Dragons – Everything Is Better With Dragons

TBR Review: The Fireborne Blade, by Charlotte Bond

Format: 176 pages, Hardcover
Published: May 28, 2024 by Tordotcom
ISBN: 9781250290311 (ISBN10: 1250290317)
Language: English

Description

Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honour.

It’s that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor.

Maddileh is a knight. There aren’t many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she’s a knight, and made of sterner stuff.

A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it’s that “die trying” is where to wager your coin.

Maddileh’s tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world.

My Review

Bond builds a world in very few words, with dragons that possess unique abilities and melt on death. It’s a traditional knights killing dragons story with a few twists and horror elements.

The characters come to life in a few words and the twist is unexpected. The ending is quite dramatic and leads into the next novella. The use of extracts from archives of other dragon slaying and magical adventures flesh out the world with extra details, so that the reader discovers the social structure of the world and Maddileh’s place in it. Through her interactions with mages we understand the internal conflicts of both Maddileh herself and the magical order.

There are hints of a wider world and the future that suggests more novellas will follow and I look forward to reading them.

TBR Pile Review: Dragon Rider, by Taran Matharu

Format: 565 pages, Paperback
Published: April 25, 2024 by HarperVoyager
ISBN: 9780008517649 (ISBN10: 0008517649)
Language: English

From the ashes of an empire, a hero will rise…

Jai has spent his life forced to serve the cruel empire that killed his family and now rules his people.

To grow ever more powerful, the emperor’s young son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom. An unconquerable realm, where ancient beasts roam. The princess brings with her a priceless gift: dragons. Only Dansk Royalty can bond with these magical beasts to draw on their power and strength. Until now.

When the betrothal goes wrong, a bloody coup leads to chaos at court. Finally, Jai has a chance to escape. He flees with a fierce Dansk warrior, Frida, but not before stealing a dragon egg.

To vanquish the empire, he must do the impossible: bond with a dragon. Only then he can seize his destiny, and seek his revenge …

An epic new fantasy, where dragons fly and empires fall.

My Review

I really need to get better at writing these summaries. I have three different editions of this book. Two are special editions, one each from Goldsboro Books and The Broken Binding, and the third is an ARC I won in a competition the publisher held in February. I’ve had it since March. I wanted to finish it long before now, but blog tours kept getting in the way. In the last few days, I’ve had time to read about two thirds of this chonker of a novel. So, read on of you don’t mind an outline of the first four hundred pages and some background, before you get to my opinions.

Spoilers below! Scroll quickly down to the separator if you don’t want to see them. I don’t spoil the ending or any of the real details.

Review: Gogmagog, by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard

13th February 2024 | 9781915202826 | Paperback | £9.99 / $17.99 / $23.99

Gogmagog tells the story of an epic journey through the sixty-mile long ghost of a dragon.

Travel is by boat, a rickety steam launch captained by veteran taxi pilot Cady Meade, on the river Nysis. In her heyday Cady carried people and goods from the thriving seaports of the estuary into Ludwich, the capital city. Now she’s drunk, holed up in a rundown seaside resort, telling her bawdy tales for shots of rum.

All that’s about to change, when two strangers seek her out, asking for transport, one of whom – a young girl – is very ill, and in great danger. The other, an artificial being of singular character, has secrets hidden inside his crystal skull. So begins the voyage of the Juniper.

The Nysis is unlike any other river. Mysteries unfold with each port of call. Not many can navigate these channels, not many know of its whirlpools and sandbanks, and of the ravenous creatures that lurk beneath the surface.

Cady used to have the necessary knowledge, and the powers of spectral navigation.

But her glory days are well behind her now. This might well be her final journey.

Children’s Picture Book Review: Ellie-May & her toy dragon, Ben, by Genna Rowbotham

**Purchase Links**
**Genna’s website:**             www.gennarowbotham.co.uk/shop
**Amazon (Paperback):**    https://amzn.to/3InCyJN
**Amazon (eBook):**            https://amzn.to/3GmtLp1
**Google Play: (eBook):**    https://bit.ly/3QjcKR9

Ellie-May & her Toy Dragon, Ben

Feeling so excited for a new day ahead, Ellie-May struggles to sleep. So when her toy dragon, Ben grows into a real-life dragon, they take to the starry skies and embark on a night-time adventure together, where they visit Ben’s castle and enjoy a dragon party.

But as the sun begins to rise and the stars fade, will Ellie-May be able to stay awake?

TBR Pile: The Book of Dragons, ed. by Jonathan Strahan

52583994. sx318 sy475 — Hardcover, First UK Edition, 558 pages
Published June 25th 2020 by HarperVoyager UK
ISBN: 0008331472 (ISBN13: 9780008331474) https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008331474/the-book-of-dragons/

A unique collection of stories by the greatest fantasy writers working today.

Sparking myths and legends from Asia to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons are the most universal and awe-inspiring of magical creatures.

Whether they are fearsome, rampaging monsters or benevolent sages with much to teach humanity, dragons bring creation, destruction, and adventure in stories told all around the globe.

In this landmark collection, award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan combines nearly thirty never-before-seen short stories and poems, written by modern masters of science fiction and fantasy, and illustrations by acclaimed artist Rovina Cai.

Featuring stories from Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Garth Nix, Ken Liu, Kate Elliott, and many more, The Book of Dragons breathes fresh life and fire into the greatest magical beasts of all.

Content:
– Introduction by Jonathan Strahan
– What Heroism Tells Us poem by Jane Yolen
– Matriculation by Elle Katharine White
– Hikaya Sri Bujang, or The Tale of the Naga Sage by Zen Cho
– Yuli by Daniel Abraham
– A Whisper of Blue by Ken Liu
– Nidhog poem by Jo Walton
– Where the River Turns to Concrete by Brooke Bolander
– Habitat by K.J. Parker
– Pox by Ellen Klages
– The Nine Curves River by R.F. Kuang
– Lucky’s Dragon by Kelly Barnhill
– I Make Myself a Dragon poem by Beth Cato
– The Exile by JY Yang
– Except on Saturdays by Peter S. Beagle
– La Vitesse by Kelly Robson
– A Final Knight to her Love and Foe poem by Amal El-Mohtar
– The Long Walk by Kate Elliott
– Cut Me Another Quill, Mister Fitz by Garth Nix
– Hoard by Seanan McGuire
– The Worm of Lirr poem by C. S. E. Cooney
– The Last Hunt by Aliette de Bodard
– We Continue by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky
– Small Bird’s Plea by Todd McCaffrey
– The Dragons poem by Theodora Goss
– Dragon Slayer by Michael Swanwick
– Camouflage by Patricia A. McKillip
– We Don’t Talk About the Dragon by Sarah Gailey
– Maybe Just Go Up There and Talk to It by Scott Lynch
– A Nice Cuppa poem by Jane Yolen

Review: ‘The Old Dragon’s Head’, by Justin Newland

Blurb
Constructed of stone and packed earth, the Great Wall of 10,000 li protects China’s northern borders from the threat of Mongol incursion. The wall is also home to a supernatural beast: the Old Dragon. The Old Dragon’s Head is the most easterly point of the wall, where it finally meets the sea.
In every era, a Dragon Master is born. Endowed with the powers of Heaven, only he can summon the Old Dragon so long as he possess the dragon pearl.
It’s the year 1400, and neither the Old Dragon, the dragon pearl, nor the Dragon Master, has been seen for twenty years. Bolin, a young man working on the Old Dragon’s Head, suffers visions of ghosts. Folk believe he has yin-yang eyes and other paranormal gifts.When Bolin’s fief lord, the Prince of Yan, rebels against his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, a bitter war of succession ensues in which the Mongols hold the balance of power. While the victor might win the battle on earth, China’s Dragon Throne can only be earned with a Mandate from Heaven – and the support of the Old Dragon.
Bolin embarks on a journey of self-discovery, mirroring Old China’s endeavour to come of age. When Bolin accepts his destiny as the Dragon Master, Heaven sends a third coming of age – for humanity itself. But are any of them ready for what is rising in the east?

Buy Link

https://amzn.to/2XjoYQz