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Tales from the New Earth #1
The Dragons Return
Over 3 years ago, the old Earth began to die. Technology started to break down. Electricity failed. Machines stopped working. Planes, trains and cars became useless hunks of metal. And then the dragons came. On the Night of Burning, the world's great cities were reduced to slag and rubble by dragon fire. Civilization, as we knew it. ceased to be.
But before the end came, there were the Changlings. A few humans, children and adults alike, began to mutate into...something else. Ears became pointed, fingers fused or elongated. Their old languages were lost to them and they began to babble in unknown tongues. Perhaps one in a hundred thousand Changed. Simon O'Toole was one of them.
Back then, he was a large middle-aged man. Now he's a skinny, awkward teenager, Simon has lost everything; his family, his friends, the world that he knew. But he has gained something as well. Through hints in dreams, he has learned magical runes that can summon elementals. He can cast fireballs and lightning. In short, Simon has become a wizard.
Slowly, carefully, he is learning to use this new power. It will take years to master his magic. Years that Simon may not have.
The dragons are still on the hunt. They search for survivors of the human race, and when they have been exterminated, the dragons will turn on the last remnants of humanity: the Changlings themselves.
But before the end came, there were the Changlings. A few humans, children and adults alike, began to mutate into...something else. Ears became pointed, fingers fused or elongated. Their old languages were lost to them and they began to babble in unknown tongues. Perhaps one in a hundred thousand Changed. Simon O'Toole was one of them.
Back then, he was a large middle-aged man. Now he's a skinny, awkward teenager, Simon has lost everything; his family, his friends, the world that he knew. But he has gained something as well. Through hints in dreams, he has learned magical runes that can summon elementals. He can cast fireballs and lightning. In short, Simon has become a wizard.
Slowly, carefully, he is learning to use this new power. It will take years to master his magic. Years that Simon may not have.
The dragons are still on the hunt. They search for survivors of the human race, and when they have been exterminated, the dragons will turn on the last remnants of humanity: the Changlings themselves.
458 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2014
45 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 15, 2015
Unbelievable
Throughout the entire book the characters seem to have trouble believing in just about everything.
I will give you an example of the typical line.
Character A: "I saw a raven."
Character B: "I don't believe in ravens."
Character A: "neither do I but I know I saw one."
Character B: "That's incredible! I saw a crow the other day."
Character A: jaw drops open and eyes widen in surprise. "But crows don't exist." Etcetera etcetera.
Add a few paragraphs to that discussion and repeat every couple chapters and you will understand why I consider this such an annoying book to read.
In short the book has an interesting premise but all of the characters are imbeciles who somehow can't believe anything out of the ordinary could possibly exist... did I mention that's after their bodies are transformed and dragons nearly wipe out the human race.
Throughout the entire book the characters seem to have trouble believing in just about everything.
I will give you an example of the typical line.
Character A: "I saw a raven."
Character B: "I don't believe in ravens."
Character A: "neither do I but I know I saw one."
Character B: "That's incredible! I saw a crow the other day."
Character A: jaw drops open and eyes widen in surprise. "But crows don't exist." Etcetera etcetera.
Add a few paragraphs to that discussion and repeat every couple chapters and you will understand why I consider this such an annoying book to read.
In short the book has an interesting premise but all of the characters are imbeciles who somehow can't believe anything out of the ordinary could possibly exist... did I mention that's after their bodies are transformed and dragons nearly wipe out the human race.
Read
December 10, 2015Actually I finished all five books in this series this week. This appears to be a teenage level series--well written and fun to read for adults. I like the comedic characters and enjoyed trying to figure out who the bad guy was at times. All in all a fun read for a serious subject.
June 27, 2017
No just No..
Main characacter is an idiot i mean really idiot and the whole book just go against its whole backstory.
For example main character is a 60 yo IT guy with body like arnold transformed to 14 yo wizard.
means
1. main character is an adult not a fuckin lost teenager
2. Main character know how to code which in turn should help him with his magic (rune etc)
3. MC is a gamer
4. The change happen 3 YEARS ago
But here :
1. MC always grumble how weak his new body is which should not happen. try having a 60 yo body author!
2. Even after a fuckin god tell him that his new body is his new self the magician he keep trying to solve his problem ala conan the barbarian which in turn screw other people
3. And his whole premise of learning magic? summon a few elemental to help him do stuff and then FORGET that he have the ability to summon higher grade to help him. do magic that his friend give him, no new magic no creativity his just stone dead stupid.
4. Even after mistake that cost him lives he keep doing the same stuff
5. He dont like a company of other people but have personality like a god damn paladin that try to help everyone again contradiction
6. You dont need 3 YEARS to cope with new situation and condition which CAN and WILL kill you at any time, actualy you'll be dead if you took 3 years to adept with a world filled with warewolf wraith changeling dragons. BUT lo even after 3 years MC keep saying impossible to stuff, not possible x exist. i wonder how he even survive again contradiction
7. The dragon need to kill whole "old human" before they start killing new human the MC knew but what the MC do? "imma build my tower at the corner of the world and isolating myself with my 2 elemental and 3 of my horses even though there's a fledging town nearby" again contradiction
There's many more inconsistencies filling a whole book author dont know what they want to write.
The whole book feel like fetch this do this quest and the quest giver is his own elemental summon
Steer clear from the whole series
Main characacter is an idiot i mean really idiot and the whole book just go against its whole backstory.
For example main character is a 60 yo IT guy with body like arnold transformed to 14 yo wizard.
means
1. main character is an adult not a fuckin lost teenager
2. Main character know how to code which in turn should help him with his magic (rune etc)
3. MC is a gamer
4. The change happen 3 YEARS ago
But here :
1. MC always grumble how weak his new body is which should not happen. try having a 60 yo body author!
2. Even after a fuckin god tell him that his new body is his new self the magician he keep trying to solve his problem ala conan the barbarian which in turn screw other people
3. And his whole premise of learning magic? summon a few elemental to help him do stuff and then FORGET that he have the ability to summon higher grade to help him. do magic that his friend give him, no new magic no creativity his just stone dead stupid.
4. Even after mistake that cost him lives he keep doing the same stuff
5. He dont like a company of other people but have personality like a god damn paladin that try to help everyone again contradiction
6. You dont need 3 YEARS to cope with new situation and condition which CAN and WILL kill you at any time, actualy you'll be dead if you took 3 years to adept with a world filled with warewolf wraith changeling dragons. BUT lo even after 3 years MC keep saying impossible to stuff, not possible x exist. i wonder how he even survive again contradiction
7. The dragon need to kill whole "old human" before they start killing new human the MC knew but what the MC do? "imma build my tower at the corner of the world and isolating myself with my 2 elemental and 3 of my horses even though there's a fledging town nearby" again contradiction
There's many more inconsistencies filling a whole book author dont know what they want to write.
The whole book feel like fetch this do this quest and the quest giver is his own elemental summon
Steer clear from the whole series
July 7, 2023
Finally done with 3, I moved on to book 1! (Blame my Kindle for going in the wrong order...) And I was disappointed. So disappointed.
I had expected book 1 to be about how modern everyday humans coped with suddenly having completely different bodies and magic skills (magic skills, being more physically powerful than an ox, having contact with literal gods, whatever came with their new role), but nope. Book 1 started three years after everyone Changed. Why? Why not cover what would be the most interesting part of the story?
Oh well, the author and I must have very different ideas of what the interesting parts are.
In book 3, the Wizard (Simon) was mega-powerful, but I had figured that he earned that through the previous two books. Nope. In book one, a god touches him on the head and gives him all the power, knowledge, and spells of every Wizard that had previously lived. So much for a character earning power!
I was also really curious about how Simon got a tower to live in. There aren't that many castle-like towers around in the real world, and the book is set in the real world. Turns out that, right before magic returned, Simon (an IT worker) bought a land and built a tower on it...
Oh well. It was still a good story, even if some of the plot points disappointed me.
Like in book 3, in this story Simon had to fight a dragon to save the few Changed humans that are alive. I have a strong suspicion that books 2 and 4+ will have the same plot (since there are five primal dragons and the dark gods they serve, probably one major kill per book).
I have book 2 and 4 already, so I'm going to keep going with the series for now.
I had expected book 1 to be about how modern everyday humans coped with suddenly having completely different bodies and magic skills (magic skills, being more physically powerful than an ox, having contact with literal gods, whatever came with their new role), but nope. Book 1 started three years after everyone Changed. Why? Why not cover what would be the most interesting part of the story?
Oh well, the author and I must have very different ideas of what the interesting parts are.
In book 3, the Wizard (Simon) was mega-powerful, but I had figured that he earned that through the previous two books. Nope. In book one, a god touches him on the head and gives him all the power, knowledge, and spells of every Wizard that had previously lived. So much for a character earning power!
I was also really curious about how Simon got a tower to live in. There aren't that many castle-like towers around in the real world, and the book is set in the real world. Turns out that, right before magic returned, Simon (an IT worker) bought a land and built a tower on it...
Oh well. It was still a good story, even if some of the plot points disappointed me.
Like in book 3, in this story Simon had to fight a dragon to save the few Changed humans that are alive. I have a strong suspicion that books 2 and 4+ will have the same plot (since there are five primal dragons and the dark gods they serve, probably one major kill per book).
I have book 2 and 4 already, so I'm going to keep going with the series for now.
May 4, 2024
Wonderful fantasy
I have read and reread all of JJ Thomson's work, I love it. It's entertaining you're literally glued to the book. It's wonderful for teens and adults.
I have read and reread all of JJ Thomson's work, I love it. It's entertaining you're literally glued to the book. It's wonderful for teens and adults.
July 23, 2015
Interesting premise, but it's extremely derivative and the execution is sorely lacking.
The basic idea is that Earth has lost all technology, a small percentage of humanity has "changed", and a bunch of old evil gods want to wipe human existence off the planet using dragons and their hordes.
Here's where it gets kinda lame:
1) The entire thing reads like it was lifted from the Dungeons & Dragons players handbook and monstrous manual. The main character even plays by the same rules of magic. He has to memorize a spell to cast it and once cast the spell is gone from his memory forcing him to re-memorize it. The spells are even named the SAME thing. At one point the author even mentions the main character reaching the next level.
2) The main characters are constantly meeting new creatures or theorizing their existence but then say things "Well, that's just silly." Then low and behold the creature appears the next chapter and can't believe it exists. Really? Your horse changes into a unicorn and you turn into a wizard and the existence of elves, dwarves, and dragons is now somehow ridiculous?
3) The main character is described as being a good elementalist, but he rarely summons elementals to help solve obvious problems. He's told fire elementals are great for offense and guarding things. He has a wall to guard, but he never summons one to do the job. During the climatic fight scene, he summons a water elemental behind the scenes and uses it in a very weak way.
4) The self sacrifice crap gets old REAL quick. Each of the characters spend several pages in multiple parts of the book telling everyone how they will sacrifice themselves to buy everyone else time. Then another few pages are spent going over all it's all-for-one, one-for-all and nobody is being sacrificed. It's childish and cliche.
The basic idea is that Earth has lost all technology, a small percentage of humanity has "changed", and a bunch of old evil gods want to wipe human existence off the planet using dragons and their hordes.
Here's where it gets kinda lame:
1) The entire thing reads like it was lifted from the Dungeons & Dragons players handbook and monstrous manual. The main character even plays by the same rules of magic. He has to memorize a spell to cast it and once cast the spell is gone from his memory forcing him to re-memorize it. The spells are even named the SAME thing. At one point the author even mentions the main character reaching the next level.
2) The main characters are constantly meeting new creatures or theorizing their existence but then say things "Well, that's just silly." Then low and behold the creature appears the next chapter and can't believe it exists. Really? Your horse changes into a unicorn and you turn into a wizard and the existence of elves, dwarves, and dragons is now somehow ridiculous?
3) The main character is described as being a good elementalist, but he rarely summons elementals to help solve obvious problems. He's told fire elementals are great for offense and guarding things. He has a wall to guard, but he never summons one to do the job. During the climatic fight scene, he summons a water elemental behind the scenes and uses it in a very weak way.
4) The self sacrifice crap gets old REAL quick. Each of the characters spend several pages in multiple parts of the book telling everyone how they will sacrifice themselves to buy everyone else time. Then another few pages are spent going over all it's all-for-one, one-for-all and nobody is being sacrificed. It's childish and cliche.
March 27, 2015
May I just say I hated putting this book down. I liked it that much. So the old dark gods want to return to earth so they sent their harbingers of doom, the dragons. 3 years later the world is unrecognizable. Luckily, the gods of light managed to sneak in some magic and make some changes of their own... Take Simon, he used to be a large aging strong man and now he's a young scrawny wizard fumbling his way through learning magic. He's managed to summon a small earth elemental that helps him with day to day stuff, but there are no longer any books or teachers of magic. The rules seem to follow the D&D style magic so that's kind of cool. Definitely worth a read. Easy to follow and a really quick read. I'm gonna go get the rest...
April 13, 2016
The Dragons Return
A lovely tale just the of several in this series. J. J. Thompson is a master story teller. Simon is a new Wizard, in a world that has reverted to an old magical realm. Complete with evil dragons, changlings are humans that have changed into characters having magical talents.
A lovely tale just the of several in this series. J. J. Thompson is a master story teller. Simon is a new Wizard, in a world that has reverted to an old magical realm. Complete with evil dragons, changlings are humans that have changed into characters having magical talents.
March 25, 2016
Good premise.
Awful execution.
To sum the whole experience of this book in one word: "bland".
The idea and the world could have been so much more, it's sad.
I will read the second to see if it gets better or not, but if it were rewritten this could be a really great book.
Awful execution.
To sum the whole experience of this book in one word: "bland".
The idea and the world could have been so much more, it's sad.
I will read the second to see if it gets better or not, but if it were rewritten this could be a really great book.
March 30, 2015
Good first book
I found the characters were well developed and like real life, have limitations. I definitely will be reading the next book in the series!
I found the characters were well developed and like real life, have limitations. I definitely will be reading the next book in the series!
June 15, 2015
Ready for battle
Grabs you from the first page. Made me want to arm myself and join the fray! I was entertained all the way.
Grabs you from the first page. Made me want to arm myself and join the fray! I was entertained all the way.
January 5, 2016
I'm through book 4. The series start off well, then declines little bit. Just seemed like the author started getting paid by the page by book 3...
April 26, 2016
Surprised
Surprisingly good book started a little slow but ended up hooking me thoroughly I could not put it down it got so good
Surprisingly good book started a little slow but ended up hooking me thoroughly I could not put it down it got so good
July 7, 2016
really really dislike Main characters who are portrayed as stupid.
April 1, 2025
My all time favorite series
I reread this series every year or 2 and every year I love it more and more! I love the post modern medieval fantasy, it's incredibly unique
I reread this series every year or 2 and every year I love it more and more! I love the post modern medieval fantasy, it's incredibly unique
April 13, 2017
great read
fast paced well written story, characters beautifully
crafted and fascinating, well thought out, couldn't put down story
will jave to read next book in series
fast paced well written story, characters beautifully
crafted and fascinating, well thought out, couldn't put down story
will jave to read next book in series
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews