More like 4 1/2 stars...great story. Left me wanting more, which is a good thing. Dragons versus kids...I have to say, is one of my favorite mix. I'm a fan of kids out smarting, out doing, and generally being better than us adults. I met this author at a library function. He caught my attention very quickly. I liked his "what if...." Concept of storytelling. I would be very interested in reading much more from this author. I thought this book was okay. Al is declared a zero on the day when he and all his classmates receive their rankings. As a zero, the cullers try to murder him and plan to kill his whole family, but with some help he escapes and starts something that will turn his culture upside down. Everyone has always believed that they were created by dragons and therefore serve the dragons. Al discovers the truth about the dragons and about the Third. The Third was a group of five hundred men that were soldiers working for the magisters. Rumor has it that Magister Lundi turned against the Third (or was it the fifth?) and murdered all of them. However, fourteen survived. Al learns the truth about this group and why he really was declared a zero.
