amyjstar's review
4.0
I received this in a giveaway from goodreads, so decided to boost it up fairly high on my reading list. I'm so glad I did!
A thrilling read, it really got me sucked into the story. There's lots of action, gets you hooked from the first page.
I loved the majority of the characters (even the bad guys).
The narrator is a ghost, which I thought was fairly unusual, and made for an interesting point of view.
I can't wait for the sequel to come out.
A thrilling read, it really got me sucked into the story. There's lots of action, gets you hooked from the first page.
I loved the majority of the characters (even the bad guys).
The narrator is a ghost, which I thought was fairly unusual, and made for an interesting point of view.
I can't wait for the sequel to come out.
petra_reads's review
4.0
This was my first ever dragon book, it is also the first book in a four-part series called The Dragon Apocalypse. But it works perfectly fine as a standalone.
Told in first-person, the narrator isn't the protagonist, making this quite an original way of relaying the story. Stagger, the narrator, actually dies right at the start of the story. Following his long-term companion around in ghost-format, Stagger tells the story of Infidel, a super strong female mercenary, and his secret love interest.
I really enjoyed Stagger's perspective. He was funny and endearing although he had basically been a drunk and a scoundrel most of his life.
The plot itself is a fairly typical action-adventure quest featuring a group of incompatible rogues setting off to slay a powerful dragon, [b:Greatshadow|11511696|Greatshadow (Dragon Apocalypse, #1)|James Maxey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1323068557s/11511696.jpg|16447780], the dragon of fire. As I'm generally not a huge fan of fantasy epics, I appreciated that this was fast-paced action and entertainment rather than loads of dry world building. Characters were introduced with sufficient history and they, as well as the setting, were described thoroughly enough to make it easy to imagine the island, the dragons, the immortals, the orcs etc.
The rather mixed bunch of characters surrounding Infidel were all likeable and fun despite the expected tension within their group. I really enjoyed the "romantic" elements of Infidel's story as well although some of it was getting very close to being cheesy. Still, the arc about Stagger and Infidel's relationship, which neither of them had honestly and fully appreciated until Stagger wasn't alive anymore, was an interesting addition to all the sword wielding action. Overall, this was humorous, close to silly at times, but a lot more entertaining and fun than I had expected from my very first dragon fantasy book.
Being honest here, I wouldn't have sat down to read this in book-format. It's just not my thing. But listening to this was phenomenal and so much fun. Jake Urry brought the characters to life in a spectacular fashion. His dragon voices were scary, his portrayal of The Three Goons was wonderful, in particular No Face. I like how Jake makes female characters sound believable and not like cartoon-type characters. There was a large cast of characters involved, but it was always clear who was talking due to Jake Urry's differentiation and tones.
Told in first-person, the narrator isn't the protagonist, making this quite an original way of relaying the story. Stagger, the narrator, actually dies right at the start of the story. Following his long-term companion around in ghost-format, Stagger tells the story of Infidel, a super strong female mercenary, and his secret love interest.
I really enjoyed Stagger's perspective. He was funny and endearing although he had basically been a drunk and a scoundrel most of his life.
The plot itself is a fairly typical action-adventure quest featuring a group of incompatible rogues setting off to slay a powerful dragon, [b:Greatshadow|11511696|Greatshadow (Dragon Apocalypse, #1)|James Maxey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1323068557s/11511696.jpg|16447780], the dragon of fire. As I'm generally not a huge fan of fantasy epics, I appreciated that this was fast-paced action and entertainment rather than loads of dry world building. Characters were introduced with sufficient history and they, as well as the setting, were described thoroughly enough to make it easy to imagine the island, the dragons, the immortals, the orcs etc.
The rather mixed bunch of characters surrounding Infidel were all likeable and fun despite the expected tension within their group. I really enjoyed the "romantic" elements of Infidel's story as well although some of it was getting very close to being cheesy. Still, the arc about Stagger and Infidel's relationship, which neither of them had honestly and fully appreciated until Stagger wasn't alive anymore, was an interesting addition to all the sword wielding action. Overall, this was humorous, close to silly at times, but a lot more entertaining and fun than I had expected from my very first dragon fantasy book.
Being honest here, I wouldn't have sat down to read this in book-format. It's just not my thing. But listening to this was phenomenal and so much fun. Jake Urry brought the characters to life in a spectacular fashion. His dragon voices were scary, his portrayal of The Three Goons was wonderful, in particular No Face. I like how Jake makes female characters sound believable and not like cartoon-type characters. There was a large cast of characters involved, but it was always clear who was talking due to Jake Urry's differentiation and tones.
joesilverfox's review
4.0
In my search for new books at great prices. I found the Dragon Apocalypse collection on Kindle - 4 books at £0.99 what could go wrong? This is the first of the books - I separate them into individual books, because I don't like reading four books yet only getting one marked off on good reads, plus of course each book should be reviewed individually.
So, What do I think of this book? Excellent, fast moving and a fantastic fantasy.
The characters are really enjoyable. Infidel our heroine, Stagger who narrates this story, Relic, The Black Swan, Menagerie etc, all enjoyable characters. As an Atheist I also love how this book (like many great Sci Fi books) takes many elements of religion and shows them for what they are. (i.e fantasy).
Anyway, a very enjoyable and fast moving book of a quest. And I'm already deep into book two - Hush.
So, What do I think of this book? Excellent, fast moving and a fantastic fantasy.
The characters are really enjoyable. Infidel our heroine, Stagger who narrates this story, Relic, The Black Swan, Menagerie etc, all enjoyable characters. As an Atheist I also love how this book (like many great Sci Fi books) takes many elements of religion and shows them for what they are. (i.e fantasy).
Anyway, a very enjoyable and fast moving book of a quest. And I'm already deep into book two - Hush.
everydaymagic's review
3.0
I'm glad I made it past the opening, which seemed very slow and static, with the protagonist watching everything and doing nothing--it almost killed my interest. BUT...I give the author credit for trying something very hard and taking a huge risk with this opening, because while Stagger is the POV we're in, the protagonist of the story is really Infidel, his female companion.
The story starts as little more than a D&D type escapade, but eventually digs deeply into morality, theology, love, second chances, and more--all while keeping up a happy patter between the questing characters, and moving them along in their quest to kill the dragon. I really loved the interplay between the goons, and the goons and Aurora, and the fact that Aurora and Infidel, along with the Black Swan, are all very powerful women in their own rights. Still, there was much "male gazing" about (Stagger was a bit moony, IMO), and I didn't find that Stagger actually had much of a character arc. While it was nice to see him letting the more capable Infidel handle things, he did this straight through, from the start to the finish. Now, maybe there's more to come in Book 2, but Book 1 seemed a final product, so his change didn't seem substantial enough to satisfy me.
All that said, this was a fun book. Lots of jokes and ribald fun. Serious adventure fans will love this one! I want to give the story 3.5 stars, just for the character interplay (especially between Reeker and Menagerie), but I'm stuck with only whole stars.
The story starts as little more than a D&D type escapade, but eventually digs deeply into morality, theology, love, second chances, and more--all while keeping up a happy patter between the questing characters, and moving them along in their quest to kill the dragon. I really loved the interplay between the goons, and the goons and Aurora, and the fact that Aurora and Infidel, along with the Black Swan, are all very powerful women in their own rights. Still, there was much "male gazing" about (Stagger was a bit moony, IMO), and I didn't find that Stagger actually had much of a character arc. While it was nice to see him letting the more capable Infidel handle things, he did this straight through, from the start to the finish. Now, maybe there's more to come in Book 2, but Book 1 seemed a final product, so his change didn't seem substantial enough to satisfy me.
All that said, this was a fun book. Lots of jokes and ribald fun. Serious adventure fans will love this one! I want to give the story 3.5 stars, just for the character interplay (especially between Reeker and Menagerie), but I'm stuck with only whole stars.
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