wisecraic's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
clumsypenguin's review against another edition
1.0
While it had an interesting premise and promising world, this book didn't deliver on any of it and pretty quickly collapsed in on itself by the end.
Our protagonist, Cole Brannigan, has nearly zero flaws. He always comes up with the best solution for any problem, and even when he does face some minor setback or consequence for his actions he comes out the other end completely fine (if not in a better place than he was, to begin with). His character is virtually the same at the beginning as it is by the end; at the start, he's a super brave, strong, hard-working, tough guy, and, by the end, he's still all of that except that he also kinda knows how to fight dragons. Nothing substantial really changes for Cole, and that's because nothing really needs to! His only arguable flaw is that he can't fight a dragon, so he learns how to fight one and the book leaves at that in terms of character growth. He's already as brave and tough as he needs to be, so nothing really happens that tests his courage or shakes his beliefs. Any opinion he has on anything is always correct in the end, and even any possible area where he might have to think a bit more critically about his own priorities, the bad thing just ends up being so unequivocally bad that any potential for a moral dilemma is taken off the table. Whenever Cole breaks the rules to bravely save the day, he never sees any lasting consequences. All physical injuries are healed right after with dragon blood, so those don't matter (and it even leaves him physically stronger so if anything it's a reward), and any other social consequence just goes away. Cole gets suspended for a week, and then breaks that suspension to fight another dragon, is knocked unconscious for a week so he serves his time without even knowing it, and, for whatever reason, is never punished further for breaking his suspension so he gets off scot-free. In another part, he abandons his teammates and subsequently loses their trust... until enough time passes that they all just inexplicably decide to forgive and forget what he did. Cole's presence just turns this entire story into a huge power fantasy where he singlehandedly saves the day and everybody loves him.
Speaking of, the entire rest of this cast felt super forgettable. The majority of the side characters are women, which on face value is awesome; especially seeing as a couple of them are a part of the dragon-fighting Smoke Eater force themselves. However, a good majority of them don't get much development as characters, and Cole just ends up perving on all of them anyway. Cole's wife only shows up to complain to Cole, have sex with him, or be in danger so Cole can save her. It seems like every woman Cole encounters wants to mess around with him or look at his dick, and whenever Cole isn't perving on them in return, he's mentioning other women he's checked out (unless they're 50 pounds heavier than he'd like and lesbian, according to Cole himself of course). The only female character in this book that he doesn't make some sexual comment about is Cheryl, and that's because she's a teenager and he's already started viewing her as his daughter. It's just Cole's world and we're all living in it.
The actual plot itself is pretty lackluster. The fight and action scenes are alright, but any tension from them is lessened due to the fact that Cole just saves the day every time. We hear a lot about this post-apocalyptic dragon-infested world, but we're never really shown any of it. The majority of the book takes place in one city; there's no grander scope to the story which feels unsatisfying given that the Smoke Eaters are a nationwide organization. As mentioned earlier, Cole doesn't face any major obstacle that leaves him with any serious consequences, so the book just turned into a bunch of scenes where Cole goes around making the right choices before moving on to the next. The antagonist is given nearly zero depth, and the way the book ends doesn't even feel satisfying.
A disappointing story all around, and it really does suck because the premise was so promising! At the very least, I was able to appreciate that this book put the spotlight on the firefighters and the heroic deeds they do, but I could've done that without having to read this awful book. Also multiple points in this book feature Cole pissing or mention Cole pissing... that isn't a serious critique of the book so much as it is something weird that I felt worth noting.
Our protagonist, Cole Brannigan, has nearly zero flaws. He always comes up with the best solution for any problem, and even when he does face some minor setback or consequence for his actions he comes out the other end completely fine (if not in a better place than he was, to begin with). His character is virtually the same at the beginning as it is by the end; at the start, he's a super brave, strong, hard-working, tough guy, and, by the end, he's still all of that except that he also kinda knows how to fight dragons. Nothing substantial really changes for Cole, and that's because nothing really needs to! His only arguable flaw is that he can't fight a dragon, so he learns how to fight one and the book leaves at that in terms of character growth. He's already as brave and tough as he needs to be, so nothing really happens that tests his courage or shakes his beliefs. Any opinion he has on anything is always correct in the end, and even any possible area where he might have to think a bit more critically about his own priorities
Spoiler
(I'm specifically talking about Canada here)Spoiler
(Which also, why was he given leadership of the Smoke Eaters at the end? I get that he saved the day, but we're only introduced to 3 other smokies in name. What about the entire rest of the organization? While the book mentions that the entire force is pretty sparse, we still see other smokies fighting alongside our main cast, and they have no reason to want Cole to be the commander seeing as the majority of them have only fought with him once.)Speaking of, the entire rest of this cast felt super forgettable. The majority of the side characters are women, which on face value is awesome; especially seeing as a couple of them are a part of the dragon-fighting Smoke Eater force themselves. However, a good majority of them don't get much development as characters, and Cole just ends up perving on all of them anyway. Cole's wife only shows up to complain to Cole, have sex with him, or be in danger so Cole can save her. It seems like every woman Cole encounters wants to mess around with him or look at his dick, and whenever Cole isn't perving on them in return, he's mentioning other women he's checked out (unless they're 50 pounds heavier than he'd like and lesbian, according to Cole himself of course). The only female character in this book that he doesn't make some sexual comment about is Cheryl, and that's because she's a teenager and he's already started viewing her as his daughter. It's just Cole's world and we're all living in it.
The actual plot itself is pretty lackluster. The fight and action scenes are alright, but any tension from them is lessened due to the fact that Cole just saves the day every time. We hear a lot about this post-apocalyptic dragon-infested world, but we're never really shown any of it. The majority of the book takes place in one city; there's no grander scope to the story which feels unsatisfying given that the Smoke Eaters are a nationwide organization. As mentioned earlier, Cole doesn't face any major obstacle that leaves him with any serious consequences, so the book just turned into a bunch of scenes where Cole goes around making the right choices before moving on to the next. The antagonist is given nearly zero depth, and the way the book ends doesn't even feel satisfying.
A disappointing story all around, and it really does suck because the premise was so promising! At the very least, I was able to appreciate that this book put the spotlight on the firefighters and the heroic deeds they do, but I could've done that without having to read this awful book. Also multiple points in this book feature Cole pissing or mention Cole pissing... that isn't a serious critique of the book so much as it is something weird that I felt worth noting.
its_riana's review against another edition
2.0
*2.25
I couldn’t vibe with this book. Believe me, I tried, but I felt the storyline was very slow and I personally didn’t like any of the characters.
I’m disappointed I didn’t like this because I was really intrigued by the premise of the story. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.
I couldn’t vibe with this book. Believe me, I tried, but I felt the storyline was very slow and I personally didn’t like any of the characters.
I’m disappointed I didn’t like this because I was really intrigued by the premise of the story. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.
rachelini's review against another edition
1.0
This book was not for me. It was set in the future, but the characters' attitudes felt 20 years ago. And it referenced music from the 60s. Why?? I was initially excited because the main character was 60 and starting as the newbie, which was a nice change. But he was a ridiculous character - so much better than everyone else at everyone, with all the women falling over him. And the women were terribly written.
mactammonty's review against another edition
3.0
Dragons, firefighters and more dragons. Just what the doctor ordered for a long drive.
I enjoyed this twist on the traditional dragon story. The main character's age, personal life a crankiness all gave it a new edge.
The imperfect ending was a nice touch.
I enjoyed this twist on the traditional dragon story. The main character's age, personal life a crankiness all gave it a new edge.
The imperfect ending was a nice touch.
trike's review
1.0
I was excited to read a firefighters versus dragons story. Sadly I got this.
Authors really need to take a course in worldbuilding, or at least read history. Or maybe just, you know, look around. As in [b:Hell Divers|28464896|Hell Divers (Hell Divers #1)|Nicholas Sansbury Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464204914l/28464896._SX50_.jpg|48603006], this world makes no sense. (My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3484514449)
The setup here is just like the movie Reign of Fire, where dragons have returned and they lay waste to the planet. Except here, despite civilization collapsing and most everything burned to a crisp, life just carries on as normal. Grigsby goes out of his way to talk about how countries have collapsed (except Canada) and the USA is really just a collection of city-states. So how do they have holographic iPads, and robot dogs, and hover cars, and androids taking over everyone’s jobs? You need infrastructure for that, a massive, global economy in order to manufacture this stuff. If the ubiquitous dragons are attracted to electricity, how are there factories? How are there suburbs? How do they transport stuff? How do androids not get eaten?
None of it makes any sense.
I don’t mean in the, “Oh, it’s a fantasy world so natural law doesn’t matter” way, but in the Violates Internal Consistency way. Dragons like to wreck electric things. Look around: 90% of our world is coursing with electricity. Based on the setup, a walkie talkie to dragons should be like blood in the water for sharks. Nope, we just live the way we usually do, connecting to the Internet (server farms use gobs of electricity, donchaknow), watching TV, yadda yadda.
I guess the electricity thing was because the climax relies on ghosts. Yes, ghosts. Weaponized ghosts. Who use electricity to move around, or something. A little bit of Ghostbusters, a pinch of Poltergeist, a soupçon of Gremlins, with a dusting of The Frighteners and away we go. All of which would be fine if the core story worked or the world made a lick of sense.
Which is a shame, because it’s a fun idea. And there are other bits which are interesting, such as the notion that dragons are like cicadas, except instead of coming to the surface every 17 years, they come up every 1700 years. If he had just told THAT story and used any number of monster movies as a template, like Tremors or Them or Day of the Triffids or The Birds, this would’ve been great fun.
Instead we get this weird “I want to have my cake and eat it too” scenario with sci-fi, horror and fantasy elements mixed together willynilly.
The one thing that did ring true to me was the firefighter aspect. I dated a firefighter once upon a time and she and all of her coworkers were just like the main character. These guys were full of bravado and bullshit, constantly fighting and roughhousing and cheating on their spouses. (After successfully battling a blaze, the adrenaline and supposed “cheating death” got them hopped up into a state they called a “fire hard-on”. That’s why they were banging each other constantly. Doesn’t make for stable relationships. Weirdly, few of them got divorces, but almost all of the ones I met were cheating.) I was always struck by the dichotomy of them: I wouldn’t choose to hang out with any of them, yet when you were in trouble they were the first ones there trying to save your life.
So Brannigan’s swagger and his belief that he was larger than life and could do no wrong, all sounds true to me. Naturally, that makes him an insufferable main character, because he’s written as god’s gift to mankind who can do no wrong, but that is exactly the sort of temperament I saw in those guys I met back in the day. As a protagonist it becomes tiresome.
Authors really need to take a course in worldbuilding, or at least read history. Or maybe just, you know, look around. As in [b:Hell Divers|28464896|Hell Divers (Hell Divers #1)|Nicholas Sansbury Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464204914l/28464896._SX50_.jpg|48603006], this world makes no sense. (My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3484514449)
The setup here is just like the movie Reign of Fire, where dragons have returned and they lay waste to the planet. Except here, despite civilization collapsing and most everything burned to a crisp, life just carries on as normal. Grigsby goes out of his way to talk about how countries have collapsed (except Canada) and the USA is really just a collection of city-states. So how do they have holographic iPads, and robot dogs, and hover cars, and androids taking over everyone’s jobs? You need infrastructure for that, a massive, global economy in order to manufacture this stuff. If the ubiquitous dragons are attracted to electricity, how are there factories? How are there suburbs? How do they transport stuff? How do androids not get eaten?
None of it makes any sense.
I don’t mean in the, “Oh, it’s a fantasy world so natural law doesn’t matter” way, but in the Violates Internal Consistency way. Dragons like to wreck electric things. Look around: 90% of our world is coursing with electricity. Based on the setup, a walkie talkie to dragons should be like blood in the water for sharks. Nope, we just live the way we usually do, connecting to the Internet (server farms use gobs of electricity, donchaknow), watching TV, yadda yadda.
I guess the electricity thing was because the climax relies on ghosts. Yes, ghosts. Weaponized ghosts. Who use electricity to move around, or something. A little bit of Ghostbusters, a pinch of Poltergeist, a soupçon of Gremlins, with a dusting of The Frighteners and away we go. All of which would be fine if the core story worked or the world made a lick of sense.
Which is a shame, because it’s a fun idea. And there are other bits which are interesting, such as the notion that dragons are like cicadas, except instead of coming to the surface every 17 years, they come up every 1700 years. If he had just told THAT story and used any number of monster movies as a template, like Tremors or Them or Day of the Triffids or The Birds, this would’ve been great fun.
Instead we get this weird “I want to have my cake and eat it too” scenario with sci-fi, horror and fantasy elements mixed together willynilly.
The one thing that did ring true to me was the firefighter aspect. I dated a firefighter once upon a time and she and all of her coworkers were just like the main character. These guys were full of bravado and bullshit, constantly fighting and roughhousing and cheating on their spouses. (After successfully battling a blaze, the adrenaline and supposed “cheating death” got them hopped up into a state they called a “fire hard-on”. That’s why they were banging each other constantly. Doesn’t make for stable relationships. Weirdly, few of them got divorces, but almost all of the ones I met were cheating.) I was always struck by the dichotomy of them: I wouldn’t choose to hang out with any of them, yet when you were in trouble they were the first ones there trying to save your life.
So Brannigan’s swagger and his belief that he was larger than life and could do no wrong, all sounds true to me. Naturally, that makes him an insufferable main character, because he’s written as god’s gift to mankind who can do no wrong, but that is exactly the sort of temperament I saw in those guys I met back in the day. As a protagonist it becomes tiresome.
timberwolf's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lyndiane's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I was intrigued with the premise of the story, which is set in a post-apocalyptic draconis environment (it's the dragons whot dunnit).
The story is sufficiently captivating that I only stopped reading at 03h20 this morning, Why only 3.5 stars, then? Some of the gory bits were a wee bit bit over the top, and the last 20% of the story felt rushed, as if the author was in a hurry to meet his deadline.
I was intrigued with the premise of the story, which is set in a post-apocalyptic draconis environment (it's the dragons whot dunnit).
The story is sufficiently captivating that I only stopped reading at 03h20 this morning, Why only 3.5 stars, then? Some of the gory bits were a wee bit bit over the top, and the last 20% of the story felt rushed, as if the author was in a hurry to meet his deadline.
zoe_1701's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
oswallt's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I do. The concept is awesome and the action was fun, but unanswered questions and abrupt shifts in random directions kept pulling me out of the story. If you're less prone to falling into plot holes than I am, I still recommend the book.