Book Review: A Matter of Dragons (Dragons of the Iron Mountains - Book 1)
A Matter of Dragons (Dragons of the Iron Mountains - Book 1) by Meredith Hart
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: I was given a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Summary: Rayne, who has always wanted to be part of the Valgros army, but not allowed to join the boys club, is sent along with a friend to slay the red dragon of Cairncliff and spread the glory of Valgros. To the city of Cairncliff, where magical creatures are welcome, Valgros is known for being a savage, brutal, ignorant kingdom. Rayne and her friend find Cairncliff not to be what they expected. The cute, picturesque city with friendly villagers is a far cry from the rampant crime riddled slum cowering in terror from the dragon that they had been expecting, making them question their mission. But Rayne finds new determination after getting to know Doshir, the charming antique shop owner, who sweeps her off her feet, but neglects to tell her is a dragon, and lies about several other things as well.
Comments: I liked the plotline: Two intrepid dragon hunters from a neighboring kingdom sent in to kill a dragon and spread the glory of their kingdom. Which in this modern world you could see was a bad idea from the start. That’s how to cause an international incident. But these two are rather behind the times and only see magical beings as evil monsters. It’s an interesting metaphor alluding to racism and intolerance of the other cultures/or at least ignorance of other countries/cultures.
I loved the romance between Doshir and Rayne. They have good chemistry and fun misunderstandings complicating things. I loved that they could get drunk together and laugh together, and I loved Doshir trying to impress Rayne by pretending to be something else which you just knew would eventually backfire on him. I loved that Doshir and Rayne both made mistakes making them feel more real.
On the other hand, Rayne and Doshir feel like they’re copies of Lyria and Vethe from The Flame and the Blade series and I loved the romance there for all the same reasons. The personalities are almost exactly the same. Like Lyria, Rayne is yet another warrior woman more at home in armor than a dress, itching to do her talking with a sword of draggers, and trying to make her way in male-dominated waters. While Doshir, like Vethe, is born with a special magical heritage, who has a charming cocky façade while feeling awkward and uncertain, who likes his alcohol, and is sympathetically lonely.
I usually avoid shifter fiction these days because they all read about the same and there is almost never any new ground covered or ideas introduced. And this story is no exception. Doshir, who is supposed to be dragon by birth, reads as thoroughly human with next to no dragon traits, and only turns into a dragon once in a while. There’s really not much about him that screams dragon. He’s a very undragony-dragon. And the couple of times he does turn into a dragon, its’s only for transportation and combat. There’s even one scene where I spotted my pet-peeve where Doshir refers to it as “my dragon” as if it was a separate being within him distancing himself from the dragon instincts, which had me scratching my head since he’s supposed to be the dragon himself. So many authors do that, distancing the animal instincts from the human as if they can’t reconcile the idea of the animal instincts as being part of the person and would go too much against their morals.
Though this is the beginning of a series, you do feel like the plotline of Rayne coming to Cairncliff to dispatch a dragon is concluded, so it does feel like a complete book, while it still sets up with some questions at the end to lead into the next book.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: I was given a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Summary: Rayne, who has always wanted to be part of the Valgros army, but not allowed to join the boys club, is sent along with a friend to slay the red dragon of Cairncliff and spread the glory of Valgros. To the city of Cairncliff, where magical creatures are welcome, Valgros is known for being a savage, brutal, ignorant kingdom. Rayne and her friend find Cairncliff not to be what they expected. The cute, picturesque city with friendly villagers is a far cry from the rampant crime riddled slum cowering in terror from the dragon that they had been expecting, making them question their mission. But Rayne finds new determination after getting to know Doshir, the charming antique shop owner, who sweeps her off her feet, but neglects to tell her is a dragon, and lies about several other things as well.
Comments: I liked the plotline: Two intrepid dragon hunters from a neighboring kingdom sent in to kill a dragon and spread the glory of their kingdom. Which in this modern world you could see was a bad idea from the start. That’s how to cause an international incident. But these two are rather behind the times and only see magical beings as evil monsters. It’s an interesting metaphor alluding to racism and intolerance of the other cultures/or at least ignorance of other countries/cultures.
I loved the romance between Doshir and Rayne. They have good chemistry and fun misunderstandings complicating things. I loved that they could get drunk together and laugh together, and I loved Doshir trying to impress Rayne by pretending to be something else which you just knew would eventually backfire on him. I loved that Doshir and Rayne both made mistakes making them feel more real.
On the other hand, Rayne and Doshir feel like they’re copies of Lyria and Vethe from The Flame and the Blade series and I loved the romance there for all the same reasons. The personalities are almost exactly the same. Like Lyria, Rayne is yet another warrior woman more at home in armor than a dress, itching to do her talking with a sword of draggers, and trying to make her way in male-dominated waters. While Doshir, like Vethe, is born with a special magical heritage, who has a charming cocky façade while feeling awkward and uncertain, who likes his alcohol, and is sympathetically lonely.
I usually avoid shifter fiction these days because they all read about the same and there is almost never any new ground covered or ideas introduced. And this story is no exception. Doshir, who is supposed to be dragon by birth, reads as thoroughly human with next to no dragon traits, and only turns into a dragon once in a while. There’s really not much about him that screams dragon. He’s a very undragony-dragon. And the couple of times he does turn into a dragon, its’s only for transportation and combat. There’s even one scene where I spotted my pet-peeve where Doshir refers to it as “my dragon” as if it was a separate being within him distancing himself from the dragon instincts, which had me scratching my head since he’s supposed to be the dragon himself. So many authors do that, distancing the animal instincts from the human as if they can’t reconcile the idea of the animal instincts as being part of the person and would go too much against their morals.
Though this is the beginning of a series, you do feel like the plotline of Rayne coming to Cairncliff to dispatch a dragon is concluded, so it does feel like a complete book, while it still sets up with some questions at the end to lead into the next book.