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A review by secre
No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished by Rachel Aaron
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Ok, I thought I was enjoying the series before. The third in the series blew both of the previous novels out the water and would easily make it onto my end of year best books list if I wasn't rather pedantic about using entire series or first in series.
I noted that One Good Dragon Deserves Another was a far more 'serious' fantasy novel than it's pre-decessor, which was light, fairly fluffy and honestly just good fun. That is true with No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished; there is still humour, but it's counter-balanced by a meaty plot, political shenanigans and dragons being... well, dragons from start to end. There's character development and world development in shades, shedding further light on this futuristic world.
There are a handful of new characters here - some of the higher echelon of Heartstriker clan dragons make an appearance and there are a couple of new human characters as well. And there is a huge amount of additional world-building, particularly in relation to the Heartstriker clan. For the first time, we see nearly all of the many Heartstriker dragons in one place... and the results are inevitably chaotic. But because of that, we get an insight into several aspects of how the Clan has been run for the thousands of years that Bethseda has been heading it, and it's absolutely marvellous.
But dragon politics aren't the only thing on offer here. Marci and Ghost are still key players and the way their bond shifts and develops is fascinating to read. And whilst much of the plot focuses on Julius's attempts to create a new type of dragon reign, one of democracy and speech rather than killing and eating, there are some interesting developments in the wider world that will have a serious bearing on how the future books unfold.
All in all, another fantastic book for this series. And I really look forward to continuing.
I noted that One Good Dragon Deserves Another was a far more 'serious' fantasy novel than it's pre-decessor, which was light, fairly fluffy and honestly just good fun. That is true with No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished; there is still humour, but it's counter-balanced by a meaty plot, political shenanigans and dragons being... well, dragons from start to end. There's character development and world development in shades, shedding further light on this futuristic world.
There are a handful of new characters here - some of the higher echelon of Heartstriker clan dragons make an appearance and there are a couple of new human characters as well. And there is a huge amount of additional world-building, particularly in relation to the Heartstriker clan. For the first time, we see nearly all of the many Heartstriker dragons in one place... and the results are inevitably chaotic. But because of that, we get an insight into several aspects of how the Clan has been run for the thousands of years that Bethseda has been heading it, and it's absolutely marvellous.
But dragon politics aren't the only thing on offer here. Marci and Ghost are still key players and the way their bond shifts and develops is fascinating to read. And whilst much of the plot focuses on Julius's attempts to create a new type of dragon reign, one of democracy and speech rather than killing and eating, there are some interesting developments in the wider world that will have a serious bearing on how the future books unfold.
All in all, another fantastic book for this series. And I really look forward to continuing.