Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsAn interesting and refreshing mix
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2020
The Dragon Blood series has been a refreshing mix of classic fantasy and steampunk that works remarkably well, with magic, dragons, rifles, airplanes and industrialization, that works remarkably well.
Compliments to Lindsay for creating a nice and believable story where the old world (magic, dragons) and the new world (guns, airplanes) clash. A great example of this is a fight between airplanes, mages, an airship and a dragon, that feels balanced and realistic, and unpredictable how it will end to the last.
Also, great to see a realistic and functioning military organization where chain of command, ranks and regulations are indeed important and cannot just be ignored - even by the heroes.
I would have loved to see more worldbuilding and history, but Lindsay has chosen to focus on the development of the characters and the relations between them, which is also refreshing! Where a standard fantasy book may choose words like kill, maim, slash and eviscerate, the wordcount in the Dragon Blood series is probably higher on kiss, hug, stare, intense and canoodle.
There are two things that kept me from giving this a 5 star rating. First, the development between the characters, their emotions and their relationships is sometimes too present, especially during important encounters and battles. I sometimes found myself skipping over whole pages of emotions and feelings, to be able to know how the encounter would play out and how the story would advance.
Secondly, halfway the series it became very apparent who the favorite characters and main drivers of the series were, and that no matter what danger they faced, they would always survive. For me, this took away from the suspense and I could not help thinking what would have happened if one or two of them would die - including all the turmoil and emotional development that would come from that.
All in all I enjoyed reading the series, in an interesting world with enough new elements to keep the story fresh and stand out from the standard fantasy series out there. Solid 4 stars.
