Dragon Stones
(Dragon Stone 1)
by Kristian Alva
fantasy, subadult
copyright 2011
read in December 2019
rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else
09mar24: Much the same opinion. Though on this reading I notice... Don't talk to so-and-so, warns Granny. Off the hero rushes -- to talk to so-and-so Sigh.
The hero is a fool -- or an innocent. I have more sympathy for some minor characters, people whose lives are torn apart by impending war but with no hope of being saved by impending hero-hood.
The plot is simplistic, occasionally stupid, easy to read.
The author is said to write "middle-grade fantasy". This book is not a high-fantasy masterpiece but it is readable.
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This is not a complete book. It is a series of adventures, reaching no conclusion. Perhaps book three will finish the story? If I read as far as book three -- check my review, I will tell you if it concludes.
The story is set in an interesting world. A number of cliché locations are cobbled together -- and explained rather than shown. Cliché characters act in rather unbelievable ways. They may act good or evil but none are particularly interesting.
Each minor conflict is resolved in a trivial fashion. The horribly injured dragon, for example, is cured with no drama whatsoever.
The target market is subadult: old enough to handle violence, young enough to need a straightforward plot. I'm an adult, I'm not embarrassed by the quality of the story. Yet the only reason that I will read book two is to see if it gets any better.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"[The] truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is." ... Winston Churchill
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