the cure, or will they fall into the clutches of the evil Alexandra Gorynytchka?
Click here to watch a video that shows how 'Scorcher' was discovered!
Read on for a Q & A with Dugald Steer about his Dragonology Books
The Dragon Diary
Where did the idea for Dragonology and the Dragonology Chronicles originally come from?
The idea of Dragonology came about because Templar Publishing wanted to do a big interactive book on dragons and Mandy Wood and I thought it would be a great idea to base it on the “rediscovered” work of an eccentric Victorian natural historian who believed that dragons were real. The eccentric scientist’s name “Ernest Drake” and his science, “Dragonology”, just seemed to come naturally as part of the letter that is inserted into the front of the book, which was the very first part to be written. When Dragonology became a big success, lots of children wrote to Templar saying that they wanted to hear more about Dr. Drake, and that is how the idea of doing the Dragonology Chronicle novels came about.
If you could see one of the Dragonology dragons in real life, which one would it be?
The Dragonology dragon I’d like to meet most would be a European dragon named Torcher—the one that Daniel and Beatrice hatch out of the egg in the Dragon Diary. The Dragonology Chronicles are set in late Victoria times, but dragons have such long life spans that there is every chance that he is still around—so keep your eyes open!
Do you think dragons might have ever existed?
That’s an interesting one! Scientists are constantly discovering things and so who knows if one day they will discover evidence of a large, winged lizard-like predators, although I have to say I would be very surprised if they found out they could breathe fire, too!
What do you think is the appeal of dragons? Why are they so popular?
Dragons look fabulous, fly, breathe fire, hoard treasure, and they are really powerful—more than a match for most humans. However, they do have a gentler side, if you know how to approach them in the right way. They can make excellent friends and allies, but you should never try to tame one—they are wild through and through, and that’s the way they want to remain!
How did you come up with all the different kinds of dragons?
I read as many dragon myths and legends as I could, and I looked at images of dragons from different cultures around the world. Then I thought: what if dragons were like other real creatures? In that case they, like other creatures, would naturally have evolved into a wide range of different species, with widely differing appearances and habits, each one perfectly suited to being the top predator in the habitat in which it lived.
If you could go back in time to any era of history, which would it be and who would you like to meet?
I’d quite like to go back to medieval times and speak to the famous explorer Marco Polo. He travelled half way around the world during a time when most Europeans knew so little about what lay outside their own villages, let alone their countries, and he saw and experienced so many wonderful things that I think he’d be a fascinating person to speak to!
Where is your favourite place in the world?
That’s an unfair question—there are too many places! For example I like Barcelona, New York, the Nile, the highlands of Scotland, Crete, the Pyrenees and my home.
What next for Beatrice and Daniel and Dr Drake?
After surviving far-flung adventures in the Dragon Diary, Daniel and Beatrice must face danger much closer to home than they ever imagined. It’s a race against the clock and one that they must win with less help than they have ever had before, against a very cunning enemy indeed. But it’s not finished yet, and so I shall say no more!
About The Author
Dugald A. Steer was born in 1965 and lives in Surrey. His love of books and reading led him to study English Literature and Philosophy at Bristol University where he was an avid contributor to the Poetry Society Magazine. After stints working for Friends of the Earth and the Duchy of Lancaster Office, Dugald trained to teach English and spent the next five years in Spain, living in Galicia and Andalucia, writing in his spare time.
Dugald Steer now works as a freelance author for Templar Publishing, for whom he worked as an inhouse writer and editor for ten years. He has written a large number of books, including Mythical Mazes, Scary Fairies, An Accidental Christmas, Just One More Story and The Night Tiger among others. He has also made contributions to many of Templar’s best known series’, including Maurice Pledger’s Peek and Find series, and Derek Matthews’ highly successful Happy Snappy® series, for which he has written many books. He has edited many other books, has created Picture This... and Alphabet with Alison Jay and has also written The Toys’ Easter Surprise and the Little Mouse series. Dugald has wrote the handbook How to Be a Knight which he recently followed up with How to be an Explorer. Dugald Steer is the author of the hugely successful Ology™ series that includes Dragonology™ and Monsterology™ (writing as Dr. Ernest Drake), Egyptology (as Emily Sands), Wizardology™ (as the wizard Merlin!), Pirateology™ (as Capt. William Lubber) and Mythology (as Lady Hestia Evans), as well as the Ology™ handbooks, model packs, field guides and the Dragonology™ Pocket Adventures. After the success of The Dragon’s Eye, Dug is working on the forthcoming second novel in The Dragonology™ Chronicles – The Dragon Diary, as well as the top-secret seventh title in the Ology series!
‘In the library with Dugald Steer’ - quick fire questions and answers from the author of the Ology books
What was your favourite book as a child?
The Hobbit, by JRR Tollkien
Which book would you never have on your bookshelf?
The [insert the name of your diet plan here] plan diet
Which book would you give to a friend as a present?
An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears
Which other writers do you admire?
Far too long a list. For modern children’s writers, try Jaqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman, Daniel Handler, Jonathan Storud, Michael Morpurgo, Anthony Horowitz, Karl Hiaasen, Marcus Sedgwick and that nice Potter lady
Which classic have you always meant to read and never got round to it?
Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
What are your top five books of all time, in order or otherwise?
The Thousand Nights and a Night, by Unknown
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
The Jungle Book(s), by Rudyard Kipling
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Is there a particular book or author that inspired you to be a writer?
Three authors: Michael Moorcock, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis
What is your favourite time of day to write?
In the morning
Which fictional character would you most like to have met?
Merlin, from Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
Who, in your opinion, is the greatest writer of all time?
Sir Francis Bacon aka William Shakespeare
What is your favourite word?
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
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