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mlynes_author's review
3.0
"Dragon Rising" by Tom Fallwell is an interesting story, replete with Dark Lords, hidden Rebels, unlikely Heroes, beautiful maidens, fantastic magic, woodlands full of Elves and of course Dragons. It falls perfectly into the 'Sword and Sorcery' genre and as I am a lifelong fan of this type of story I eagerly placed a copy on my Kindle.
The tale opens rapidly and we are introduced to Delina, a half elf with oddly shaped eyes and her friend and protector Morlock, a giant shadowfang cat from the far southern jungles. Delina's slight frame belies her great strength and cat-like agility and she and Morlock hunt together almost as one.
Just as quickly we are exposed to the brooding, malevolent presence of Kargoth, the self proclaimed Dark Lord of Almar and his obsession with power and hatred of the Fellowship of the Blood, the last remnant of Rebels who still remain loyal to the memory of the Dragon King Jeraldin whom Kargoth betrayed and slew nearly twenty years past.
Kargoth's Blackguard search ceaselessly for the stronghold of the Fellowship and by unfortunate chance they come upon a lone young warrior, Merric, just recently turned seventeen, as he ventures through the land. He is attacked and only saved, thru pure luck, by Delina and Morlock, in whose cave he takes refuge just moments before the blackguard come upon him. Merric is gravely wounded but Delina is wise in the ways of healing and she and Merric and Morlock soon become friendly as they nurse Merric back to health.
The story picks up rapidly from there, with Delina's true nature revealed thru the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy and the great struggle between the Fellowship, Elves, Humans and the forces of the Dark Lord comprise the remainder of this epic tale. Delina's true nature comes to her in stages and her quest to discover more about her hidden power propels the plot and story-line to its conclusion.
Fans of this genre will not be disappointed in this effort, though there is little novelty in the characters or the central conflict. There are Elves hidden in the Sylvan forests, a Dark Lord in his great black stronghold, an alliance of men and other races formed to defend the forces of Light and swords and magic aplenty.
Echos of Zelazny, and Tolkien and even a touch of Rowling can be detected and Mr. Fallwell's prose does them justice. I gave the story a rating of three stars, mostly because of the very linear and somewhat overly pat plot-line and some of the rather improbable coincidences that are employed to connect several scenes. There is a great deal of repetitive explanation and over exposition that with a through editing could be condensed, allowing the more interesting character dialog and interaction to assume center stage. Overall I did enjoy this story, and as there are some obvious dangling hooks for several follow-on tales I eagerly await the continuation of this adventure series.
The tale opens rapidly and we are introduced to Delina, a half elf with oddly shaped eyes and her friend and protector Morlock, a giant shadowfang cat from the far southern jungles. Delina's slight frame belies her great strength and cat-like agility and she and Morlock hunt together almost as one.
Just as quickly we are exposed to the brooding, malevolent presence of Kargoth, the self proclaimed Dark Lord of Almar and his obsession with power and hatred of the Fellowship of the Blood, the last remnant of Rebels who still remain loyal to the memory of the Dragon King Jeraldin whom Kargoth betrayed and slew nearly twenty years past.
Kargoth's Blackguard search ceaselessly for the stronghold of the Fellowship and by unfortunate chance they come upon a lone young warrior, Merric, just recently turned seventeen, as he ventures through the land. He is attacked and only saved, thru pure luck, by Delina and Morlock, in whose cave he takes refuge just moments before the blackguard come upon him. Merric is gravely wounded but Delina is wise in the ways of healing and she and Merric and Morlock soon become friendly as they nurse Merric back to health.
The story picks up rapidly from there, with Delina's true nature revealed thru the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy and the great struggle between the Fellowship, Elves, Humans and the forces of the Dark Lord comprise the remainder of this epic tale. Delina's true nature comes to her in stages and her quest to discover more about her hidden power propels the plot and story-line to its conclusion.
Fans of this genre will not be disappointed in this effort, though there is little novelty in the characters or the central conflict. There are Elves hidden in the Sylvan forests, a Dark Lord in his great black stronghold, an alliance of men and other races formed to defend the forces of Light and swords and magic aplenty.
Echos of Zelazny, and Tolkien and even a touch of Rowling can be detected and Mr. Fallwell's prose does them justice. I gave the story a rating of three stars, mostly because of the very linear and somewhat overly pat plot-line and some of the rather improbable coincidences that are employed to connect several scenes. There is a great deal of repetitive explanation and over exposition that with a through editing could be condensed, allowing the more interesting character dialog and interaction to assume center stage. Overall I did enjoy this story, and as there are some obvious dangling hooks for several follow-on tales I eagerly await the continuation of this adventure series.
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