ISBN 9780008530792
Reviewed by Kylie Buckley
Zellidora Stormclash (Zelli) is an outsider who champions the small, timid,
and harmless. She knows that she doesn’t belong in the Dungeon Academy where monsters
and creatures are trained to be fierce, kindness is forbidden, and humans are
the enemy. Zelli is aware that she is adopted and further aware that she is
human. Zelli’s two adoptive mothers are both minotaurs, one of them an
intimidating professor at the Academy, so no one dares to question Zelli being
raised as a dungeon dweller or her thin disguise of horns and a tail.
Zelli’s world changes when she studies a book for her ‘History of Horrible
Humans’ assignment. She learns about the great human adventurer Allidora
Steelstrike, who bears an outstanding physical resemblance to herself!
Knowing this prominent figure is likely to be her real mother, Zelli decides to
secretly leave the Dungeon Academy in search of answers. Despite not knowing
her real motive for escaping, she is joined on her dangerous quest by a trio of
lovable oddballs who also have little sense of belonging in the Dungeon Academy
– Hugo the owlbear, Snabla the kobold, and Bauble the
mimic.
The Dungeon Academy has risen from the Dungeons & Dragons game
franchise, and No Humans Allowed! is the first book in this middle-grade
fantasy adventure series. It includes themes of belonging, diversity and
friendship and is recommended for an audience aged 9 years and older. The novel
includes plenty of tri-colour illustrations throughout, created by the
extremely talented author-illustrator Tim Probert (Lightfall series),
that will assist the reader to visualise the weird and wonderful creatures in
the narrative. Books two and three in the Dungeon Academy series are due to be
released in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
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