The Rage of Dragons Paperback – 7 Sept. 2017

Rage of Dragons is a book that follows well-trodden fantasy traditions, but does it in its own way. And it definitely works! I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to any fans of the genre. Nice.So, what is Rage of Dragons about? Well, yes, it does have dragons in it, but not as many as you might think. In fact, they’re positively scarce, albeit making something of an entrance at the most important moment. Anyway, enough about the dragons. This book is actually about a young man called Tau, and Tau lives a familiar life in fantasy circles. He is of a lower class background, destined to be little more than battle-fodder, but when he suffers a great loss, he sets out to change all that. He sets out to change the way of things, and boy does he do that. Let the action commence!There are lots of things to admire in this book, but one of the best things is the pace and quality of writing. It does seem to take a little while to get going, but once we’re in, we’re in. I genuinely found myself wanting to read onto the next chapter, such was the quality of setup. Perhaps not something I stayed up all night to finish, but certainly a book I was looking forward to picking up again.The second great thing was the world itself. Now, this was a familiar fantasy world in that it is full of class systems, the downtrodden, dragons, magic, and all that good stuff. But despite holding common themes, it was all wrapped up into something quite unique. The world definitely seemed different, even though it was familiar, and this added to the engaging read. Nice.And finally, there are some great political twists here too. This could easily become a bash-crash novel with a very focused objective, which may have left it somewhat flat. But it is not only that. There is a higher political agenda here, and Tau finds himself getting caught up in it, which ramps up the story. This is good for the tale.Contrary to all this is the start. I really don’t know what it was, but until about a quarter of the way through, I struggled a touch. There is certainly action and excitement up front - the epilogue is a battle scene - but for some reason I just didn’t quite get the point. It may have been because I was fighting the challenging terminology (see below), or it may have been something else, but I urge you to read on. This is a great book once it gets going.As mentioned above, there is some challenging terminology here. Fantasy naming can be a bit wild at times, and here it is probably less wild and may actually be quite well structured. The problem is that I couldn’t see the structure, and so there were a lot of similar words that I didn’t have a proper handle of until quite a way through the book. Yikes. It’s certainly possible to get on with only a passing understanding of the local language, but it might have been nice to have had a bit of an easier ride!And finally, the fighting. Overall the fighting was really excellent, and I enjoyed it very much. And it is certainly an important part of the book, given Tau’s journey. But on reflection, I do wonder whether some of it pushed just a little too far. I like the rise of an underdog as much as the next person, but this underdog was something quite else. I just fear that he may have stepped a little over the line of realism (noting of course that this is a fantasy novel!)Overall, I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who reads fantasy. If you are not keen on swordplay, then it might not be for you, but otherwise give it a go.

The rage of dragons is the third fantasy debut i have read this year so far and like the other two masters of sorrows and chorus of dragons, it's well written take on the hero's journey a coming of age tale familiar to any fantasy fan, however all three books deal it a twist and come at it with more modern gritty take though not full on grimdark and not to take away from the other two books that are excellent reads definitely worth checking out, but rage of dragons is by far my favourite and despite being only March could be my top or at least one of my top reads of the year.As to the plot Tau the son of a ordinary soldier finds his life ripped apart by tragedy seeking justice in a world where he belongs to a caste that is literally called lesser by those above them , the nobles who are gifted with magic and gifts that make them superhumanWorking his way into the military under a gifted commander and finding a new home and family among his comrades Tau has one goal to seek vengeance and become the greatest warrior his world has ever known, while unbeknownst to him his empire is under threat as sins of its past come back to haunt and the bill for its crimes is coming due just as its magic always thought to be invincible begins to fade.While the world is familiar enough castes, nobles magic and dragons all feature but with enough of a stamp by the author that they stand on there own while the author draws on African myths and history and myths and legends for inspiration i wouldn't say it’s that far removed from what you would be used to as a fantasy fan it's a lot of The same tropes just through a different cultural lens a different flavour then the normal European or occasional indian/eastern inspired fantasy but still very recognizable even if the titles and ranks ext were not familiar . I must salute the way the author uses dragons which is sparsely and for impact in this world Dragons are the magical equivalent of weapons of mass destruction destructive on a vast scale with numerous consequences both intended and unintended.The other difference and by the far the most distinctive and appealing aspect of the story is the protagonist Tau a son of a solder and a high class common a tragic incident makes him seek justice the only way a peasant/common can by becoming a member of the military and seeking revenge through blood duels the only legal recourse open to those not of noble lingeage, to do that he must become the greatest swordsman to ever walk. This is where in my opinion rage comes into its own because while Tau is driven to a near inhuman degree to reach his goal that's all he is he isn't the long lost son of a king, doesn't possess any great natural aptitude is smart but definitely no genius all he has is the willingness to work longer and harder then anyone else to sacrifice and endure more to get more and the author spreads that across the book makes the process of becoming special part of the journey rather then a throw away paragraph or two. in a fantasy world where they are literally chosen one's whose blood makes them bigger stronger and quicker then those they literally call lessers Tau is better simply because he wants it more with the willingness to put in the work it's almost unique in epic fantasy where being special is almost always down to who you are born or somehow being bestowed a gift. It's fresh exciting fantastically well paced and left me hungry for !more. If I had to compare it to someone then I think I would hark back to someone like David Gemmell, well developed characters some humor and a band of brothers albeit with modern senseablity and a more multicultural approach and while violent and gritty it's a long way from being depressing or overwhelming dark, for those newer to the fantasy scene Sebastian de castel greatcoat series would be another with a similar vibe as in telling a somewhat old fashioned tale but a bit gritter and with modern senseablities and a emphasis on the family you make yourself albeit in that authors case a far more European influenced fantasy series. I genuinely hope to be reading this author for many years to come.