Publishing Information:
Title ? Dragon Stones: Book One of the Dragon Stones Saga
Author ? Kristian Alva
Publisher ? Deviant Press
Date Published ? June 8, 2011
# of pages - 211
Genres & Themes: Fiction, Fantasy (High Fantasy), Young Adult, Adventure, Dragons, Magic, Empires and Kingdoms
Stats:
GoodReads ? 3 Ratings, 3.67 Average Rating
Amazon.com ? 0 Reviews
My Rating: 4/5
?
Plot Summary:
Sequestered deep in the capital, the tyrannical Emperor Vosper
weaves a plan to destroy all the dragons. He succeeds in driving them to the very
brink of extinction. Only a handful of dragons and riders remain; living in exile in
the desert.
?
When young Elias Dorgumir finds a carved dragon stone in the forest, it brings
empire soldiers to his doorstep, and puts Elias on the run with a bounty on his
head. With some help from his friends, Elias must escape the emperor?s wrath
and try to make it to the safety of the dwarf caverns. Elias holds the key to the
salvation of the dragon race. Is Elias strong enough to halt the evil that is
spreading across the land?
What I thought:
I had a lot of fun with this book. It's fantasy (not our own world) and has lots of adventure. It's also the kind of fantasy that I'm finding I like the best - an underdog who gains powers and is up against a pretty big opponent. In this case, Elias is also running away from his opponent because he really isn't good at using his powers yet. There's the thrill of wondering if he is going to get caught, and some pretty close calls too. So much fun!
The world created here feels a bit like the stereotypical high fantasy world with mages, dragons, dwarves, elves, etc. but the thing I liked about it was that it wasn't too complicated, as many fantasy worlds tend to be. The author introduces the world slowly and lets it build so that the reader (in this case, me) is able to enjoy the story and get to know the characters first. I did find I had a little trouble figuring out that the emperor and the king was not the same person, mostly because I just assume the two don't belong in the same country. However, after it finally dawned on me that the two were separate people, this made the story so much more interesting because then two leaders were trying to be the first to find Elias. Kind of like the underdog story had two underdogs which was of course better for me!
I am actually a little wishy washy about some of the characterization here though. First, I thought Elias' character spoke and was treated a little young for his age. I kept picturing him as an 11 or 12 year old even though he is supposed to be 16. On the other hand, I really loved Thorin the dwarf, and in general I could do without dwarves so this is saying a lot. I thought he was really great and made the story feel a little lighter when it could have felt too dark. There are quite a few times when Thorin really looks on the brighter side of things. He is also very bold at times and is a very kind character. I liked the dragons but I had a hard time getting used to them communicating with each other and with their riders. And I LOVED the necromancers but I didn't feel there were enough of them in the story. Nonetheless, even though I had issues with some of the characters I couldn't help but like them all and the contributions they made to the story.
Overall, I really liked this story and can't wait to see what happens next in book two. I give it a 4/5 because it was a great book that I was really excited about after reading it. I just wish I didn't have some of the issues that I did.
Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
Recommended to: Fantasy fans
Where you can purchase this book:
Amazon.com (paperback)
Amazon.com (Kindle)?
Smashwords (free for a limited time!)
Add this book to your tbr list:
Visit the? Dragon Stones? Goodreads page.
Source: http://100starsorless.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-dragon-stones-by-kristian.html
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