sardonic_writer's review
1.0
Where to begin? This is the first two books in the series, which inexplicably managed to continue being published after the travesty that is The Search for the Red Dragon. I'll break this review into two parts, since the books vary wildly in quality.
Book 1: Here, There Be Dragons
An interesting premise that quickly becomes a very tropey, typical Chosen One fantasy adventure. James A. Owen doesn't give his characters any time to develop, and often refuses to trust that the reader will understand subtext. This results in a book that A) is constantly making allusions to fantasy classics and B) immediately points out and explains said allusions. This makes for somewhat of a mishmash in terms of tone, but it's not terrible. There are talking animals like in Narnia, a dragon that is reminiscent of Smaug (from The Hobbit), and the Arthurian myth features heavily.
There are at least a dozen paragraphs that end in attempts at dramatic lines which are either telegraphed sentences beforehand or are simply not very impressive. Overall, the book is weak, but in the hands of a better writer you can see how the story would have been fun. Having the three main characters be real people (J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams) is weird and seems to limit the options for growth. There is essentially one (1) woman in the book, which sucks. Things are constantly happening, so it's a quick read.
Book 2: The Search for the Red Dragon
After the first book, I was curious if the second would be an improvement, now that the world and main characters are set up. Instead the "novel" devolves into what can only be described as a ludicrously embarrassing series of literary references that attempts to tie J. M. Barrie and Peter Pan, the Pied Piper, the Greek myths of Daedalus, Orpheus, and Jason and the Argonauts, the Magic Mirror, explorer Sir Richard Burton, the Croatoan colony disappearance, Dante's Inferno, the fountain of youth (basically), and Plato's allegory of the cave into one cohesive narrative. There's also a cameo by AMELIA EARHART, who shows up via the Bermuda Triangle. Oh, and there's also an insane section where the characters wear red hoods so that a group of talking wolves will protect them from flying monkeys. This is never mentioned again.
Just like the first book, the climax of the story is completely unsatisfying and relies on multiple deus ex machinas. This book is so buffoonishly complicated: it involves characters traveling through time, a character pretending to be his own son who has taken his father's name (to redeem him? or something), a group of Europeans taking the place of a Native American tribe (kind of?) while still being referred to as "Indians", and the reveal that there's a secret society founded by Queen Elizabeth that is working against the main characters and has spies everywhere (this is then almost immediately forgotten by everyone, including me). There's also a part where it turns out that Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used magic cabinets to work as spies, and a different scene where the king's main workplace is revealed to be the Library of Alexandria. No, the context doesn't help much. This constant bombardment of references reminds you what classics you could be reading, and how much this pales in comparison.
There is still one (1) woman main character, though the small girl Laura Glue is added. There is a baffling romance subplot in which the C. S. Lewis character contemplates kidnapping the king's wife and missing son and bringing them back to England with him. The fact that none of these characters are developed enough to warrant any romance, let alone romantic tension, means that this thought is completely out of place. This is the second time in two books that I've been prepared for him to become a villain, and I'm starting to question how much Owen likes C. S. Lewis as a person.
I can only conclude that James A. Owen loves the things he's referencing greatly, and that he can't help himself every time he adds half a dozen more shout-outs into the book. After a certain point, however, the entire series begins to feel like the TV show Once Upon a Time, but with less cohesive characterization and a more convoluted plot. The fact that there are five (5) more books in this series lurking on this planet makes me physically ill. Passages in this book made me angry enough to contemplate tossing it in front of a PATH train so that no one else would have to read it. I'm starting to think that the person who donated it to my library did so in an attempt to pass this curse on to someone else, as if this book was the board game from Jumanji. If so, I guess they succeeded.
I cannot in good conscience recommend this "fantasy series" to anyone whose time I have a modicum of respect for.
Book 1: Here, There Be Dragons
An interesting premise that quickly becomes a very tropey, typical Chosen One fantasy adventure. James A. Owen doesn't give his characters any time to develop, and often refuses to trust that the reader will understand subtext. This results in a book that A) is constantly making allusions to fantasy classics and B) immediately points out and explains said allusions. This makes for somewhat of a mishmash in terms of tone, but it's not terrible. There are talking animals like in Narnia, a dragon that is reminiscent of Smaug (from The Hobbit), and the Arthurian myth features heavily.
There are at least a dozen paragraphs that end in attempts at dramatic lines which are either telegraphed sentences beforehand or are simply not very impressive. Overall, the book is weak, but in the hands of a better writer you can see how the story would have been fun. Having the three main characters be real people (J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams) is weird and seems to limit the options for growth. There is essentially one (1) woman in the book, which sucks. Things are constantly happening, so it's a quick read.
Book 2: The Search for the Red Dragon
After the first book, I was curious if the second would be an improvement, now that the world and main characters are set up. Instead the "novel" devolves into what can only be described as a ludicrously embarrassing series of literary references that attempts to tie J. M. Barrie and Peter Pan, the Pied Piper, the Greek myths of Daedalus, Orpheus, and Jason and the Argonauts, the Magic Mirror, explorer Sir Richard Burton, the Croatoan colony disappearance, Dante's Inferno, the fountain of youth (basically), and Plato's allegory of the cave into one cohesive narrative. There's also a cameo by AMELIA EARHART, who shows up via the Bermuda Triangle. Oh, and there's also an insane section where the characters wear red hoods so that a group of talking wolves will protect them from flying monkeys. This is never mentioned again.
Just like the first book, the climax of the story is completely unsatisfying and relies on multiple deus ex machinas. This book is so buffoonishly complicated: it involves characters traveling through time, a character pretending to be his own son who has taken his father's name (to redeem him? or something), a group of Europeans taking the place of a Native American tribe (kind of?) while still being referred to as "Indians", and the reveal that there's a secret society founded by Queen Elizabeth that is working against the main characters and has spies everywhere (this is then almost immediately forgotten by everyone, including me). There's also a part where it turns out that Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used magic cabinets to work as spies, and a different scene where the king's main workplace is revealed to be the Library of Alexandria. No, the context doesn't help much. This constant bombardment of references reminds you what classics you could be reading, and how much this pales in comparison.
There is still one (1) woman main character, though the small girl Laura Glue is added. There is a baffling romance subplot in which the C. S. Lewis character contemplates kidnapping the king's wife and missing son and bringing them back to England with him. The fact that none of these characters are developed enough to warrant any romance, let alone romantic tension, means that this thought is completely out of place. This is the second time in two books that I've been prepared for him to become a villain, and I'm starting to question how much Owen likes C. S. Lewis as a person.
I can only conclude that James A. Owen loves the things he's referencing greatly, and that he can't help himself every time he adds half a dozen more shout-outs into the book. After a certain point, however, the entire series begins to feel like the TV show Once Upon a Time, but with less cohesive characterization and a more convoluted plot. The fact that there are five (5) more books in this series lurking on this planet makes me physically ill. Passages in this book made me angry enough to contemplate tossing it in front of a PATH train so that no one else would have to read it. I'm starting to think that the person who donated it to my library did so in an attempt to pass this curse on to someone else, as if this book was the board game from Jumanji. If so, I guess they succeeded.
I cannot in good conscience recommend this "fantasy series" to anyone whose time I have a modicum of respect for.
hopesmash42's review
3.0
I will preface this by saying I actually only red the first book in this, Here There Be Dragons.
This book had a lot of promise. Usually I love stories that combine our world with fantasy. I also like stories that draw from myth and lore. This book definitely had those elements, but there was something lacking. It took me a while to put my finger on it but I think my main issue was lack of character development. There were a lot of characters introduced very quickly and there was no time provided to really get to know them. Charles is a perfect example of this, even by the end the only thing you really know is he's an Oxford scholar. It took me a while to get through this, which is also a bad sign. If I like a book I will devour it, and it took a lot of effort to want to read this. I will say that the last few chapters were quite good, by this point the author had found his stride. Unfortunately it just took a while to get there. I liked the overall storyline, but it didn't grab enough to want to read the other books in the series. As a one off it was fine, not sure where the sequels would take it. To sum up, I liked the concept, but the results were sadly underwhelming.
This book had a lot of promise. Usually I love stories that combine our world with fantasy. I also like stories that draw from myth and lore. This book definitely had those elements, but there was something lacking. It took me a while to put my finger on it but I think my main issue was lack of character development. There were a lot of characters introduced very quickly and there was no time provided to really get to know them. Charles is a perfect example of this, even by the end the only thing you really know is he's an Oxford scholar. It took me a while to get through this, which is also a bad sign. If I like a book I will devour it, and it took a lot of effort to want to read this. I will say that the last few chapters were quite good, by this point the author had found his stride. Unfortunately it just took a while to get there. I liked the overall storyline, but it didn't grab enough to want to read the other books in the series. As a one off it was fine, not sure where the sequels would take it. To sum up, I liked the concept, but the results were sadly underwhelming.
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