Title: The Souls of the Fire Dragon
Author: John Wrieden
My Review:
I don’t tend to read that much fantasy but my neice and one of my friends keeps telling me that I should try reading more because if I do I will really enjoy it (they say it is an “acquired taste”). For that reason I decided to read The Souls of the Fire Dragon by John Wrieden.
When the book came, I must admit that I absolutely loved the image on the cover! It’s difficult to explain the image but the the choice of colours and the image made the book very appealing when it arrived! I did notice, however, that the book wasn’t as durable as I would have liked. It did have a long journey (as it was shipped to me from England), but it did not handle the trip well and was very dog-earred in appearance (the spine and edges were worn) by the time it appeared.
I was surprised to find the book had elements of science-fiction and fantasy within it. Given the title I thought it would be a classic fantasy novel but, instead, I found an interesting combination of both! I enjoy dystopian science fiction (a la George Orwell’s 1984) and I thought Wrieden worked this aspect of the novel really well. I found it interesting that the novel then moved into a more classic fantasy world that involved dragons, elves and the like and then worked between the two. At times the whole thing is a bit puzzling because it seems to be heading in one direction and then another and then another but it never really seemed to get anywhere.
I love the premise of this novel. I think it has huge amounts of creative potential within it. I think, however, that it needs to be edited. The ideas are there, and they are amazing, but I was left at the end feeling like something was missing. I think if this book was revised and edited professionally it has great potential but, in its current form, I wouldn’t highly recommend it because there are too many loose ends.
*I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this novel.*
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