Craig A. Price Jr.

I got an ARC copy from the author in the hopes for a review.

I have finally completed reading 5 SPFBO 2017 books! Yaay!

For better or worse, there doesn't really seem to have much of a plot in this book. Searon is a capable captain that married the daughter of a common criminal and was enjoying semiretirement with Victoria and his son. Almost 2 years before the beginning of the book, a swarm of reptilian humanoid beasts called drayeks invaded his village and murdered his family. Emotionally devastated, he roams the lands of Calthoria killing the beasts until either he dies in battle, or he defeats them all.

He is encountered by a slightly kooky fire wizard named Karceoles who freezes him in a block of ice and drags him kicking and screaming because he had a vision that Searon would someday unite the human towns of Calthoria and kill these beasts once and for all. For what purpose? Well, the book never really explains who is behind the sudden appearance of the drayeks and a second menace that sort of resemble blue skinned horned beasts called daemions. With no definite enemy in sight until the last 20% of the novel where a warlock and a necromancer are at least allied with these beasts, the story mostly focuses on Searon grudgingly accepting Karceoles's demand to locate allies.

This is where I felt like the book suffered a lot and that the insanely slow speed of the middle of the book was the reason why it took me a whopping 9 months to finish it. Some of the recruited characters are memorable (Starlyn, a sort of rebellious kheshlar that is deadset on a revenge of her own, a kind hearted human without any formal military training named Andron that is unexpectedly talented with the sword, Noraes, who is Searon's younger brother that has finally settled down with an enviable nobility title, Anaela, another kheshlar with unusual green skin that briefly appears in the final chapters and finally, a third kheshlar named Erenuyh who acted aloof with everyone until we find out the motive...).

I had a really hard time connecting with the other recruited characters. Nothing about their personalities (except perhaps Sh'on to a degree) drew me in and made them stand out. It made the slow middle hard for me to read because this book seems to be more focused on the characters over a complex plot.

Luckily, things speed up in the final 20% of the novel which sort of compensated for the slow middle. I like Anaela's character and think she will hold a pivotal role in the second novel. The book has a bit of an anticlimatic ending, the enemy was only slightly affected, no big villains defeated, motives discovered, Starlyn's sister is still wandering somewhere and the kheshlar king doesn't take the threat seriously. However, it does end with some nice points where the sequel might be heading. I wish to finish more SPFBO books first, but I will read the sequel.… (més)

Traitor is a very short story, set in the Dragonia universe. It takes place before the first book in the series but is meant to be read between the first and second books. It provides background for the second novel, introduces the Dragon Stone featured in the third, and explains why dragons, unlike wyverns, are nothing but dumb animals. This information is worth having, so the novel is worth reading. But it's extremely short length prevents it from exhibiting complex plot or character development. It isn't really necessary to understanding the rest of the series.… (més)

This is the first book in the Dragonia series which tells the story of a world ruled by tyranny and a resistance fighting for a better world. But the tyrant rules by the power of his dragonriders, and the resistance eventually finds wyverns of their own.

The first half of the novel is the story of Devarius and his group of villagers wandering through the country searching for the resistance and evading the dragonriders. About halfway through the novel, their search is successful, and they begin training. Although the main characters train in swordfighting and archery, most of the training is not described, so this element of the story is not as satisfying as in Tamora Pierce's novels. But the details provided regarding archery and sparring are accurate.

Rise of the Wyverns is well written with an interesting plot, but it could use a few improvements. Although the resistance, in principle, upholds equality for people of all races and genders, the novel itself comes across as sexist. Devarius, who continues to act as the leader of his group even after they join the resistance, is in love with the only important female character; he therefore refuses to bring her along on missions because he couldn't handle loosing her. But that just makes him pathetic. She was already a skilled archer before joining the resistance, and her skills are needed. Since their romance is entirely in his head throughout the novel, this element of the book is only irritating. Again, Tamora Pierce's novels are better in their normalization of women warriors.… (més)

Revenge of the Dragons is the second book in the Dragonia series.

Derkas betrayed the resistance to the empire at the end of book 1 in exchange for Zaviana's release from slavery. Naveen leaves her village to search for the resistance after dragonriders execute innocent villagers for treason. These three meet up with the main characters from the first novel and continue to train and battle the empire. There are too many long battle descriptions; I started skimming through them.

Overall, the second installment is of the same quality as the first. The world is complex, and it now expands to include human magic users. It is disappointing that, although there are now female leads, the author cannot escape his sexist writing. For example, while male and female warriors fight, the non-warrior women are said to "huddle in the center" well no mention is made of what the non-warrior men are doing. Even though the resistance famously accepts both women and men as warriors, the author can't seem to commit to this premise, writing instead, "the courtyard erupted into chaos, women and children screaming as they ran to their homes. A few men littered the area, most of them with swords held in front of them, searching for the threat."… (més)