Review - Sparrowind: The Dragon Who Lived As A Knight, (c) 2014 by R. K. Modena

[jordan179]

"Review:

Sparrowind:  The Dragon Who Lived As A Knight

© 2014

by R. K. Modena"

© 2014

by Jordan S. Bassior

Available for $1.01 on Lulu and as an iBook for $0.99.This 11,000-word novelette is the coming of age story of Sparrowind, a young Dragon.  Sparrowind is small -- about the size of a rhino ("two draft horses" is his self-description)

Comments

[anonymous]

Yay, generic fantasyland!
Geomancer, on the other hand, sets itself apart from generic fantasylands within the first page.

Why is human capitalized? And what do dragons hunt that requires them to be the size of a mammoth? Terror birds?

[jordan179]

Yay, generic fantasyland!

Somewhat, in this little section of it. But there are hints in the story of deeper things. This is just one novelette about a whole world.

Geomancer, on the other hand, sets itself apart from generic fantasylands within the first page.

So does this, in that it's plainly about a sympathetic dragon.

Why is human capitalized?

Proper noun in this case, because there are multiple sapient races on the planet.

And what do dragons hunt that requires them to be the size of a mammoth?

Apparently, medium to large-sized ungulates.

Terror birds?

No, and why would you assume that "terror birds" were absurdly massive by prey standards? They were tall, but numerous real animals which were around for the Sixth Mass Extinction were far more massive.

[anonymous]

Wolves can take down a medium sized ungulate. As can great cats. And bears.

In fact, a sapient animal shouldn't have any trouble with prey much larger than itself.

A friendly dragon who is unique amongst unfriendly dragons because he doesn't fit into their society. Yay. Still a generic fantasyland.

It's not capitalized in the Three Worlds Cycle or

Dunno, they're just the first big thing I thought of, other than mammoth. Replace with paraceratheria or triceratops if you desire.

[jordan179]

I have no idea from the glimpse of this world shown in the novelette whether or not there are super-sized herbivores on which the Dragons prey. There might very well be. There is no actual evolutionary requirement that carnivores be smaller than their prey; some carnivores prey on large numbers of smaller prey (extreme examples, anteaters and baleen whales), or can go into torpor between meals and thus conserve energy. Smart carnivores may well have wiped out their original prey species and gone into other lines of predation.

There is a mention of sheep. Dragons, being airmobile, could prey on herds of much smaller and stupider ungulates by flying over, killing one, devouring it, then repeating until satiated. They could do so so effectively that the real ecological question would become what checks them from wiping out their prey species. I suspect that Dragons have very large territories.

[cutelildrow]

Having based the Dragons of this world after the more successful predators on earth, they're actually no different than other predator species in ratio of predator-prey - and yes, they have territories - something that will pose a problem for them later on, as I've discussed with you.

Note that while I described them going after herd animals, they are just as capable of going after other predators, bar the exceptions I wrote in. As I noted in the story (and no, I'm not giving out those specific spoilers because it's reveals too much of the mindset of Dragons as a culture, and if he wants to know what that is, stalker creep's not getting the freebie without paying for the book!) there are certain groups of creatures the Dragons don't prey on, which is part and parcel of Dragon morality. One of Sparrowind's challenges specifically deals with how he reconciles his native race's morals with the Humans' - especially given how Humans and Dragons, up to this point, interact. This is a very big part of the conflicts of the story, and I

[anonymous]

Let me guess, the knight is in fact evil.

[jordan179]

Buy the book and find out :)

[galadrion]

Geomancer, by whom? There are several books by that title available.

[anonymous]

Ian Irvine.

It's... the only Geomancer to have its own Wikipedia entry.

[jordan179]

unscreen

[galadrion]

Hm. Wikipedia, eh? Not where I usually go to look for entertainment material. Well, let's take a look...

Huh. First result for "Geomancer" is an article on the mystic tradition, not any sort of entertainment at all. Strike one. Let's try again.

Ah-hah. Geomancer, a book by author Ian Irvine. Last in the list on the disambiguation page, I note, coming in behind even the character class in the Final Fantasy series. Hardly an auspicious beginning.

Hm. The article doesn't say anything about whether the book is set in a "generic fantasyland", but the plot summary reads like a generic adaption of the Hunger Games/Witch & Wizard/Divergent trend so popular in teen fiction these days. The problem with that is that this series is ostensibly written for young adults.

Y'know, without better recommendations than a problematic Wikipedia entry and the enthusiastic endorsement of a raving internet-based loon, I believe I'll pass on this one.

[anonymous]

Did you ignore the whole thing about clankers (walking tanks)?

[jordan179]

My fondness for MECHA in any form, including fantasy, might make me like Geomancer, then.

I did read, however, and liked Sparrowind, which is the story under discussion.

[galadrion]

No, actually, I didn't. But honestly, there appears to be very little original in the notion, since it amounts to "steampunk mecha" in the Wikipedia article. It seems odd that you would point to this as somehow distinguishing this work from "generic fantasyland", when steampunk tropes have been a part of science fiction/fantasy since the days of Jules Verne, and mecha have been so for at least fifty years.

You're doing very little to advance your cause, and a great deal to damage what little credibility you have. Are those, in fact, your intentions?

[cutelildrow]

Mecha is, in fact, a huge chunk of popular anime and manga, which my stalker so constantly derides as 'unoriginal' and 'generic.' As if his opinions mattered in any form or way.