The Secrets of Droon


The Secrets of Droon is a fantasy book series by Tony Abbott aimed at elementary school-age children. The first book, The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet, was published on June 1, 1999. On October 1, 2010, the final book of the series, The Final Quest, was released, concluding its eleven-year run. The series consisting of 44 books are still published. The series was named by the American Booksellers Association among the top ten books for Harry Potter fans.
An audio version of the series is available from Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group. The series was designed by Dawn Adelman.
The publisher, Scholastic Inc., took huge efforts to popularize the series. In the official website of the series, various innovative factors were introduced like Droon game, Droon quiz, Droon timeline, Droon songs, Droon encyclopedia, Droon map, etc.
The story is about Eric, Julie, and Neal who discovers an enchanted stairway in Eric's basement, which turns out to be a portal to the magical and troubled world of Droon. It's a wondrous place where adventure is always close at hand. They take the help of various adult characters.

Translations

The series has been translated by many countries to their own language and it is sold in various countries in English. The list of countries and language are:

Plot Overview

, Neal Kroger, and Julie Rubin are three friends who accidentally discover a magical world called Droon; a rainbow staircase that appears when Eric's basement closet is dark is usually how they get to Droon. There they meet [|Keeah], the princess of Droon who is a wizard, they also meet Galen Longbeard who is the first wizard of Droon who are trying to defend Droon against [|Lord Sparr], an evil sorcerer who constantly tries to destroy Keeah and the Upper World friends and take Droon for his own to rule. The time in Droon runs differently. In Droon, even a whole year is not even a second in our world. This factor helps the kids very much and makes their travelling easier.
The first twelve books see Keeah, Eric, Neal, and Julie trying to find and free Keeah's mother, Queen Relna, from a curse placed on her by Witch Demither that forces her to shift shapes; she goes from being a bird, to a dragon, to a tiger, and finally a dolphin before becoming human again. The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth books and the first special edition introduce the plot involving Zara, the Queen of Light, and her three sons: Urik, Galen, and Sparr; Zara, who was kidnapped along with Sparr by Ko, emperor of the long-lost evil Empire of Goll, and brought to Droon will later become a recurringly important part of the series.
After Special Edition #1, ‘‘The Magic Escapes’’, Droon's past begins to be explored, as well as Droon's connection to the Upper World. The characters develop as well, with Eric's wizard powers progressing, and Julie obtaining the powers of a wingwolf - namely, to fly and shape-shift and later on her third power is revealed. In the book "The Chariot of Queen Zara" a thing happens which changes Neal's life forever. Salamandra, initially princess later Queen of shadowthorn arrives in Droon, thus marking the entry of another antagonist. But after the series goes her intention seems mostly good even though her alliance is always bought to a question. In Book 22, ‘‘The Isle of Mists’’, Sparr awakens Ko; however, in the process Sparr and his pet, the two-headed dog Kem, are aged back to being children, and become allies with Keeah and the Upper World children. In Book 28, ‘‘In the Shadow of Goll’’, Sparr is turned back into his adult self, though he remains the children's ally. He disappears through a hole in the earth to Droon's Underworld, but reappears in Special Edition #5, ‘‘Moon Magic’’, though fifty years older in Droon's future. He comes back to Droon's present to give the children and Galen his piece of the Moon Medallion, a magical artifact composed of four pieces created by Zara and her sons, before going off on his own journey.
Gethwing, the moon dragon who serves as Ko's lieutenant, becomes the more prevalent villain, especially when Ko is thrown into a chasm with no visible bottom. In Book 33, ‘‘Flight of the Blue Serpent’’, Eric is wounded by a poisoned ice dagger intended for Galen, and is eventually manipulated by Gethwing into becoming Prince Ungast, his evil opposite. Ungast, along with Princess Neffu and Lord Sparr, returned to his younger, evil self, form Gethwing's formidable "Crown of Wizards"; it is not until Special Edition #7, ‘‘The Genie King’’, that Eric becomes himself again. Another thing revealed in the book is that Gethwing is immortal. Eric, pretending to still be Ungast, goes undercover to find out a secret about Gethwing that could possibly help defeat him.

Books

The series consists of 44 books: 36 main series books and 8 Special Editions. They are:
  1. The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet
  2. Journey to the Volcano Palace
  3. The Mysterious Island
  4. City in the Clouds
  5. The Great Ice Battle
  6. The Sleeping Giant of Goll
  7. Into the Land of the Lost
  8. The Golden Wasp
  9. The Tower of the Elf King
  10. Quest for the Queen
  11. The Hawk Bandits of Tarkoom
  12. Under the Serpent Sea
  13. The Mask of Maliban
  14. Voyage of the Jaffa Wind
  15. The Moon Scroll
  16. The Knights of Silversnow
  17. * Special Edition 1: The Magic Escapes
  18. Dream Thief
  19. Search for the Dragon Ship
  20. The Coiled Viper
  21. In the Ice Caves of Krog
  22. Flight of the Genie
  23. * Special Edition 2: Wizard or Witch?
  24. The Isle of Mists
  25. The Fortress of the Treasure Queen
  26. The Race to Doobesh
  27. The Riddle of Zorfendorf Castle
  28. * Special Edition 3: Voyagers of the Silver Sand
  29. The Moon Dragon
  30. The Chariot of Queen Zara
  31. In the Shadow of Goll
  32. * Special Edition 4: Sorcerer
  33. Pirates of the Purple Dawn
  34. Escape from Jabar-Loo
  35. Queen of Shadowthorn
  36. * Special Edition 5: Moon Magic
  37. Treasure of the Orkins
  38. Flight of the Blue Serpent
  39. In the City of Dreams
  40. * Special Edition 6: Crown of Wizards
  41. The Lost Empire of Koomba
  42. Knights of the Ruby Wand
  43. * Special Edition 7: The Genie King
  44. * Special Edition 8: The Final Quest

    Characters

Protagonists

The lead characters of the series are
The villains of the series are
These are characters who help the antagonists and protagonists
These characters just have a minor or cameo role in the series
These characters are parents of Eric, Neal and Julie:
The characters go to many places throughout the series. The prominent places are

Outside Droon

Tony Abbott has revealed on his blog that there could be a sequel series of seven books based on the Seven Cities of Gold. Nickelodeon has even expressed interest in doing a three to four season television series based on the books.