Monday, June 13, 2016

The Dragon Round by Stephen S. Power

He needs to get his shipment in to collect his payment.  The men want to salvage the dragon they just fought.  When he says no, they mutiny.  They give him a dingy with no sail, no oars and no food and water and set him adrift.  Right before he's sent off the ship, the apothecary speaks against the mutiny.  She also finds herself in the dingy being abandoned.  Where can they go that will help them get home?  If they can't do that, they at least need somewhere that has food, shelter and fresh water.  All they can see is the sea...

Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published July 19th.

They get caught in a storm and thrown up on a beach.  When he wakes up, he's not sure where she is or if she drowned.  What he discovers is that there are crabs on the beach and they're food!  As he explores the island looking for water, he finds a huge dragon.  Luckily it's dead.  He imagines how much wealth he could amass by salvaging the beast.  At the moment, he needs to evade the blue crabs that would be happy to eat him.

He makes himself a shelter and some tools and continues to wander the island.  He runs into the "poth" and they hunt together.  Eventually they stay together but there's no romance.  When she drags him up the mountainside to see what they can see up top, she explores the odd bumps that are built up.  She thinks they might have been foundations.  She unexpectedly finds a couple of dragon eggs in one and they are hatching.

This is the first sign of how dark this story is going to be.  One dragon kills the other one and they let it.  From the time he sees the baby dragon, he comes up with plan to get justice.  Unfortunately, justice isn't available, so he focuses on revenge.  The body count will be high before the end of the story.

It's a bit too dark for me.  I don't mind dangers or death in a story but this seemed a bit excessive.  Of course, I like happier endings so maybe it's just me.  Why don't you give it a read and give me your opinion?

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