Shatterwing

Dragon Wine #1

by Donna Maree Hanson

The world of Margra is a desolate wasteland after one of its moons shattered. Factions fight over resources as pieces of the broken moon rain down, bringing chaos, destruction and death.

Dragon wine is a life giving drink imbued with the essence of dragons. It is what keeps people alive. But the prison vineyard where Salinda works to grow grapes is in jeopardy. Not only does the Inspector, the sadistic ruler of the prison vineyard, make her life and the life of others a misery, he wants to rule the world by hoarding all the dragon wine. But Salinda has a secret power, an ancient gift called a’ cadre’, that may one day save the world.

When the Inspector suspects that Salinda has secrets, she may have to die to protect the cadre from falling into his hands…

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons

264 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Donna Maree Hanson is a Canberra-based writer of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and under the pseudonym (Dani Kristoff) paranormal romance.

Her dark fantasy series (which some reviewers have called ‘grim dark’), Dragon Wine, is published by Momentum Books (Pan Macmillan digital imprint). Book 1: Shatterwing and Book 2: Skywatcher are out now in digital and print on demand.

In April 2015, she was awarded the A. Bertram Chandler Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Australian Science Fiction’ for her work in running science fiction conventions, publishing and broader SF community contribution.

Donna also writes young adult science fiction, with Rayessa and the Space Pirates and Rae and Essa’s Space Adventures out with Escape Publishing. Look out for Opi Battles the Space Pirates coming soon.

In 2016, Donna commenced her PhD candidature researching Feminism in Popular Romance. Also her first Indie published book, Argenterra, was publishing in late April 2016. Argenterra is the first in an epic fantasy series (the Silverlands) suitable for adult and young adult readers. The final two books are due out in early 2017.

Donna grew up in New South Wales mostly, but was living in Bondi when she gave up school at aged 15 without any qualifications. She did a stint as a hairdressing apprentice and then worked for a stockbroker. After running off to New Zealand for a man, she started studying again, gaining her year 10 school certificate and later University Entrance.

Once back in Australia as a single mum with three kids to support, Donna eventually started studying again, finishing a degree in Economics at the Uni of Sydney, majoring in accounting. She worked in the Australian Public Service as an auditor, leaving that job in 2016. While working she did a certificate in professional writing (editing) and a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. Looking back over her life, she is proud to be undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book has so much going for it. A well laid out setting with unique landscape. A comprehensive history. Great Fantasy elements. Character building is very well done. Even the fringe characters are well fleshed out.
I enjoyed so much of this book. However, it's the parts that I did not enjoy that brought this book down.
Where this really suffers, in my opinion, happened early in the writing stage. Somewhere, either an early proof reader or editor just couldn't give honest feedback. With so much going for it, this story did not need to have every character raped, repeatedly. It is this sexual brutality that is a blight on an otherwise well written story. The other negative that I found with this book is that nothing was resolved. Instead, you must wait for the next book to see if anything happens. There are so many cliffhangers and unanswered questions that it is a lot to ask of a reader to return again after so little closure.

[Allan Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part 1 of the Dragon Wine series and tells two inter-twining stories. One follows the story of Salinda, a slave with a gift she must protect at all costs. The other traces the path of Laidan, a girl who has a similar gift thrust upon her, before she too is enslaved and struggles to survive.

The Bad Stuff: To be honest, other than a couple of typo's, there is nothing I picked up on. The only thing I would caution, is that this is set in a gritty world, where there are some pretty sick people that do some pretty nasty things. If you are prudish, this book is not for you.

The Good Stuff: The story world is well established and the characters have some depth. There are dragons and magic in an archaic setting that lends to the dark side of human nature. The protagonists have a real hard time of it with life going from bad to worse. The author sure doesn't show them much love and this makes you want to see them succeed. Oh, and did I mention there's dragons?

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I'm giving it 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

[Shaheen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shatterwing is the first novel in the Dragon Wine series, which is set on a world which used to have two moons until one of them (called Ruel) broke and crashed into the planet. Now there is one moon (Belle), and fragments of Ruel span the sky and occasionally fall out of orbit to impact on the planet. Intelligent life has regressed, partly because of the devastating effects of the planet-satellite impact, and partly because the impact seems to have introduced a species into the world: dragons.

Salinda is a prisoner who is forced to tend the vineyards used to make dragon wine. She was trained by her master and knows how to use the 'essence of dragons' to make sure the wine is impeccable each year. The arrival of young Brill to the prison sets things in motion for Salinda, who quickly becomes embroiled in the very politics and danger that she's successfully avoided all her life.

I liked Salinda and Brill (full name Brilliant) - they're likeable protagonists, although a bit on the stereotypical side. Salinda and Brill are only half the story, however.

My issues with the book have to do with how it is executed, and especially the stylistic decisions that went into it. It is split into two related story-lines, and the blurb does nothing to prepare readers for the shift in protagonists, focus and geography about half way. We leave Salinda and Brill at exciting points of their stories (and I really would have liked to stay with Salinda for longer), and we are introduced to Laidan and Garan.

Laidan travels with her mentor, collecting information about civilisation after the fall of Ruel, while Garan works as a Skywatcher. That's right, Garan is an astronomer! Getting to see Garan and the rest of the Skywatchers use telescopes to watch the Shatterwing and track any stray bits that might be hurtling towards the earth was really cool.

Both story lines have magic and mystery in common, and it looks like they'll eventually come together. They also have brutality and sexual violence in common: the prison Salinda and Brill are in is run by The Inspector, who likes to over-power his enemies in every way he can, and Laidan is captured by an equally sadistic man early in her storyline. The rape and sexual brutality made me uncomfortable, and I don't recommend this book to readers who are sensitive to these themes. Although the sexual violence was in keeping with the dark themes of the novel, I question the author's decision to make every 'bad-guy' in the novel a sexual predator. My opinion is that there are other ways to show how evil a person is.

Another aspect of the execution that troubled me was the writing itself. I noticed it a lot more at the beginning of the book, when I wasn't invested in the characters or world yet and certain things jumped out at me. The author tends to repeat things for the reader, which has the (unintended) side-effect of making her characters seem slow-witted. For example, Brill is put in chains when he is first brought into the camp, and Salinda keeps telling readers how his chains rattle and his steps are cut short and his mobility is limited, and I think many of those reminders were unnecessary. Sometimes Salinda tells Brill some aspect of making dragon wine only to repeat herself a few sentences later, apparently because Brill wasn't listening or is incapable of understanding. The repetition is not limited to just Salinda: Brill, Laidan and Garan all unnecessarily re-hash information readers already know.

My favourite aspect of Shatterwing is definitely the world-building. There are dragons and mysterious astronomical events and a hidden race with a showy agenda. I think it's a very clever blend of fantasy and post-apocalyptic elements, and I am looking forward to unravelling the secrets of this world in the next instalment.

Shatterwing will be enjoyed by readers of dark fantasy and grimdark stories. It's not a story for readers who dislike violence (especially of a sexual nature), but other readers will find something to like in this spirited characters and intriguing world-building. I liked reading it, and will be delving into the sequel, Skywatcher, soon.

You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Originally published at West Coast Book Reviews

This is a difficult review for me as I'm rather torn about this story and it's hard to say exactly why without dumping in a pile of spoilers but I will try.

Overall, for me this is a 3.5 star read meaning I rate it higher than "I like it" but some plot design choices kept me from saying "I loved it." That said, the author's website says the next instalment will be out as early as October so I hope all the loose ends will come together soon.

First, I'm a fan of dragons. All kinds; shifter dragons, pet dragons, smiling animated dragons and even the hungry, fire breathing, world dominating dragons in Shatterwing.

I liked the world Hanson built from the magic astronomy of the Skywatchers to the plain old down to earth gardening (I typed dragoning probably because of how dangerous it is growing grapes a hair's breadth away from a dragon colony. Then I had to correct it).

I also liked how magical learning is something that can be passed down and am intrigued by the folks who lived under the earth. So many unique components were put together in this story and caught my attention.

My challenge with Shatterwing lies in the fact that most of the story wasn't resolved. All the players are in place... and then the massive cliffhanger. I know if I wasn't enjoying the book so much, the cliffhanger wouldn't have had me yelp when I realized I was on the last page. I get it, I understand it, and wow, for a cliffhanger to sting me like that means I was into the book.

Did I mention the next instalment next month? I'll be there.

One point I would have loved to read more about in Shatterwing without waiting for Skywatcher is Salinda and Brill, setup in the teaser/blurb seem to disappear entirely half way through the book. I would have liked to see that part of the storyline carried a little further.

Overall, yes I liked Shatterwing and will move on to book 2.

[Shari Mulluane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Source: Publisher
Original Review: Dragons, Heroes and Wizards

A moon shatters and a world is plunged into chaos as falling chunks of the moon destroy entire cities. Dragons appear. From where noone knows, but they are linked somehow to mankind's survival. Meanwhile a young vintner/prisoner/slave may hold the key to the planet's salvation -- but only if she learns how to use her powers in time.

♦ My Thoughts. Shatterwing is a unique blend of secondary world with both magic and evidence of lost technology. Plus it has dragons. The mix reminds me a bit of Pern only these dragons are not the nice variety. On this world, humans are on their list of food sources.

This is also an apocalyptic world which is an unusual read for me. Note I said apocalyptic and not post-apocalyptic. The apocalypse on this world is still ongoing and I get the impression it is far from over.

Now there is a reason why I normally avoid dystopian books. They depress the heck out of me. Oddly, this one did not have the normal depressing effect. Not sure if it was because this is obviously not our world so it allowed me to keep my distance or because it has dragons. Personally, I'm leaning towards the dragon theory. Give me dragons and I can ignore a lot...

♦ What I Liked. There are several distinct storylines in this tale and they all intertwine. There is the story and backstory of Salinda and Brill. They start off together, but eventually their storylines will split. There is the mysterious story of Nils, who has awoken from a sleep which spanned generations only to discover that he is the last of his race. Eventually his storyline will merge with another's.

And that is only Part One. Part Two is even more interesting.

In Part Two we meet the Skywatchers who hold powers that frankly caught me offguard. Plus we meet another young lady whose fate may be just as important as Salinda's. Again storylines will split apart, merge back together or intertwine with previous storylines. Reminded me of the Spirograph I spent hours playing with as a child. Loops within loops and no end in sight.

My favorite part of all was the survivability of the characters. This is a harsh, cruel, apocalyptic world full of brutality, uncertainty and death. But the players in this drama are survivors, not victims. Do they suffer from self doubt and helplessness at times? Of course. Do they still pick themselves up, brush themselves off and forge ahead? Yes, yes they do. Giving up is easy. The mark of a true hero is getting back up after being beaten, broken and demoralized. This story does not lack in true heroes.

♦ What I didn't like. This is definitely one of those books where you'll need the sequel on hand. It ends in a major cliffhanger. Several really. So far there are mysteries galore with barely a hint much less an answer. The writing could have been a bit tighter. There were too many repetitions of core information to suit me. Not a deal breaker but worth a star demotion. I hate it when my dogs look at me funny while I rant -- out loud -- "Hey! We know this already, lets get to the good stuff..."

Kind of like my readers do while reading my reviews...

There is also a huge amount of violence and a lot of it comes in the form of rape and torture. In this case, it did not bother me because the brutality fit the degradation of the world in general and the treatment of slaves in particular. This is not a pretty world and to pretend otherwise would be misleading.

In my opinion, the rape, torture, verbal and emotional abuse may be commonplace, but they are handled well. They are only as detailed as they need to be. They are not used for shock value. Instead abuse plays an active role only when it shapes the character in question. However, the abundance of rape and torture will bother some people. If you are someone who is easily offended by heavy doses of brutality, it will not take you long to DNF this book.

♦ Conclusion. This is a plot-driven story. The characters, while either admirable in their tenacity or horrible in their cruelty, are not the main focus. This book's greatest draw lies in its ability to make almost every aspect a deep mystery. With every page you turn you get another piece of the story but no answers. It is a giant puzzle and I loved almost every minute of it. Almost. I would have liked something, anything, conclusive, but since I have the sequel in hand, I'm not too worried. The answers I seek will be revealed in book two and I'm really looking forward to them.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I try to think of one word to describe this book, the first one to come to mind is fascinating. The world built in this book is horrible, crazy and often times sick. But I couldn't help but be drawn in to find out how things were going to play out. 3.5 stars

The book has two parts to it and the blurb only covers the first. Which also is more than half the book anyway. Salinda has been in this prison for ten years tending to the grapes used to make dragon wine which many don't even know, but the humans needs it to survive. Before losing her mentor Mez, he bestowed upon her the cadre which he had been given as was given to that person and so on. She's still learning to control it when she is given Brill as a helper. He's young and determined which is all well and good but the inspector has need of him. And not in a good way. This book had some serious sexual brutality in it and the first time it came up shocked the hell out of me. I was not expecting anything like that in the least. But I suppose it's used to show just how horrible humans have become. The inspector is pretty much just a sick, evil man. After Brill returns to Salina tortured, she decides to help him escape to her friend Danton and his rebel army and agrees to follow him the next day. But things don't go as planned at all and she finds herself at the inspector's mercy. Set up by him to be burned as a witch she is rescued by Nils. The last of his race to be alive (apparently at least) he rescues her only to gain knowledge of the dragons.

Part two is about completely different characters, who will obviously be meeting up with the first ones eventually.

The story takes place on some planet who knows where that used to have two moons. One of the moons was cracking and for a while it was being held together by a powerful group of people. Then something happened and the moon completely broke apart. Remaining around the planet the pieces formed what the inhabitants called shatterwing. Amongst them is a group who is able to harness power in crystals and the skywatchers detect and destroy pieces as they fall if they were to cause harm to people. Garan is one of them and after a long night he is informed that he's to go to the city and rescue Laidan. Her master had been poisoned and she taken by the usurper prince. Despite his mixed feelings about his task and her he vows to bring her home alive. But things go wrong from the start, made worse when he finds her. When her master, Thurdon, died, he gave her a gift. A power that she was wholey unprepared for. It, coupled with the loss of her beloved master, put her into a near catatonic state where she couldn't move or think clearly. Thankfully when the danger was at it's most she was able to find herself again (more or less) and they were able to flee. They encounter one horrible thing after another until the end when it probably becomes the worst one yet. Leaving me thinking simply "Oh no."

I was a little surprised how much I liked this book, what with all the terrible stuff being done to people and all, but I really look forward to reading the next book.



Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really despise half written books. It just seems extremely mercenary to start a story and then stop it at a climax without resolution. The characters, setting, and conflicts are all well thought out and creative. Even though there is a lot of ugliness in the story, the story drove the reader to continue despite it. I did not enjoy the choppiness and abruptness that threads of the story ended, and new ones began. I imagine if I were to purchase the next book perhaps the threads would begin again and entertwine. However it is against my principles to allow a book to manipulate me into purchasing the next. This was not a cliffhanger. I understand the idea of a cliffhanger. This was just a pause in what I imagine is a complete story. If I actually got the complete story perhaps my opinion would have been completely different.

[Amanda J Spedding · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually giving this 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it, and it was an easy read, although it took me longer than I liked to connect with the characters.

From the cover, Shatterwing is a book with dragons, but dragons form only part of this story. At its essence, this is a story about a world on the brink and how society (or what’s left of it), deals with an apocalyptic world – not well, I have to say. The white cover and golden wings are a great juxtaposition for a tale that firmly sits on the grim-dark side of things.

Read full review here: http://amandajspedding.com/2015/08/01...

[Suki Rickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 1

Book 1 had errors throughout and was an odd read. The overall plot was interesting, but the characters and setting of the book for the main people was odd to read. Half way through the book the characters and plot changed. It was almost all about the characters suffering and not a lot of information on what the main point was.

[Mary Good]

Enjoyed reading it. Some of the torture was too much for me. However, I started getting suspicious that it wouldn’t have an ending. So I peeked ahead and I was right. I looked author up on goodreads and it looked like the series went on forever without an end in sight. Quit before wasting my time on it.

[Jason Duby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of Margra has been dealt a devastating amount of damage as one of its moons. Ruel has been shattered. The moon is now in two major pieces, Rueline and Ruelette, but a belt of lumar chunks also exists. It’s from this debris field, known as Shatterwing, that meteors fall from and rain devastation on the land below. Civilization is failing, and it’s in this fantastic setting that several characters try to survive and accomplish their own goals, from restoring vitality to the world to learning about the age and the role that dragons have to play in this critical time.

Donna Maree Hanson has created one of the most unique fantasy settings that I have run across in my recent reading. The book has different plot threads that start to interweave in this environment, each one involving different characters. As the tales continue, the reader learns more and more about the world and the danger that it suffers in its current state. The ideas presented are ambitious and are very reminiscent of the writings of Anne McCaffery. The main characters are developed well, though it becomes obvious that this world is not a kind one very quickly.

My main contention with this novel is that it is indeed a start to this tale, but there’s no real resolution at the end of the book. Obviously there are more books in this series, which explains why things stop in the middle of a couple of different arcs. Personally I wish that there had been even a temporary sense of resolution at the end, and I have to wonder if people who start in the middle of this series will have all the information required to catch everything. But the book is worth a reading and some consideration, based on that environment alone.

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from Romance Authors That Rock. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

[MGB · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very dystopian story. The moon is crashing, people are evil and commit horrible abuses on other people. There are two storylines, quite disjoint, but possibly related as they both mention dragons.
The dragons don't seem to be a central part of the story. The evil and abuse are. I just couldn't continue and shelved it.

[Suzee Haney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read Shatterwing. I do not remember being able to find a place to review it. If I did, then there will be two reviews.
I liked this story of life, true fear, and hope better this time. I’m glad I got to read our a second time. Thank you, Donna Marie Hanson. This is a good sort.

[Heidi Schnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the storyline as I am a fan of post apocalyptic fiction and the fantasy world the author has created is well thought out. The book contains more violence and sexual assault/ rape than I feel necessary but I guess this was to illustrate how off the rails this world has become.
Look forward to reading the sequel.

[Govno Nichevo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story lacks a conclusion, and is really just a lead-in (I presume) to the second book in the series. The world that had been imagined for this story had a lot of intriguing parts to it. There were some very dark and brutal elements in the story line.

Read as part of the Dragons & Lore collection.

[Judy Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series. Tired of poor sad helpless 16 years olds being raped and brutalized or almost raped and brutalized and the big strong handsome male saving her. Too much like real life. Sorry.

[Mike Brannick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was well written, but I didn't enjoy it. There was too much blatant cruelty. The plot is interesting, the characters are unique. And the world is unique. But it is NOT a world I would want to live in.

[Palvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unnecessarily sadistic - the repeated detailed sexual torture scenes for nearly every character was so sickening that it distracted from the plot. Just found myself thinking - no one should have to read those scenes.

[Dana Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Got half way through. Just not my cup of tea I guess. Too dark. Too brutal.

[Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different

Pretty good but quite different from the usual fantasy book. I enjoyed the story and getting to know the characters

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

##2.5 out of 5 stars##

*** I received this book from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review ***
I give this book

I struggled reading this book, I kept putting it down, starting something else then I would have another crack at it.

So I have put off writing the review for a while so I could deliberate how to write this review.

So I have decided to split it into 3 parts:

First the Writing style...

With me struggling with it when I like to read Fantasy/paranormal I have come to the conclusion that part of the problem was the way its written. I think the Author has gone for a more complicated dialogue, I am assuming because its set on another world but the first part of the book and plot was often dragging, and not much is happening, other than the characters tending the vines or being tortured. I could only manage to read a chapter or two and then I would need to stop, and this leads me to part 2.

The Plot...

Well I wouldn't have said yes to reviewing this book if the plot line hadn't intrigued me - BUT and I know I am not the only reviewer that has expressed this... There is TOO MUCH RAPE in this book, its not necessary, and to be honest after the first passage I put the book down and didn't read it for another few days.

But I don't like not reading a book I have been given for free to review and I also needed to know what was going to happen, why Salinda was continuing at the vineyard, why she stuck up for Brill.

ALSO the synopsis doesn't tell you that there are actually 2 separate story lines in this book and when I got to Part 2 I finally got interested, and the writing style got much easier to read, maybe because now there was something happening other than brutality, rape and drudgery??

But all too soon, we end up with our MC's being captured and awaiting more heinous atrocity's to happen, and then we are left with lots of unanswered questions and needing book 2.

And onto part 3 of my review.

The Characters...
Salinda - our first character we get to know, shes surviving any way she knows how, but I still could not feel any empathy for her - in fact I couldn't get to feel anything for any character, which is very unusual for me.

Brill - he is the son of a Rebel leader, and honestly what the Author does to him was hard to read, but still I didn't feel anything for him.

The Guards and Inspector, the sadistic ruler of the prison vineyard, well he was as sadistic as you can imagine - and boy has the author got a vicious imagination when it comes to torturing and raping her characters, and I read Dark Romance books so I have read some dark stuff, but this was just Rape for Rapes sake, I feel that it was entirely unnecessary and the story could have been just as interesting if the Editor had cut out these scenes all together.

My favourite character - THE DRAGON! why Salinda didn't tell the dragon to eat The Inspector I do not know!

In Part 2 we meet Nils a long lost inhabitant of an underground city who had been imprisoned in a Cryo-sleep chamber and who wakes up thousands of years later instead of his actual prison term, he finds that his entire race is now extinct and sets off to find out what happened to the world while he slept, on his travels he meets Salinda and helps her.

We also meet Garan a 'Sky Watcher' who is tasked to rescues a girl (Laiden) that his order have deemed extremely important and needs to be brought to the Sky Watchers for the good of the world. Now these characters I got more into, for once the Fantasy of the lost civilization was described with more depth and feeling. But all too soon the story takes a more violent turn.

In conclusion:


Overall, this was an okay book if you do not mind your fantasy with a good dose of Rape and constant violence against women and the weak, the World that the Author has described is a good setting for the fantasy to evolve on, but the constant violence to the main characters are enough not to make me give this book a 3 and I am not sure I want to read SkyWatcher.

Many thanks to Momentum for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a NetGalley find that I was on the border on when it came to requesting it but did it anyway. It intrigued me just enough to hit that button.

Well. I’ll start by saying I liked the concept of SHATTERWING and I liked the world that Hanson started to develop here, rather barren, Mad Max without the leather, people reduced to baser instincts, all while watching a moon continue to fragment and destroy them. There’s a lot to work with here and it’s what really got me through the book. I liked the concept of creating this drink called dragon wine that had healing properties, on which humanity hinged itself. I liked the notion that Salinda is the last bastion of knowledge in the world, carrying a secret she must keep or risk her life all the while being a slave toiling in a vineyard. She’s a great character with a pretty level head thanks to a ton of training and she really knocks Brill into place, who’s a spoiled little brat that doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. But there was a really big cloud blocking out the shine with this book.

It appears that the only way the stock character villains can subjugate people and put them in their place is by rampant sexual assault i.e. rape by a myriad of means, sodomy, fondling of someone in a catatonic state. It was disturbing and the more I read it the more it seemed like it was rape for rape’s sake. Look. I’m all for putting characters through the wringer. It’s when an author does that that their true personalities start to shine through. But every major character whose POV I read from was raped in this book. All three of them, two female and one male. And all for . . . rape? There are other means of torture and humiliation and dehumanization but all there is in this world is sexual assault and it really hurt the book for me. I know the author was trying to show how brutal of a world this place was but really, fade to black a little bit or get more creative with your torture techniques. This was excessive.

Another thing that really bugged me was how fainting damsels the women were. Yeah, sure, they had smart mouths and they were able to survive in the world up until this point but they suffered the most and required rescuing of the male order from every scenario. Held down by men and rescued by them. It’s a rather odd position to be in when reading a book where the two female protagonists are supposedly stand on their own as strong women. However they were rather shrinking and faint when the crap started to get stuck in the fan blades.

What the blurb doesn’t touch on in Part 2 of SHATTERWING and I think that’s doing it a disservice. The female protagonist’s name in Part 2 escapes me at the moment but I liked her as much as Salinda (minus the rape) and they’re two similar characters that I could get on board with. Not to mention it’s the other half to this story and once you’re in to Part 2 it starts to wrap around itself and a bigger picture starts to form. To mention one part and not the other is lacking, I think.

The underground guy who emerges after over 1,000 years of stasis is interesting too. Again, his name escapes me too and it’s a part of the story only touched on but it made the world a bit bigger and a bit fuller beyond the rape wasteland that surrounds people in this world.

I like this world with its moons and Shatterwing slowly dying and the dragons. Of course the dragons! And the magic and the blooming history. But the sexual assault. My god. Once would have been sufficient to paint the world in a solid picture. But three times and it’s just rape porn and I’m really hesitant now to read further in the series because I don’t want to read more rapes. Show me gore and war and fighting and even various degrees of torture but it’s only just rape here, and abject women shaming (severe Madonna/whore issues in this book from an in-world societal standpoint) and it just kills it for me. I just don’t want to read that.

2 1/2

[Dave Versace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shatterwing is the first half of Donna Maree Hanson’s Dragon Wine series (digital release from Momentum Publishing) and to be very clear, it is very much the first half of a single story. While both its main threads are brought to intriguing points of climax, neither is resolved in this volume. That will presumably have to wait for Skywatcher (Book 2, due out on the 9th of October). Severing the story is an interesting publication choice, but not one that I’ll go into here; I’ll save that for a review of Skywatcher.

Let’s get the important bits out of the way first – Shatterwing is brutal. If you need trigger warnings for torture and sexual abuse, consider yourself warned. I hesitate to use the expression “grimdark”, mostly because I’m yet to see a satisfactory definition of the supposed subgenre, but it is grim and it is dark. The setting alone is post-apocalyptic – one of the moons has shattered and left the world of Margra a devastated meteor-blasted wasteland. Wild dragons prey on incautious survivors. A brutal dictatorship controls the only commodity that matters any longer – dragon wine, which has restorative properties and might be the only thing keeping humanity alive. Violent rebels use terrorist tactics to wrest control away from the governors. And political prisoners are kept in slaves camps to tend the dragon wine vineyards.

Salinda is a vintner is a prison camp ruled by the Inspector and a sadistic cadre of guards. Salinda avoids the most savage treatment meted out to the prisoners partly by virtue of being a skilled wine maker, but mostly by pretending to be diseased so that her guards won’t rape her. Brill, a new prisoner assigned to her as an apprentice, is tortured by the Inspector for information on a rebel faction. The first part of the story concerns their fight for survival within the camp and the revelation that both are guarding powerful secrets.

A second narrative thread concerns an explorer from an underground city who has been in life suspension for hundreds of years, emerging to explore a world in complete ecological collapse. A third concerns a trade delegation from an order of astronomers that goes badly awry. Both storylines are interesting but are more set up than resolved in this volume.

Rape, along with every other conceivable form of torture and maltreatment, is a constant threat throughout this book. To be clear – protagonist characters in this book are raped, tortured and threatened with abuse and death. It is rough going – while there are moments of optimism and even some sly humour, the characters of Shatterwing suffer terribly. Strange powers and secret knowledge do not protect them from horrific abuses at the hands of their captors.

Shatterwing is not so much a brutal fantasy as it is a fantasy about surviving brutality. The characters endure horror and loss, but they keep going, hanging on to life with a death grip. The story looks at the different ways that humans respond to horror, whether though grim resolve, pragmatism, denial and a desire for justice or revenge. For all that the brutality was not an enjoyable read, the honesty with which the characters respond to the brutality is a strength of this book.

The world building in Shatterwing is also a strength. I could happily have read an entire novel about the intricacies of combining dragon physiology and wine making, not to mention the various hints that crop up about strange magic powers – or technologies indistinguishable from magic. This first Dragon Wine volume raises a raft of interesting questions that I want to see paid off. Understanding how this broken world works – and how these characters might put it back together – has got me intrigued to read the concluding volume.

I’ll steel myself for what the characters might have to go through to get to the end though.

[Tsana Dolichva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shatterwing by Donna Maree Hanson is the first book in the Dragon Wine series. It's a secondary world fantasy with dragons (as you may gather from the series title) and more astronomy that we usually see in a fantasy book. I've previously reviewed a couple of Donna's books, Rayessa and the Space Pirates, and Bespelled. What strikes me most about Donna as a writer is how flexible she can be. These three books have very little in common stylistically or even thematically, yet she pulls them off.

The blurb is a bit deceptive in that it only covers about half the book. And I mean that in the most literal sense; part two breaks from the first set of characters to follow a new group of characters. It could almost have been published as two separate books and the structure really highlights how this is only the first book in the series. Having said that, the first section ended in a fairly conclusive way that didn't leave me so desperate to get back to those characters that I couldn't pay attention to the new characters. If anything, I'd argue that the first part was a bit more conclusive than the second, which ended on a minor cliffhanger.

But enough about structure. The most obvious thing to note about the content of this book that's not necessarily obvious is that it's dark fantasy. Dark as in brutal or "grimdark". There is rape and there is violence. Most of the worst rape happens off the page, but there's enough on the page that if you don't want to read about rape (or molestation or brutal beatings), then probably give this series a miss. The characters can be more or less divided into main characters and other "good guys" and "horrible men that don't think women are real people". And, I suppose, miscellaneous bystanders who are afraid of witchcraft.

I really enjoyed the story but there were times when the brutality got a bit much for me. Mainly this was towards the end of part one where Salinda, our first main character, is being brutally tortured. It's not that it's not relevant to the plot, but it wasn't fun to read (nor, I think, should it have been). Then, in part two, I was probably a bit over-invested in a new main character, Laidan, not being raped and it was a nail-biter for a while there. (I won't spoil which way it went.)

Anyway, the main thrust of Shatterwing is setting up the world and the overarching plot for the series. The worldbuilding is quite nice, with two moons in the sky, one of which broke up hundreds of years ago (called the "Shatterwing" because it's shattered and looks like a wing). There's some historical background that remains mysterious for the time being and I look forward to learning more about that in subsequent books. There's also the matter of the dragon wine, which has magical properties, and which is apparently the main thing keeping the human population alive. How did this come to be? I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Shatterwing is not for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to people who wish to avoid reading about violence. However, I would recommend it to fans of dark and grim fantasy. The world may have dragons that eat people, but the real monsters here are other people.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.

[Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A World Torn Asunder Begins The Fall Again

This series must be read in order. This is the first book.

This book is very original and there is actually a bit SciFi hidden among all the dark fantasy. There was a world ending catastrophe that destroyed one of the moons and practically wiping out anyone with any knowledge whatsoever of advanced technologies or actual science. Many many generations have passed and the people left have regressed to owning slaves and burning witches all the while building a feudal society based on power mongering and superstition. There are too many characters to name and explain but as an ensemble they create a rich and varied cast upon this damaged land.

Dragon Wine is what keeps people alive in this desolate and devastated world. Weirdly enough not many people realize this and just think it makes life better... Not realizing that they would literally die without it. There are factions who wish to destroy the dragons completely which would in turn sentence every living person to a slow and painful death. Other people try to understand the dragons but they are few and far between. Most people only tolerate the dragons as Dragon Wine is so sought after and amazing.

Filled with action, adventure,suspense and intrigue this book will keep would on the edge of your seat with anticipation of all the thrills and chills just around the corner. There is rarely any humor and if it is there it is of a very dark nature as the characters deal with the brutality and coldness of the ruling class whether they be nobility or bandits or rebels doesn't much matter in a society of violence and conquest. The brutality of this fantasy series is not for the sensitive or the weak of stomach but it is awesome nonetheless! I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next one Skywatcher: Dragon Wine 2! I hope it comes out soon!

***This series is suitable for adult readers only due to extremely graphic violence and the subjugation of just about everyone by a culture who deems rape and/or beatings to be an appropriate punishment for just about any infraction

[Melek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't seem to find a starting point. There are lots that are fairly good, yet the bad are way too bad not to start with. I think I'll start with the worst one.

The Writing Style
If I were to rate this book considering only this, I would have given a 1.5/5, 2/5 tops. It was just dragging. It was like the writer tried to make the sentences sound more complicated, so that it would look, I don't know, more suitable to the time in the book or the situations, yet it read more pushed than anything else. It wasn't until I could get a little into the story that I could read more than a few dozen pages at once. With some more work on this part, it could have been way better.

The Plot
That part was fairly good. Though I can't sat I got excited in the right places, or any places for that matter, it had a plot that an average reader would find gripping and hard to put down. Still, the fact that nothing resolved in this book and the ending wasn't actually a cliffhanger, I'm not sure it had enough to make the reader get the sequel(s). For me, the best parts were the brutal ones, like Danton losing his eye. That was just when I was hooked.

The Characterization
I had another problem with this. I don't know how to make it better, so I don't have anything concrete to say, but I didn't connect to any of the characters or there was nothing that made me feel like they could be real, believable people. I think they were just there, existing.

Overall, this was an okay book with good fantasy elements and a good setting, but the bad parts were bad enough to overshadow the goods. Needs some work. 2.5/5

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shatterwing
by Donna Maree Hanson
The first book in the series sets up the entire series. Shatterwing is a great beginning to a series that has the potential of the Pit Dragons series by Jane Yolen. The remnants of a world shattered beyond comprehension when the moon is cleft in half impacting and devastating the planet. From the birth of this massive destruction dragons have emerged into the world. Their impact not only felt because of the swath of terror, danger, and death has cause people to become addicted to DragonWine. Dragonwine is only created by the sacrifice of man and beast to the dragons. The broken world is chaotic, drawn between violence and power, as the whole of society lives caught between warring factions who attempt to control the world. The story follows three distinct groups, one the lone survivor of the people before the Shatterwing destruction, A powerful woman who has gained great magical powers of memory, a young girl and her protector. The broad history and mythology of the story is intriguing, tantalizing glimpses of rich culture turned on its head by the devastation of which the planet was subjected to, create a back drop to the story that leaves the reader with the idea of an epic tale. I can’t wait for the subsequent books to be published and see if the characters we are forming an attachment to will survive the insurmountable odds set against them.

[Phillip Berrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting setting which combines dragons, a broken moon and threats from the sky. However, if you're thinking Pern, think again.

The world of Magra is a harsh post-apocalyptic world where a human civilisation is hanging on by the grimmest of margins. To highlight this grimness, two of the author's point-of-view characters are women and they do not have a happy time in this male-dominated world where the weak and meek are preyed upon by the strong and ruthless. Consider this a warning for those who like their fantasy politically correct.

Actually, I think calling this book a fantasy is misrepresenting it. Yes, there are dragons in the story and a dragon-derived wine with seemingly magic-like qualities, but the threats to this world have a very science fictional basis. The breakup of the Shatterwing moon is what brought about the apocalypse and the appearance of the dragons. Who is to say these dragons aren't just aliens by another name? There are also references to and remnants of pre-Shatterwing technologies and cultures that may be the planet's only hope from an all-too-science-based threat.

For this reason I have shelved this book in both 'Dark Fantasy' and 'Science Fiction Fantasy'. I stopped short of putting it in 'Science Fiction' though, after all those are fire-breathing dragons flying through the sky, not spaceships.

Caveat: I did some continuity editing on an early draft of this book.

[Kerry Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two moons on Magra, but one is not whole. When Ruel moon broke apart, it changed the planet irreversibly. Nils of the Hiem was exiled to spend 100 years asleep. Four thousand years later, he awakes to find everything is different. Meanwhile, Brill is sent to the prison vines as an assistant to Salinda. The vines produce grapes which are fertilised with dragon manure. Dragon wine is not all it seems and there are plenty of people who would like to get their hands on it. Nils, Salinda, Brill and others must work together to ensure they don't!

I like the premise of this book. I enjoy fantasy novels where most of the work is rooted in reality, it certainly helps me to have sympathy with the characters. Equally, I really liked a lot of the characters here. I found Nils particularly interesting, and even the not so nice people were well fleshed out and well described.

The one thing about this book that I did not like was that it is clearly not a whole story. It reaches a certain point and then stops dead. I started reading the next book immediately and it just picks up straightaway from where it was. "Shatterwing" is not a particularly long novel so I don't see why it needed to be divided into two and I did find that a frustration. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed reading it and will be continuing to read the rest of the story in however many books it comes in!

[Cat Sheely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the first half and became very invested with the female character. I was very disappointed when the POV changed in the second half of the book.

That said, it's one of my own, personal things and not a fault in the book. The book is well written with a great storyline and world building. The characters are real and invite you to want to know what happens to them.

Also the story is very dark in places, uncomfortable at times. Still, it is part of the world and the plot. If you want to read something that doesn't sugar coat the truth, is peopled with real people who don't understand the magic they have and the world they live in and who need to find a way to save themselves and their world, then this is the book and series for you.

I have the second in the series and I'm looking forward to reading it.