Review of KINDLE Edition Nice Dragons Finish Last – Book 1 of the Heartstriker series by Rachel Aaron

For those of you who are interested in such things (and who isn’t?) Rachel Aaron has also written the very enjoyable Eli Monpress series – see my review of The Spirit Rebellion and as Rachel Bach is author of the cracking space opera Paradox series – see my review of Fortune’s Pawn. So given that so far her stock in trade are gutsy badass protagonists who veer regularly onto the wrong side, how does she fare with quite a different type of hero?

As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don’t cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn’t fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience. Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ–a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit–Julius has one month to prove that he can be a ruthless dragon or kiss his true shape goodbye forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are considered monsters to be exterminated, he’s going to need some serious help to survive this test. He only hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons…

This is great fun. A science fiction/fantasy mash-up in a near future world where a huge meteor strike has released magic, complete with magical creatures, back into our world after it was sealed away, also setting free some vengeful spirits who don’t like what humans have done to the world. Julius isn’t just the runt of the clutch – he’s the runt of the whole clan, and hates the draconic way of doing things. But sealed into his human form, he doesn’t have much choice but to use the circumstances around him and reason his way out of his dilemma. There is a lovely slice of power politics that Aaron is nifty about slipping into the ongoing action, along with an engaging human heroine who is also on the run from a powerful enemy.

Himself recommended this one to me and it didn’t disappoint. The world is engaging and well depicted, the characters ping off the page with plenty of energy and the situations Julius finds himself dealing with grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. To the extent that I was reading this while watching Wimbledon…

Aaron’s writing is always infused with a manic energy that scoops me up, sucks me into her plots and dumps me at the end of the book feeling a tad winded, but with a grin on my face. And this one didn’t disappoint. I’ll be definitely tracking down the next one in the series – and soon.
9/10