The Dragon's Disciples

Age of Waking Death #1

by C.N. Faust

Alternate Cover Image: ISBN 10: 1482797593 / ISBN 13: 9781482797596

"HE IS MY HEIR, BUT HE IS NOT MY SON"

Placed by the hands of a god into the womb of Dragoloth’s royal family, Pharun has struggled all his life to prove that he is worthy to inherit the throne.

But now the throne sits empty, with more than one candidate vying for its seat. Violence erupts and corruption is unearthed as a game of gods and thrones threatens to make the greatest empire in the world crumble.

All Pharun ever wanted was to prove he was a worthy son. Now he has to prove himself a worthy king.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, M M Romance

Unknown Binding

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Cyrus is a perfectly charismatic, devilishly charming bloke who spends far too much time writing novels and plays and not enough time writing the essays required for him to graduate. He is currently a Classics major with a double major in Theatre that will probably change to he-doesn’t-know-yet. Cyrus’ mission statement is that he would rather his writing be read and enjoyed by a small following than have to conform to the demands of a large audience. Of course, if you want to buy his novel and help support his cause to buy his domain name, then that would make you the best person he knows. Cyrus also possesses an unhealthy love for Shakespeare, and before he dies he intends to produce every one of the great playwright’s plays. In his spare time (what spare time, where?) he is charming the ladies and devising new and inventive ways to torment his faithful, beloved characters.

Reviews

[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

In short, the author tried their hand at an epic dark fantasy, but failed to deliver. This book isn't terrible, though; I could finish it without forcing myself to continue

There are three major problems: the editing (or lack of), the world being too fantastical, and the author trying too hard to give the story a dark theme.

The editing is really poor poor. There are many sentences that don't read well. For example, one repeated mistake that really bothered me was the same adjective being used twice in one sentence, to describe the same object.

I like fantastic worlds, but I think that very few authors can write them well. This author isn't one of them. We have vampires, elves, dwarves, ogres, goblins, fairies, and hey, let's throw in a dragon, just because! Not very original. The magic also has no type of system, and characters who can use magic (i.e. most of them) may as well be omnipotent. In fact, they may be omnipotent. Having characters who can wave their hands and make people drop dead is never a good idea.

The third issue can be summarized as 'Hey, look how gruesomely this character was killed, it's so dark and edgy!' Some writer use gruesome death or torture to good effect, but it's just overused and without reason here.

There are also a few other, less glaring issues: the author makes the main characters seem intelligent by writing the side characters as if they don't have a half functional brain, none of the characters are realistic (okay, most of them are vampires, I'll let this one slide), and the geography of the world is fairly undefined; I have a feeling that there are some major inconsistencies in the time it takes different characters to travel to and from the same places.

I feel bad giving a review that only describes the bad parts of the book, but it really doesn't do anything well enough to merit mention. Everything else is just okay. I would still give this author another chance in the future, though.

[K.V. Witten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had problems getting into this story. I have to agree with another reviewer that said a list of characters would have been helpful. In fact, I read about 80 pages, realized I was totally confused, and ended up starting over. And it would have been helpful if the relationships between characters and places had been more integrated. As it was, when a new character was introduced, I often had no idea how they related to previous characters and was never able to form a cohesive picture in my mind.

Fantasy/world-building is difficult to do well. I understand that the author doesn't want to bore the reader by giving too much information up front but there has to be enough to orient the reader in this new world. Unfortunately I never got to that point.

There were some punctuation oddities that pulled me out of the story. Things like commas instead of periods (and vice-versa) or capitalizations not used appropriately. Example:

"My lord Encarz," Varick, the captain of the guard, performed a low, hasty bow, surprise written on his face. "you're early!"

I also noticed a fair number of typos although, to be fair, I might not have noticed them if I'd been more caught up in the story.

All in all, fans of high fantasy and vampires might enjoy this.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for a non-reciprocal review

[Elaine White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book – The Dragon's Disciples (Book 1, Age of Waking Death)
Author – C.N. Faust
Star rating - ★★★★★
Would I read it again – Yes.
Plot – well written, good imagery/expression
Characters – nicely explored, unique, interesting
Movie Potential - ★★★★★
Ease of reading – easy

**I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW**

First off, I loved this book. The covers are great artwork, that really nicely express the book and it's imagery. Secondly, this book was simple, elegant and well written. The plot was easy to follow, nicely intricate and the web of mystery and secrets kept me guessing.

There was one thing I truly hated about this book – The End.

I came to the last line, just about crying as I read it, and the BOOM! It's over. I couldn't believe it. I literally lay in my bed, at 3am screaming inside my head “Noooo!!!! You can't do this to me!”. Needless to say, I was gutted. But I just know that I'm going devour book 2 because of it.

I have to come clean and confess that I'm totally in love with Pharun and Felix equally. The two of them were just magnetic for me. Whenever I was reading about one of the other characters, I was always thinking in the back of my mind, wondering where they were and what they were doing. In a chat with the author, he revealed (in the interview posted a few days ago) that if this book was ever made into a movie, then Pharun would be played by Jesse Williams (our very own Jackson Avery from Grey's Anatomy) and Felix would be Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars rock star and movie actor from Urban Legend). I think this only makes me love them even more. They seem like the perfect people to play these angst ridden roles.

To being with, this book is about Vampires, Wizards, Priests and Gods. Not a group that would normally be put together into the one story. But C.N. does this beautifully and skillfully. The characters have real meat to them, the plot drives a long, not too fast but not too slow either, and you would be mistaken to think that there's ever really going to be a Happily Ever After. Whether you like every character or not, you are going to feel for them in some way or another and when their end comes, in whatever form, at some point you're going to feel someone was cheated out of their HEA. But the whole time you're going to love the roller coaster ride of emotions and the mystery that keeps your heart pounding.

And might I just put a word in for the Heretic's Fork. I think the use of the medieval torture tool was amazingly done. Not only is the Heretic's Fork a real item used in Medieval times, but the way the writer adds it to the story adds real meat to the event, but it also sounds like they've come up with this ingenious torture tool themselves. It's one of those moments when you feel the real evil of a character, when you see the true genius of the writer, and the whole time all you're really thinking about is the great plot line and finding out what happens next.

I can honestly say that this book was unputdownable. The minute I started reading, it was a battle to stay awake as it took me early into the morning. I just didn't want to stop reading.

The book reads like an alternate world A Song of Ice and Fire, without trying to be anything like it. The concept is unique and I've personally never seen it done before. There are the typical relationship issues with the main family, the Royal Vampires, that you see within ASOIAF. There are a few incestuous relationships and half-brother/half-sister relationships that seem a little mirky. But they're written so well and given real background that you understand why they're there and how the relationships actually affect the main characters and their decisions. Even when it comes to creepy High Priest Mahlii. *shivers*

I'm very interested to find out how the characters evolve in the second book. Some, in particular, are still quite mysterious at the end of the first, and I'm looking forward to getting to see more of them and finding out their real purpose.

I won't give away spoilers, but there is an event that happens for Pharun near the end of the book and all I can say is that I literally let out a sigh of relief and thought “Finally!”. He is by far my favourite character and whatever makes him happy, makes me very happy. Especially when it creates the situation in the last page of the book. I really don't mind crying at a story, in fact, it cements the whole thing in my heart and this is by far, one of my favourite books of 2013.

Overall, The Dragon's Disciples is a highly original story with a plot full of mystery, suspence and intrigue, with a dollop of romance and emotional torture thrown in. Once you pick it up, get comfortable, because you won't want to put it down again. 5 stars. I'd give it 7, if I could.

[Andi O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what to think of this novel. On the one hand, I love Faust's writing style. He grabbed my attention right from the beginning and held it straight through to the end. It was fast paced and filled with action. I also like how Faust dealt with the more unsavory side of religion by focusing on what people will do in the name of their god and showing how it impacts them, their families, and their societies as a whole.

On the other hand, I had a problem empathizing with the characters. I couldn't connect with them. There was not one that I liked or disliked. They were simply there, and I really didn't care what happened to any of them. I did not root for any one of them to prevail over another. If it was the author's intent to force the reader to choose, I think the characters could have shown a bit more individuality. They seemed to be all created from the same basic mold with small bits of variation, and I didn't feel I had one particular reason to choose one over the other.

The plot was complicated and the relationships between the characters was intricate and at times quite confusing. Everyone seemed to be connected to each other in one twisted way or another, and I occasionally found myself having to retrace some steps to make sure I understood it properly. I think perhaps a character dictionary of some sorts could have helped with this.

There was a small number of spelling/grammatical errors that could have been caught with a bit more editing. There were also one or two scenes/characters that seemed rather unnecessary (the scene with Neysa and Meridith the first that comes to mind). We meet Neysa for the first time about 2/3 of the way through the book in a very short scene that seems to have some importance but then is never touched on or mentioned again. I think the author should have either left the scene out all together, or elaborated on Neysa and her role a bit more (perhaps even visiting her again before the end) to give the scene a purpose and allow her character to stick with the reader for use in subsequent books.

All of that being said, I think it was a good book and one that is extremely interesting and thought-provoking, which is refreshing to find in a fantasy novel. I actually had a difficult time choosing between 3 and 4 stars, and in the end, went with 3 because of my indifference to the characters.

[J.J. DiBenedetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

C.N. Faust's "The Dragon's Disciples" is an epic fantasy novel, with an emphasis on the epic. It's a long book, but it needs to be, in order to contain the many plots and counterplots of the Mahtrador family of vampires who rule over the world of Dragoloth.

The novel mainly concerns the struggle among the Mahtradors to claim Dragoloth's throne, but it also encompasses religious conflicts and a whole host of romantic (and not so romantic!) relationships.

The book put me in mind of the "Game of Thrones" series in terms of the scope of the story, and the multitude of characters, each with their own agenda and desire for power. The author doesn't flinch away from showing us the very darkest aspects of his characters, but they're all given depth - there are no cardboard villains here.

The prose is crisp and clear. There's plenty of blood-and-guts action, some bedroom action (occasionaly with blood-and-guts as well), and enough intrigue to keep the most devious mind satisfied. The worldbuilding is compelling; Dragoloth is a fascinating and fully realized world that stands fully as a unique creation well worth exploring.

If there's one thing I could wish for, it would be for a list of the characters at the beginning of the book (as you see in many other epic novels). There are a lot of characters here, and a whole noew world that Mr. Faust drops the reader straight into, and it took me a little while to get my bearings.

All in all, it's a great read and I'd gladly recommend it.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I abandoned at 27% of the audiobook. Lots of characters, no idea who any of them are. And didn't manage to care about any of them, their world or the plots.
Because of this it was impossible for me to keep my attention on it, had to go back several times... In the end I decided to move onto something else .

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a long book, but it is entirely worth it. C.N. Faust has created an amazing world that you get to explore throughout the story. It is filled with religious and political intrigue that moves flawlessly from scene to scene, so you can't help but wonder what is going to happen next.

The most impressive part of this book is that every character has his or her own agenda. Many of them overlap and a few get absorbed by other character stories, but each one is well-plotted and interesting. One of my favorite parts about this is that I never knew which character was the main one and who I should root for. I couldn't decide who was right and who was wrong because every character came across as righteous by their own standards. It's rare that one finds a book where every character can be seen in this light.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes vampires, political intrigue, religious battling, and overall fantasy.

[Jan farnworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dragon Disciples is an interesting book whereby vampires, dwarves, goblins and humans are all concerned in some way with the fate of the Empire. There is a strong religious aspect to the story, which in some ways, detered me from really enjoying it, although it did have it's place in the story. I liked the action parts, which at times were very gory. I sobbed with the characters when the major plot points happened which I felt were unjust. It grabbed my attention and kept me reading to the end. The story almost had a Game of Thrones feel to it with all the political turns. A great start to this series.

[E.M. Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dragon's Disciples is a spider's web of intrigue, with a varied cast who are all concerned, in some way big or small, with the fate of the empire. Theirs is a dark fantasy world peopled as much with vampires and dwarves as with humans. Faust weaves these characters together as change comes upon Dragoloth, where religion, politics, good and evil blend to build the narrative.

Faust's world is wide and there are many stories to follow within this one novel. Where there is no absolute right or wrong, the reader must choose who to root for.

[Rebecca Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was engrossed from the beginning. Political intrigue, assassination plots. murder, religious conflicts....its all here. I would recommend this book to any who like a little intrigue.
The characters do not seem to have much connection, however after reading further, some connections appear. I loved the intrigue and different characters plots to take control.