The Return of the Dragons

by Kenneth Kappelmann

When Kirven killed the black canok in the glade outside Toopek, he did not realize that he had just taken the first step to fulfilling Schram’s destiny. At that time he did not even know for sure if Schram was the “one.” He only knew that time was growing short for him to find the only one who could harness the power to defeat the dragons. If it wasn’t Schram, he had wasted a long time with the human. Possibly too long for Troyf to be saved from the dragons.

In every world, there is the balance between good and evil which allows life to flourish. On Troyf, that balance has been challenged many times in the past, but never as deeply as during the Dragon Oppression. As destinies become known and characters grow, friends are seduced by evil, brothers separated to fight against each other, and one human finds powers deep within him changing everything he knew to be true with his heritage.

A group of companions must face challenges, death, love, and fate; and the choices they make could save the world or lead it into dragon rule and tyranny forever. Track these companions as they seek to master the powers put before them, and even when every action seems to be falling into place, someone or something is not what they seem to be and the Hidden Magic will either save them or end their trek for peace.

Genres: Fantasy

429 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ken Kappelmann is a graduate of the University of Kansas in Cellular Biology; he went on to Oregon State Graduate School in Microbiology, and then spent one year in Switzerland. He is a scientist by trade but now finds himself in sales and manufacturing. The Hidden Magic: The Return of the Dragons is his first book of a three book series.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful fantasy novel that builds a wholly new world with creatures and people that coexist and compete for supremacy. It was an immersive experience with a satisfying payoff at the end. Each of the characters are fully developed and there is plenty of humor to keep things light. There are puzzles to solve, alliances to honor and debts to avenge. Great book!

[Peregine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The basic set up of this book is interesting enough, but it is very strangely written. A lot of the words are used incorrectly. At some point I wondered if it was poorly translated because of the structure. For example a character says his knee was shanghaied. The metaphors are strange, at one point "warmth" is described as "attacking the land" another sentence is the following: "They had been free of incidence but had however passed many slain gars and goblins alike." Incident is probably what is meant, but still doesn't make sense. They in this case appears to refer to the group of heroes. Something like "they traveled without incident" would have been better, but still boring. In some cases it isn't clear who the pronouns are supposed to refer to. A lot of the sentences are complex with multiple subordinate clauses. I find this unclear with too much information stuffed into one sentence. Things are often described in past perfect, and the order information is revealed seems odd. This creates an extra layer of distance to what is happening and it feels not as if the events are happening, but rather that they are being explained and summarized. Several times I had to flip back and see if I had missed something.

The characters are poorly developed. The beginning looks like it is setting up the characters for growth and hints at a personality, but they seem to be forgotten and the protagonist's companions seem to be mostly forgotten and become one note characters. The main arc seems to be a mystery, however the reveal isn't interesting, and growth isn't really established. There is also a lack of curiosity about the protagonists mother as well other characters. Some characters are traitors, but one doesn't learn anything about their motivations, or even if their treachery was by choice.

There is no no subtext to dialogue and characters that should be suspicious are told by the narration that we can trust them (removing tension.) It is also unclear how the good guys are easily defeated by dragons. One dragon is said to shoot fire five hundred feet, yet aims where it does the least damage. It is unclear how big the kingdoms are, They seem to be mostly city-states and one elvish kingdom is actually called a village. This makes it hard to understand the world. Another scene establishes that a city has little to no rule of law, but then describes a dock specially built for smuggling.

Book was a free ARC

[Cara Jacket · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good read. It included a wealth of characters that kept you drawn into their plight. There were several types of characters I have never heard of before which is always a great addition to the standard fantasy. It is an adventure story through and through and one of my favorites I have read. I hope to see more from this author soon. I could not put it down even staying up until 4 AM to "see what happened next."

[Denise Kleinke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great read. Not my typical genre but once I hit chapter 5 it was one of those books that you get to the end of the chapter and have to stay up reading to see what happens next. This continued throughout the entire book and I can't wait to read the next one. I strongly recommend. It has great character development along with an intriguing storyline.

[Cory · Rating 1 out of 5]

it was like reading an R.P.G. game. I don't know about you, but I prefer playing games to reading them. Nice try Kapplemann, but I am not impressed.