Sarah K.L. Wilson's Dragon School: Episodes 1-5

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So, I've kind of got a confession to make. I've got like a huge backlog of stuff that people sent me to review and I errr...

Read something else.

But it was, like, really good, so I thought I'd force all of my fans (LAWL) to read my thoughts on it because awesome. Or sumfin'.

And I know some people don't like young adult fiction, but I truly feel sad for those people and think they should broaden their horizons. Sure, the teenage years were rough for some of us (and believe me, I was a geek with acne, I would know) but that shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of a perfectly good story. Especially one that's awesome dipped in awesome sauce on a stick.

So what is this gem that I'm up past my bedtime to share with all of you? (Seriously, I get up for work at 5 AM and it's 11 PM here.)

It's Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 by Sarah K.L. Wilson.  It's the story of a young girl with something to prove. It's the story of overcoming a common birth and a disability to achieve her goals. I'm not sure if it's a story of incredible courage, or a case of having more guts than brains, but she's definitely no coward. It's action packed, non-stop and I already downloaded the second omnibus. I stopped reading it to let you all know about this series though, because you need to read it.

When I first downloaded Dragon School, I thought it was going to be a massive omnibus. It is massively entertaining, but it's not all that long. I can see why she packages them five episodes at a time because the five of them were about the length of an average novel at three hundred ninety-one pages on Kindle. (Yes, I know all of the cool kids do word count but I'm a geek. Not just that, I'm a LAZY geek. I'm not counting all of those words.) The next one is slightly longer at four hundred and one. The five episodes serving is just about right.

I swore I wasn't going to rant about not getting anything done on my day off because I had my nose buried in Dragon School all day so I won't. After all, it's not like I really need clean clothes or groceries. I'll be just fine without them. I did take time out to make my last steak tonight and I think I've got some Ramen around here somewhere...

Good authors are evil. Wilson is practically Skeletor mixed with Darth Vader.

Or sumfin'

Our heroine is one Amel Leafbrought. She is a commoner in a fuedal society. She has a problem with her leg and can't walk without a crutch or at a normal pace. (I'm not sure what the exact nature of the leg problem is, other than that it hurts and it won't hold weight. As a gout sufferer I can relate.) She passes some tests and wins the right to choose a dragon. (that's not a spoiler, it's in the first chapter.) The she picks one, gets inducted into Dragon School and chaos ensues.

I'm not really the superstitious type, but you'd almost think there was some malevolent force out there intentionally waiting for her to join Dragon School before allowing the world to blow up. Like, oh, I dunno...

An author or something?

They tend to do that, I suppose.

At any rate, Amel is the kind of girl who doesn't have a bit of backup in her. Seriously, this is the girl you want to go to war with. She's smart, tought and indomitable. I like this girl. I teach my daughters to be “Strong, Proud, Smart, Tough, and Brave.” Amel is all of the above. I like this girl. I respect this girl. Hell, I admire this girl. I'd really like to see my oldest read this (it might be a little tough for my nine year old) but good luck with that. She's into romance and not the good stuff. Poor kid.

Oh, and I've never seen a character quite so loyal to her friends. Amel is a girl that would go through a fire to save someone she cared about with gasoline drawers on and not worry about what would happen until after they were safe. What a girl.

I really like the dragons in Dragon School. For an old school Dungeons and Dragons they take a bit of getting used to (Chomatic Dragons that are good guys are weird for some of us) but once you wrap your brain around the fact that you're in a different universe they're awesome. Seriously, one of my least favorite things about both the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and  Harry Turtledove's  Darkness series is that they get dragons wrong. Dragons are meant to be huge and fearsome, yes, but also of at least human intelligence.

Wilson gets it right.

Her dragons are smart and lively as well as flat out deadly. They may have a bit of a temper at times, but they are predators with lots of natural weapons, so that seems only natural. They're also good friends and allies – or at least some of them are. Others I haven't seen so much about and there are hints of tension within the ranks of the dragons, most of which are wild.

I'm hoping that'll show up in future volumes. I'm kind of guessing that it will, actually.

The political scheming is intense. For a commoner girl, Amel sure does get caught up in a whole bunch of stuff above her station. I don't want to get too spoilery, but trust me she gets to know some seriously important people. I'm wondering if she doesn't end up with some kind of minor title herself at some point. I guess I'll just have to keep reading. For some reason, that doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

Listen, there are a lot of other characters I'd like to talk about but honestly, it's almost midnight now. I need to be up soon and I totally want to get through a few chapters of  Episode Six now. Hie thee off to Amazon for Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 while I hie me off to sleep. And seriously, get the omnibus editions. The individual episodes are pretty short and you won't have to go through the frustration of interrupting your reading for multiple downloads.

Bottom Line
: 5.0 out of 5 Sets of Leathers
Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 (Dragon School Omnibus Book 1)
Sarah K.L. Wilson
Self Published, 2019

Dragon School: Episodes 1-5 (Dragon School Omnibus Book 1) is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and they buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Richard Hummel's Radioactive Evolution

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I like mashups. They make me happy. So, say, if someone were to cross some LitRPG with a bit of Post Apocalyptic Fiction and maybe toss in a medical technology angle, I think I'd probably enjoy that. Uhh..

Wait...

Richard Hummel already did that.

Radioactive Evolution is a successful mix of all of the above. I really enjoyed this one. And for more than one reason.

I'm a fan of zombie fiction (and I've got a review coming as part of my Memorial Day event that is exactly that) but sometimes I think that modern day authors have forgotten that it's possible to do PA Fic without zombies. I'm glad to note that Richard Hummel remembers.

The Earth of Radioactive Evolution is not a friendly place, even if Jared, our main character, is a pretty friendly dude when he can be. The fact remains that most of humanity lives in the ruins of what went before. Radiation is so pervasive that humans that live on the surface have to have regular boosters of nannites in order to protect themselves from the radiation. The good news here is that they energy provided by the nannites powers their bodies and they have no need for food as long as they're someplace with a high radiation count. I'd hate to be an unaugmented human there, but as long as a person gets the nannites they need, they're okay. Of course, it's not always easy to get the boosters...

So yeah, conflict happens and the people on the surface suffer. They people of the Cities, which are in the sky, appear to be much better off. People on the ground resent them, even though they're the ones who make the boosters. So far, we don't know much about the people of the Cities and they're kind of cardboard cutouts, but this is the first book in a series and I'm thinking that Hummel didn't want to give up all of his secrets in the initial volume. That makes sense. Keeping some things to reveal later is how an author keeps his readers interested. I approve.

Part of what really kept me in this book is the LitRPG angle. Players of just about any MMORPG will recognize the process of improving a character and gradually becoming immune to what were once deadly threats. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a Young Kodiak in the West Commons or a Gorilla in Stranglethorn Vale, at some point the deadly threat becomes chump change. That happens here. Radioactive Evolution is a story of survival. It is a story of character progression and accepting responsibility.

It is also, however, a story of RPG style progression and building a character through fighting and gaining experience. The book refers to the process as absorbing and assigning nannites, but that's basically how it works. I like the method of progression too. If you played World of Warcraft during Vanilla or Burning Crusade and can read Radioactive Evolution and not scream "OH MY GOD TALENT TREE" at least once you're either superhuman or not paying attention. New abilities get added as Jared and Scarlet level up. And get this: It's not an artifact that gets taken away at the end of the expansion either.

*SIGH*

Nope. Not bitter. Why are you asking?

I don't really like to do spoilers, but if I don't mention that Jared finds himself a dragon to bond with early in the story then I'm not doing my job here. Scarlet is just too much a part of the story to leave out of a review. She's more intelligent than a human. She can evolve using nannites as well and she does... a lot. She has this weird function, where she's the carrier of ancient lore, but also doesn't know much about humanity. She's Spock mixed with Kess, with a side of Worf and maybe just a touch of Odo.  (If you're not a Star Trek fan you don't get that. I feel bad for you.)

Fans of the Post Apocalyptic genre will be familiar with the Mad Max type thing where what's left of the world consists of only one type of environment. I'm happy to say that's not the case here. We see cityscapes, wilderness, military compounds, flight and even underground tunnels. There's a lot of variety in places and things. Jared and Scarlet are constantly moving and experiencing different things and different threats. The threats are great, but so are the rewards.

And there are most definitely threats. If you feel safe at just about any point in this story, you're not paying attention. Even some of the things that shouldn't be dangerous are. Jared and Scarlet can run. They can hide. They can fight. The one thing it never makes sense to do is relax. Something is always out there. Something is always watching. In the world of Radioactive Evolution, getting lazy means taking unnecessary risks.

It's fun to watch the two grow together too. They start off not knowing much about each other. They start off not knowing much about each others' species. By the end of the book, they're very much friends and, while they still don't understand each other perfectly, they're getting figuring things out between them. They're learning to relate to others better as well.  I can't wait to see how close they get in the future.

And there will be a future. Or, maybe it's closer to the truth to say there already IS a future. The next book is already out and, while I'm not real sure if I like the fact that the titles are so close together (I recently received a link to the book. It's called Radioactive Revolution and when I first looked at it, I thought it was the same book) I really am excited to read it. There is a lot of story left to be told. I'm guessing there will be more than one sequel, but I haven't read the new one yet so I can't say for sure.

Seriously folks, this one is worth your time and money (Although Kindle Unlimited users can get it for free as part of your subscription). I'd definitely encourage you all to check it out.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Nannite Boosters

Radioactive Evolution
Richard Hummel
Hummel Books, 2018

Radioactive Evolution is available for purchase at the following link:

Cedar Sanderson's Trickster Noir

(I don't usually do this but I'm going to mention something the author told me when she sent me this book for review. Apparently, there have been a few men who have read this story and thought that it hit a little too close to home. The recovery of Lom, our hero, from a horrific injury is a central plot element to the story. He starts the book off in a very bad way and reading the book was uncomfortable for a few men who had suffered long periods of sickness. I'll get to my thoughts in a few seconds, but I can see why she warned me. Go forth and read it, but don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and I know I don't usually do spoilers but when the author warns you about reading her book, it's only right to share.Oh, and she brings it up on like page two, so it's not like I killed the ending here.)

Trickster Noir, by Cedar Sanderson is the second in the first series ever to make me feel bad. Seriously. See, the first book in the series is named Pixie Noir, and while it does indeed kick ass (and may be given its own review someday) it's named Pixie Noir. I don't usually do a whole lot with pixies because that's what I have daughters for. I was turned off by the title. Fortunately for me though, I heard enough good things about it and picked up a copy. Trickster Noir is a worthy sequel. It takes up right after the ending of the first one and continues rocking along.

The book is equal parts badassery, political intrigue done faerie style and family bonding time. Oh and there's a bit of a love story but fortunately, from my point of view at least, it's not overdone. Lom and his bride-to-be Bella (no not THAT Bella, thank God) are very clearly in love but this is a story about more than just that. Sanderson moves things along between them while keeping the story going in it's other respects in a manner similar to the one that Catherine Asaro uses in her Saga of Skolian Empire. It's a technique I very much admire.

This one has a few genuine surprises in it. I enjoyed that. I've studied the art of writing (while completing exactly nothing) for quite awhile now and I usually either see something coming from a mile away or feel completely blindsided because it wasn't foreshadowed at all. Sanderson manages to strike the right balance though and in one particular case, I was floored for a good five seconds before I like... got it. So good job for her there.

Watching Lom struggle is a bit painful at first, but I think it needs to be. He is recovering from an injury that left him nearly lifeless and without his magic, a horrible thing to a faerie. At the beginning of the book he can barely lift his head. The thing is, he's a sympathetic character instead of simply a pitiful one. Sanderson makes it clear that Lom wants to get better and get back to doing his thing instead of sitting around soaking up the sympathy of others. It's impressive.

The action scenes are impressive. Remind me never to piss Sanderson off, because she seems to have enough of a knowledge of weaponry and tactics to totally ruin not just my day, but the day of everyone I know. Bella knows her way around weaponry and so does the extended family. She is a bit more protective than she probably should be, but it's her first time leading troops in battle. She's a decent tactician though and she's got good help. It probably doesn't hurt matters that she's got an entire library stored in her skull and more magical ability than has been seen in any one individual basically ever. Bella is a female protagonist in my favorite mold: strong, proud, smart, tough and brave. She's also caring and compassionate if that's what you're into.

My one complaint about the book, and maybe I'm just whining here, is that the characters in it spend so much time eating that it starts to become a distraction to the story. It sounds weird typing it, but I've never seen a series of books with as many meals in it as this one tome. It seems like every chapter ends with a meal. Don't take me wrong. I love food as much as the next guy but damn. I hear Sanderson is herself a good cook, and she writes a column called "Eat This While You Read That" (the latest, as of when I wrote this post, is here) and is apparently a very good cook but there is such a thing as taking it too far. It's not the worst transgression in the world, especially given that eating helps recovery after using too much magic, but it could be toned way down without detracting from the story. Overall though, this one is definitely worth your time and money. You can buy it by clicking the link below.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Faerie Wings.

Trickster Noir
Cedar Sanderson
Stonycroft Publishing, 2014




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