12 | February | 2021

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series – see my reviews of Nice Dragons Finish Last and One Good Dragon Deserves Another, No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished and my mini-review of A Dragon of a Different Colour. So last year I decided to get over myself and make an effort to complete more series, as I often delay finishing them.

BLURB: There is no way to write a blurb for this final book without spoiling all of the others. Suffice it to say, mysteries resolve, dragons war, pigeons abound, and Julius must risk himself in ways he never dreamed possible as Bob’s grand plan finally comes to fruition.

But the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers isn’t the only one whose schemes are nearing completion. The Nameless End is coming, and even the machinations of the world’s most brilliant dragon seer might not be enough to stop it. As the world comes crashing down, it’s up Julius to prove what he’s always known: that seers can be wrong, and Nice Dragons don’t always finish last.

REVIEW: The fourth book, A Dragon of a Different Color, essentially sets up the story for the final apocalyptic conflict that takes place throughout the whole of this story – so whatever you do, don’t pick up this one without at least having read that book. Better still, start at the beginning of this series. While there are series you can crash midway and get away with it, this isn’t one of them, as many of the story threads and allusions relate to previous books.

This book deals with the ultimate struggle that has been foreseen by Bob, the dragon seer and The Nameless End. I love the fact that Aaron took her time in lining up all the main characters we’ve got to know and love, to ensure that no one was left dangling. I love the fact that she took time to fully unpack the potential consequences of what would happen if it all went wrong. I also love the fact that in amongst all the apocalyptic events, there are still regular shafts of humour and plenty of snark and chat. After all, this is one of the staple tropes in Urban Fantasy, and is often the aspect that goes out of the window when the action starts to really run hot.

I thought the pacing and the complexity of the magic system was cleverly explored and fully utilised during this final showdown – something else I thoroughly appreciated. I am often disappointed when really cool concepts get rather buried as people start flinging gouts of magic at each other – not so, here. Those concepts and the premise set out within the worldbuilding become part of the weaponry used, which made reading this book an ongoing joy. It isn’t particularly long, but that didn’t matter, because it packs a punch from the first page to the last and gave me the opportunity to see each character’s narrative arc come to a fitting conclusion.

This is one of my favourite urban fantasy series – and I loved the way Aaron brought it safely home. Highly recommended for fans of quirky dragon stories with an interesting, detailed magic system.
10/10

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers with pictures of furry creatures. I’ve selected Shardik – Book 2 of the Beklan Empire by Richard Adams.

This edition was produced by Overlook Duckworth in November 2004, and is one of the default cover designs for this book, which originally came out in May 1974. I really like it – the fact that the bear’s head is made up of the buildings of the main city is spot on, as the story is about what the bear represents to this civilisation. I also appreciate the punchy title and author fonts, which are easily read even in thumbnail. I think this is a successful, eye-catching cover.

Published in January 1976 by Penguin books, this is the cover on the book that I owned. It’s one of my most memorable reads – along with the very disturbing The Girl in a Swing – there is something about Adams’ writing that got right under my skin, so it brings back happy memories. I love the image of this bear, huge and savage – just look at the length of those claws. But reluctantly, I don’t like it as much as the previous cover.

This edition, published by Oneworld Books in November 2014, is a reworking of the first cover – and while I like that one, this is my favourite. I think it’s because there is so much here that relates to the story. The profile of the bear in red is apt – Shardik’s appearance triggers a series of violent events. The wooden boards that act as backdrop represents his imprisonment, while I particularly love the fir trees as his teeth in his upper jaw, meeting the cityscape in his lower jaw. Which is a really clever pictorial depiction of the tension between the wilderness and what he represents to the Belden civilisation. I just wish more covers were designed with such respect for the story.

This Danish edition, produced by Gyldendals Bogklubber in 1977, also features Shardik up on his hind legs trying to outrun the fire that has destroyed the forest where he used to live. Look at the clouds of ash as he moves and the wisping, ashy remains of grass right in the foreground… Again, this is a scene right from the book and works really well as a cover. I like the fact that we are looking up at the bear, emphasising his huge size.

This Italian edition, published by Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli in 1976 is probably the most attractive of all the covers. The artwork is detailed and beautifully executed, though I don’t get the sense of Shardik’s power and size from this image, unlike the other covers. And it also features an unnecessarily large textbox, which I hate. That said, I still like it even if it isn’t my favourite. Which one do you prefer?