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Book review: Dragonmaster
Feb. 28th, 2009 08:58 pmToday's book review is Dragonmaster by Chris Bunch.
This appears to be the first book in a series. It ends at a reasonable point for a book in a series, no cliffhanger but some important things unresolved.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a weakness for fluffy fantasy adventures with dragons, which I expected this to be. Unfortunately, even given my bias, I have to say that this book was pretty bad. Things kept happening that just didn't seem to fit in the world; the world itself seems to be vaguely defined so that whatever the plot requires at the moment can be pulled out of it. The dragons themselves are ineffectual in some cases but deadly in others. They're extremely dangerous even to their handlers some of the time but docile enough that their handlers can be completely complacent other times. They have about the intelligence of a horse, except for a couple of places that clearly hint at more, but then the hints aren't followed. Most of the individual scenes are decent, but there are so many places where things just don't fit that it's very hard to stay immersed in the story. I did enjoy it some, but "peasant kid becomes a dragon rider" should be a slam dunk for me.
4 out of 10.
( plot summary )
This appears to be the first book in a series. It ends at a reasonable point for a book in a series, no cliffhanger but some important things unresolved.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a weakness for fluffy fantasy adventures with dragons, which I expected this to be. Unfortunately, even given my bias, I have to say that this book was pretty bad. Things kept happening that just didn't seem to fit in the world; the world itself seems to be vaguely defined so that whatever the plot requires at the moment can be pulled out of it. The dragons themselves are ineffectual in some cases but deadly in others. They're extremely dangerous even to their handlers some of the time but docile enough that their handlers can be completely complacent other times. They have about the intelligence of a horse, except for a couple of places that clearly hint at more, but then the hints aren't followed. Most of the individual scenes are decent, but there are so many places where things just don't fit that it's very hard to stay immersed in the story. I did enjoy it some, but "peasant kid becomes a dragon rider" should be a slam dunk for me.
4 out of 10.
( plot summary )
