Review: Dragon Unleashed

Dragon Unleashed by Grace Draven

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Dragon lovers, this is the book for you. For those who have not read the first book, it may take a couple of chapters get oriented to this world. It was a bit difficult for me to get into the story for the first few chapters. Full disclosure, I didn't read the blurb. All I saw was the word Dragon and the author: Grace Draven and I wanted to read the book.

This is set in a fantasy world of forbidden magic, forgotten gods and mythical creatures, Ms. Draven brings to life all the old fables. Malachus is a dragon in human skin. His quest is to find a gift his mother left behind for him. Without it, he could perish. With his search, he encounters a gypsy-esque group of people who are free traders. He experiences how humans may not be as greedy, selfish and horrible as he believes. Or at least not all of them. The one who changes his mind is Halani, an earth witch in hiding. She is one of the leaders of her group, even if she isn't acknowledged by her uncle as such.

This story pace was a bit too slow for me. This is because to understand Malachus' quest and his conflict, the world creation needed details and the many secondary characters needed to be brought into the storyline. Whilst I appreciate the details world and how the different factions worked with or against each other, it became a bit dry. I want to see more interaction between Malachus and Halani. Their relationship fortunately becomes the focus about a third of the way into the story. The pace picks up a little bit as Malachus learns more about humans and Halani is enchanted by his mysterious foreignness. The love subplot also moves very slow. So slow that the sex scenes which sort of fade to black are unnecessary for me. What I enjoyed most, is watching Malachus interact and woo Halani. Their admiration of each other's strengths and working together for a common good creates a tenuous bond. With each interaction, the bond grows stronger only to be damaged by a questionable unethical act.

Near the last quarter of the tale, after all the build-up, the pace moves faster and the action finally arrives. I love how Ms. Draven interweaves a legendary story into a personal recreation nightmare for Malachus. The parallels of past and present events creates almost a "re-do" of the past and sets a wrong to right. I love it. Malachus' humourous response to an allegation at the end made me chuckle in wicked delight. The conclusion ties off almost all the loose ends, yet still leaves a bit more open for a possible follow-up story.

This fantasy is recommended for dragon lovers and those who love their happily ever after.

*provided by Edelweiss