Dragon Fate

Disappointing, Poorly Edited, Confusing

By now, I should have known better. I made it five books deep and half that journey was disappointment, but I really wanted to know what happened. I wanted more of the dragons and their world. I wanted to see vengeance and the “fiery conclusion” promised on the (mass market paperback's) front cover. I honestly went into this desperately wanting to enjoy Dragon Fate and hoping it would make me feel renewed interest in the Age of Fire saga.

Alas, I was deeply disappointed.

Though the first two-thirds of the book is quite interesting and had me curious to see how things would pan out, the enjoyment factor was low due to a myriad of continuity, characterization, and typographical errors. Several times, I had to stop and question nonsensical, contradictory plot beats or re-read poorly structured sentences or - far more often than should ever happen within a proper, published novel - make sense of characters being referred to by each other's names and being in multiple places at once. There was also a point when AuRon, the original main character of the series, is referred to as having scales even though we should all know by now from the million times it's mentioned per book that he has none. Oh, and a dragon is called red in one sentence then silver in the very next.

Simply put: The other books often seemed like they had lazy editors; this one felt like it was 90% rough drafts stapled together in a rush with a plot outline tacked onto the end and two epilogues squished into one with contradictory ideas in each.

Overall, this felt like three quarters was a build up for a seventh novel and one quarter was a rushed, uncaring, amateurish-at-best fanfic outline by someone who had only read at most one of the books. The genre takes a sudden hard turn toward science fiction elements when previously it was fantasy in a historical sort of setting. It's all over in a handful of pages, where the fates of beloved characters are left either uncertain or unsatisfying, as well. Tired, uninteresting tropes are pulled in, almost nothing makes sense, and the action is extremely anticlimactic.

Then it's all wrapped up with a mediocre epilogue which doesn't even answer the questions raised throughout the novel, nor does it cover all the dragons we've come to care about over the series. Just like that, gone with a whimper instead of a bang.

I wish I had quit this series after the third or fourth book and been spared the destruction of two interesting characters who suddenly turned on their allies and behaved wildly out of character - as well as the disappointing mess that was passed off as an ending. I desperately wish someone else with more time or talent (I can't decide which the author lacks, here) had written an ending for the series. It deserved better than the pittance thrown into this book.

It's a shame, because I want more of these dragons but only because I felt they were done dirty - not because the writing is addictive or anything good like that.

All of this series has been - well, the author jumps around a lot, letting years pass between scenes without giving any explanation. But this last one feels like the author said “Oh yeah, I need to get a conclusion out for that series...here, have my plot notes!”

More writing, please. Also, dragon's mate's names should not be interchangeable. Especially when at one point you're talking about a dragon's mate and you name his SISTER instead. Come on, it's not that hard. You only have three main characters!

Oh, and the actual ending? I'm still not sure what actually happened, or where two of the main characters went. He talks about something about to happen, and then mentions that it happened (from a years-later perspective) but doesn't actually DESCRIBE IT HAPPENING. Quit being lazy. Show me the action!