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Dragonvein #1
Dragonvein Book One
Carentan, France 1944 - Ethan Martin, a soldier in the 101st Airborne, is fighting for his life. But soon he will learn what peril truly is when he is ripped from his world and transported to a land of magic, swords, and dragons. And though the Nazis are now far, far away, danger is closer than ever.
The Eternal Emperor, Shinzan has destroyed the mages and only a few dragons remain in exile. And now that Ethan, son of Praxis Dragonvein, has returned he must destroy him as well. Faced with unimaginable power, Ethan has only one hope - to reach the dwarf kingdom of Elyfoss before Shinzan can find him.
The Eternal Emperor, Shinzan has destroyed the mages and only a few dragons remain in exile. And now that Ethan, son of Praxis Dragonvein, has returned he must destroy him as well. Faced with unimaginable power, Ethan has only one hope - to reach the dwarf kingdom of Elyfoss before Shinzan can find him.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2015
300 people are currently reading
1670 people want to read
About the author
Brian D. Anderson
47 books691 followersKnown as one of the O.G. independent authors of the 2010-2012 indie explosion, Brian D. Anderson gained massive popularity right out of the gate with his debut series, The Godling Chronicles. His follow-up series, Dragonvein, was just as popular, Book One becoming a Top Five Finalist on Audible.com for Fantasy Book of the Year in 2015 – becoming the very first independent to reach the finals. But Anderson was far from finished.
After co-authoring Akiri with Steven Savile (Warhammer, Pathfinder, Dr. Who, and Sherlock Holmes) Anderson became the first independent author in history to secure a six-figure audio only deal for his highly anticipated two-book sequel of The Godling Chronicles.
Anderson continued with his indie career with The Vale series. But even after twenty novels, he felt there was more to accomplish. So he secured a three-book deal with Tor Books for The Sorcerer’s Song series.
When not writing, Brian D. Anderson divides his time enjoying his friends and family at home in the sleepy little southern town of Fairhope, Alabama, and riding atop his Harley Davidson, dubbed The Mighty Puck, traveling the country from convention to convention, meeting fans and signing books.
After co-authoring Akiri with Steven Savile (Warhammer, Pathfinder, Dr. Who, and Sherlock Holmes) Anderson became the first independent author in history to secure a six-figure audio only deal for his highly anticipated two-book sequel of The Godling Chronicles.
Anderson continued with his indie career with The Vale series. But even after twenty novels, he felt there was more to accomplish. So he secured a three-book deal with Tor Books for The Sorcerer’s Song series.
When not writing, Brian D. Anderson divides his time enjoying his friends and family at home in the sleepy little southern town of Fairhope, Alabama, and riding atop his Harley Davidson, dubbed The Mighty Puck, traveling the country from convention to convention, meeting fans and signing books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
April 28, 2017
The book felt like a not very well blended soup, because it reminded me of so many other books. Unfortunately my memory is a bitch who tells me ooo you know this/ you've read this sentence before/ ahh soo familiar but rarely gives away where the actual fuck I've seen or heard that thing. So I can't tell you what were "inspirations" behind them, but I am very certain they are there. So many familiar things, although disconnected to each other. Did all these pieces work for the soup story? To be honest, yes mostly. They came together well enough.
Time to time characters were awkward and aggravating, but somehow those qualities were what endeared them most to me. There wasnt't a hidden depth to them, they were predictible and one faceted -except Kat. who must have split personalities, because I cannot explain her being an excellent thief/cold blooded killer/whiny kid/immature shithead/seductress/playful child/clever/moron any other way-. yet I liked them generally.
But there were more than a few moments ,when I wanted to just ask "are there no one with enough brains to ask or do this. maybe a 6 years old?" Some reactions and actions/inactions of the characters didn't make sense. At all. Unlike this granma;
she is my hero from now on
But more like kiwi the bird;
hmmm... I see... I think even that makes more sense.
We need a better visual;
these ninja dudes are the perfect example.
There was even one of those annoying freedom and fighting and destiny speeches. I was up at my feet and overcome with feelies ... of shut it rambo or rocky or whatever you are with your cheesy speeches. On a second thought, this wasn't even done as well as a B-movie war speech.
Buuuut there were dragons! They didn't get as much as page time I'd like but those scenes they were in were quite encouraging. Over all it was not a bad book and I'll continue with the series.
Audio was okay. Narrator had a nice voice and generally okay performance. His female voices didn't make me want to hit him with a shovel on his mouth, which is a strong praise, believe me. But he had no excitement or fear in his voice or a whole lot of feelings. Characters would be in a life threatening situation and one of them would yell "ruuun", at least they'd yell in my mind because narrator just read them in a bored voice which suggested they were attending the dullest tea party ever.
Time to time characters were awkward and aggravating, but somehow those qualities were what endeared them most to me. There wasnt't a hidden depth to them, they were predictible and one faceted -except Kat. who must have split personalities, because I cannot explain her being an excellent thief/cold blooded killer/whiny kid/immature shithead/seductress/playful child/clever/moron any other way-. yet I liked them generally.
But there were more than a few moments ,when I wanted to just ask "are there no one with enough brains to ask or do this. maybe a 6 years old?" Some reactions and actions/inactions of the characters didn't make sense. At all. Unlike this granma;
she is my hero from now on
But more like kiwi the bird;
hmmm... I see... I think even that makes more sense.
We need a better visual;
these ninja dudes are the perfect example.
There was even one of those annoying freedom and fighting and destiny speeches. I was up at my feet and overcome with feelies ... of shut it rambo or rocky or whatever you are with your cheesy speeches. On a second thought, this wasn't even done as well as a B-movie war speech.
Buuuut there were dragons! They didn't get as much as page time I'd like but those scenes they were in were quite encouraging. Over all it was not a bad book and I'll continue with the series.
Audio was okay. Narrator had a nice voice and generally okay performance. His female voices didn't make me want to hit him with a shovel on his mouth, which is a strong praise, believe me. But he had no excitement or fear in his voice or a whole lot of feelings. Characters would be in a life threatening situation and one of them would yell "ruuun", at least they'd yell in my mind because narrator just read them in a bored voice which suggested they were attending the dullest tea party ever.
August 9, 2020
At first glance, Dragonvein appears to be your typical trope-filled fantasy with magic, dragons, dwarves, and elves. But there are enough variations and twists to keep the reader interested. In addition, the characters are quite compelling too. I read the entire series (five books), - it never got dull and the payoff at the end is worth it.
March 14, 2016
Fantasy with romance, told in 3rd person, set in 1944 France and on a magical planet called Lumnia. Hero Ethan is a young paratrooper / ranger from the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army (see the HBO series, BAND of BROTHERS).
Characterization doesn't add up. Ethan, supposedly a highly trained combat soldier, does many stupid and immature things at the beginning. He gets drunk when he should be alert. He leaves his only weapon behind at the scene more than once. Etc.. The companions bicker too much at times. Markus is sometimes revoltingly psycho. I almost gave up. But the book improved in the second half. Will read book 2. Dragons!
I liked this author's other series better. See The Godling Chronicles, The Sword of Truth.
Characterization doesn't add up. Ethan, supposedly a highly trained combat soldier, does many stupid and immature things at the beginning. He gets drunk when he should be alert. He leaves his only weapon behind at the scene more than once. Etc.. The companions bicker too much at times. Markus is sometimes revoltingly psycho. I almost gave up. But the book improved in the second half. Will read book 2. Dragons!
I liked this author's other series better. See The Godling Chronicles, The Sword of Truth.
June 10, 2017
I don't typically enjoy my fantasy mixing with my reality. It's not a chocolate in my peanut butter mixture I want in my life. That element set the stage in this series. More specifically 1940s war stage
It just throws me. I'm all absorbed in the other world, I'm hooked on elves and dwarves or dragons then BAM there is talk about Hitler or machine guns or something and it just distorts the aura cast. Some of you may not mind that and may rate the book higher. I'll probably read the next book in the series if I can find it cheap.
Summer Fantasy Fest read #6
It just throws me. I'm all absorbed in the other world, I'm hooked on elves and dwarves or dragons then BAM there is talk about Hitler or machine guns or something and it just distorts the aura cast. Some of you may not mind that and may rate the book higher. I'll probably read the next book in the series if I can find it cheap.
Summer Fantasy Fest read #6
July 18, 2015
I am a bit of a soft touch for books about dragons as they fascinate me so I bought this because of the attractive cover and in anticipation of lots of dragons, plus the fact that I love this type of fantasy. Well, there's not a great deal of action where dragons are concerned until the last part of the book. However I was immediately drawn into the story which has quite an original slant to it as it moves from a fantasy world to our world then back to the fantasy world by means of a magic portal. It has magic, mystery, action, elves, dwarves, mages and of course eventually; the dragons.
I found I could engage with the likeable and believable characters easily and was held by that "what will happen next" feeling as I read on. It slowed a little around the middle, but from there onwards I was totally immersed. I read right on to the end of the book. There were some quite thoughtful parts too. I will be purchasing the second book in the series straight away as of course the book being the first of the series, ends abruptly leaving the reader wanting more. This is the first book I have read written by Brian D Anderson but I will definitely be reading more of them.
May 19, 2015
A Good Beginning
I liked this book. This new author is off to a good start. I would like to have read more about the prophecy. Of the five, I assume three of them are Ethan, Kat, and Lady Lylinora. I figure getting all of them together will be the second book and their mission the third. I am looking forward to reading about them and meeting the dragons. Brian Anderson hopefully will continue in the tradition of David Eddings one of my favorite authors. I look forward to the second book, wish I could buy it now.
I liked this book. This new author is off to a good start. I would like to have read more about the prophecy. Of the five, I assume three of them are Ethan, Kat, and Lady Lylinora. I figure getting all of them together will be the second book and their mission the third. I am looking forward to reading about them and meeting the dragons. Brian Anderson hopefully will continue in the tradition of David Eddings one of my favorite authors. I look forward to the second book, wish I could buy it now.
February 1, 2016
I liked it. So maybe it's not a Brandon Sanderson or Michael J. Sullivan, but once I started it, I couldn't put it down. It has dragons! I will read the second book.
May 20, 2016
I really enjoy Dragons this cover grabbed me and I just had to read it. Yet again I beg @Goodreads to allow half stars. This one deserves a 4.5 Star rating.
"Dragonvein" starts us off in a great adventure that captures classic fantasy epics. Its a wonderful premise a world like Earth that is in the throws of war a desperate mother and witch saves her child by sending him to Earth. But at the same time ensures that he is able to return when the time is right. This is how we meet Ethan during World War 2 in the north of France right after the Normandy operation. Ethan is a member of the 101st Airborne who got dropped all over the place by mistake. Ethan has joined up with a British soldier Marcus. Together they are trying to survive against the Germans when they discover an older man dressed kinda different and carrying a sword. After they assist him and he feels better he recognizes his charge Ethan and using a talisman opens a gateway to his planet by mistake carrying Marcus and jumping in with Ethan. As the original spell was done in a hurry the portal delivers Ethan and Jonas many years since their departure.
This great adventure will bring together Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Dragons. All together against the Emperor a cruel mage called Shinzan.
Action and mystery follow as well as a bit of a budding romance. Great story and delivery.
Highly recommended.
"Dragonvein" starts us off in a great adventure that captures classic fantasy epics. Its a wonderful premise a world like Earth that is in the throws of war a desperate mother and witch saves her child by sending him to Earth. But at the same time ensures that he is able to return when the time is right. This is how we meet Ethan during World War 2 in the north of France right after the Normandy operation. Ethan is a member of the 101st Airborne who got dropped all over the place by mistake. Ethan has joined up with a British soldier Marcus. Together they are trying to survive against the Germans when they discover an older man dressed kinda different and carrying a sword. After they assist him and he feels better he recognizes his charge Ethan and using a talisman opens a gateway to his planet by mistake carrying Marcus and jumping in with Ethan. As the original spell was done in a hurry the portal delivers Ethan and Jonas many years since their departure.
This great adventure will bring together Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Dragons. All together against the Emperor a cruel mage called Shinzan.
Action and mystery follow as well as a bit of a budding romance. Great story and delivery.
Highly recommended.
October 20, 2015
Excellent story!
I couldn't put this book down and it kept me well occupied during an illness. I enjoyed the linking of Earth with an alien planet, and how the humans on that alien planet are all descended from earthlings originally brought over as dwarvish slaves. Since magic reigns in this new world, humans were able to overcome their bonds once they learned they could harness that magic. Then there is the family of Dragonvein who hold a powerful bond with dragons. As an infant Ethan Dragonvein is sent to earth through a portal to save his life. He grew up not knowing who he was thanks to an instability that caused his servant and protector Jonas to emerge from the portal 17 years later. On returning through the portal to his homework he has much to learn; and fast. Just about everyone is out to kill him as he is the savior in prophecy to overthrow the evil immortal Emperor. He has no clue how to harness his abilities or how to lead men, but he will learn as he befriends locals and the dwarves themselves. Can he survive long enough to save the world?
I couldn't put this book down and it kept me well occupied during an illness. I enjoyed the linking of Earth with an alien planet, and how the humans on that alien planet are all descended from earthlings originally brought over as dwarvish slaves. Since magic reigns in this new world, humans were able to overcome their bonds once they learned they could harness that magic. Then there is the family of Dragonvein who hold a powerful bond with dragons. As an infant Ethan Dragonvein is sent to earth through a portal to save his life. He grew up not knowing who he was thanks to an instability that caused his servant and protector Jonas to emerge from the portal 17 years later. On returning through the portal to his homework he has much to learn; and fast. Just about everyone is out to kill him as he is the savior in prophecy to overthrow the evil immortal Emperor. He has no clue how to harness his abilities or how to lead men, but he will learn as he befriends locals and the dwarves themselves. Can he survive long enough to save the world?
September 7, 2015
If I look at this one way, it's a 5 star read if I look at it another way it's a 3 star read.
The story is very one dimensional, you kind of see the twists coming almost before they hit you. (This is not good for an adult book, but -great- for a young adult book) but I found myself really caring for the characters, interested in the dynamics and actually 'getting' them.
The litmus test for me, however, is, did I lose sleep reading it .. so I could finish it? Yes I did. So it gets 5 stars.
Would I recommend it to an adult? No. (Hence the three star read comment above) ... BUT to my teenage twins? I would absolutely recommend it. So after all this rambling as the thoughts come out...
Great read if you want something in the fantasy realm just to -enjoy-.
The story is very one dimensional, you kind of see the twists coming almost before they hit you. (This is not good for an adult book, but -great- for a young adult book) but I found myself really caring for the characters, interested in the dynamics and actually 'getting' them.
The litmus test for me, however, is, did I lose sleep reading it .. so I could finish it? Yes I did. So it gets 5 stars.
Would I recommend it to an adult? No. (Hence the three star read comment above) ... BUT to my teenage twins? I would absolutely recommend it. So after all this rambling as the thoughts come out...
Great read if you want something in the fantasy realm just to -enjoy-.
April 9, 2016
I want the next book now soooo badly it nearly hurts!
I won this book from Good Reads First Reads only a week ago or so and I began reading it straight away! I was not disappointed. In fact, I think this is one of the BEST books I've read so far this year! Now the story didn't even start off slow, right away we are fraught with war and a young man with deep convictions against the evils of the world. A young man filled with honor and a strange luck for avoiding death at nearly every turn. Brought into a world that is strange to him he only wishes to find his friend who went into the portal before him. He doesn't find him right away, saving a thief from a terrible fate and running from people he has never met he still manages an air of innocence and distrust in a world filled with magic he doesn't understand. Eventually he finds his friend although he is not the man he once was Ethan still manages to find him buried beneath all Marcus' distrust and anger as they run from danger towards the dwarves, hoping to find answers to questions they haven't quite formed completely.
Matters of honor and good vs evil are tested in this novel. Compare to the bright days of mages and their council the days of Shinzan's rule are long and fear filled. Evil and anger rules the day and many who are good are forced to hide it behind veneers of brute force and slyness to hide their vulnerability. Slaves are kept, thieves (both obvious and hidden), and bullies thrive in Shinzan's brutal world. A world where young children are forced to grow up quickly or die young, brutal punishments are meted out for even minor infractions, and a people who should love life cower in fear. And dragons also fear, hiding themselves so well many believe they have all died out.
This world is marvelous and dangerous. The combination is heady and I crave more. I crave more!
I won this book from Good Reads First Reads only a week ago or so and I began reading it straight away! I was not disappointed. In fact, I think this is one of the BEST books I've read so far this year! Now the story didn't even start off slow, right away we are fraught with war and a young man with deep convictions against the evils of the world. A young man filled with honor and a strange luck for avoiding death at nearly every turn. Brought into a world that is strange to him he only wishes to find his friend who went into the portal before him. He doesn't find him right away, saving a thief from a terrible fate and running from people he has never met he still manages an air of innocence and distrust in a world filled with magic he doesn't understand. Eventually he finds his friend although he is not the man he once was Ethan still manages to find him buried beneath all Marcus' distrust and anger as they run from danger towards the dwarves, hoping to find answers to questions they haven't quite formed completely.
Matters of honor and good vs evil are tested in this novel. Compare to the bright days of mages and their council the days of Shinzan's rule are long and fear filled. Evil and anger rules the day and many who are good are forced to hide it behind veneers of brute force and slyness to hide their vulnerability. Slaves are kept, thieves (both obvious and hidden), and bullies thrive in Shinzan's brutal world. A world where young children are forced to grow up quickly or die young, brutal punishments are meted out for even minor infractions, and a people who should love life cower in fear. And dragons also fear, hiding themselves so well many believe they have all died out.
This world is marvelous and dangerous. The combination is heady and I crave more. I crave more!
May 14, 2016
3.5 stars.
Here we have our hero Ethan, a paratrooper in World War II, who is transported to a world of Lumia.
A land of danger, dragons, sorcerers, and magic.
Here he finds that he is the son of a powerful and gifted mage, who can summon dragons to act on his. behalf. He to has the powers he soon discovers, and finds that the evil Emperor Shinzan will stop at nothing to destroy him. He travels through the countryside picking up companions along the way.
The character development is a bit one dimensional, and predictable, with some coincidences, which are able to advance the story, and characters.
A enjoyable and opening to the series. On occasion to read a fantasy without too much stress is a pleasure.
Will read on.
Here we have our hero Ethan, a paratrooper in World War II, who is transported to a world of Lumia.
A land of danger, dragons, sorcerers, and magic.
Here he finds that he is the son of a powerful and gifted mage, who can summon dragons to act on his. behalf. He to has the powers he soon discovers, and finds that the evil Emperor Shinzan will stop at nothing to destroy him. He travels through the countryside picking up companions along the way.
The character development is a bit one dimensional, and predictable, with some coincidences, which are able to advance the story, and characters.
A enjoyable and opening to the series. On occasion to read a fantasy without too much stress is a pleasure.
Will read on.
July 6, 2015
I read all of the Godling series and enjoyed it and thought this would be a good next book.
That said it took me a while to get into. The hero of the book doesn't really start out as all that sympathetic if I'm honest, however - as the book progressed I got more and more drawn in and was very glad that I kept going.
It has it all, a bit of the 'real' world, magic, elves, dwarves and dragons!
Anyway, read it for yourselves and make your own minds up.
That said it took me a while to get into. The hero of the book doesn't really start out as all that sympathetic if I'm honest, however - as the book progressed I got more and more drawn in and was very glad that I kept going.
It has it all, a bit of the 'real' world, magic, elves, dwarves and dragons!
Anyway, read it for yourselves and make your own minds up.
October 13, 2015
Story plot is very pulling and written just the way that reader can't see where all is going. Its quite refreshing to just read and wonder what will happen next.
So, I for sure will read next book in that series.
Great work.
So, I for sure will read next book in that series.
Great work.
July 8, 2015
Great reading
Fast and keeps your interest. You will want to go and get the rest of the series. Great author included.
Fast and keeps your interest. You will want to go and get the rest of the series. Great author included.
November 22, 2020
I'm not especially a fan of portal books, and I'm just over saturated on world war stories.
So me enjoying this as much as I did is a big recommendation in itself!
It had the classical fantasy feeling to it that I sometimes miss in modern books. I clicked with the characters early on and I loved exploring the new word!
I was expecting a bit more dragons from the cover and blurb, buy I'm fully expecting more in the sequels.
There were a few scenes that had me a bit miffed (a lady encased in some sort of crystal, that people are staring at, and one jealous girl keeps covering her up, that whole bit felt creepy and *ewww* to me) but it was not so big a part of the book. So I'll go with 4*
So me enjoying this as much as I did is a big recommendation in itself!
It had the classical fantasy feeling to it that I sometimes miss in modern books. I clicked with the characters early on and I loved exploring the new word!
I was expecting a bit more dragons from the cover and blurb, buy I'm fully expecting more in the sequels.
There were a few scenes that had me a bit miffed (a lady encased in some sort of crystal, that people are staring at, and one jealous girl keeps covering her up, that whole bit felt creepy and *ewww* to me) but it was not so big a part of the book. So I'll go with 4*
November 14, 2017
I like the book and enjoy reading it. The plot of the book is really good and start of book is nice but as story goes forward its feel like something is of. The story somewhere predictable and remind of Eragon. I have some issue with the story but its is nice book and fun reading. What bother me is that its has less explanation about magic , the world, how magic work, the main character has to depend on other all the time etc. in the end is good and well written and the end feel like left you hanging, so I have to read next book.
September 29, 2015
I could not put this book down. The author spun a fantastic story and while at times the book was a bit "eh" you were incited to continue reading.
My BIGGEST issue was the protagonist just kind of being there. He had no goals and no place in the story other than he was the protagonist. He relied on others to tell him what to do and how to achieve what was necessary.
The character development left MUCH to be desired. I felt like I was reading about cardboard cutouts instead of living, breathing people.
The other issue is as a reader nothing was left as a "surprise". I knew what was going to happen chapters before they did. The foreshadowing was obvious and not just a seed where the reader later goes, "Ohhhhhhhh".
DO give the book and series a chance. It is a quick easy read and while the writing aspect could be improved the story is worth the effort.
The second book is MUCH better when you get to a 1/3 through it. For this reason alone I recommend the series if you can manage to plow through the first book.
There IS a cliffhanger. I don't care what ANYONE says in their reviews. The cliffhanger is MAJOR. The author could have stopped sooner but they had to add on that last little bit and if the second book wasn't available I would have been furious. There is NO neat ending to this at all and you cannot read this book without the second.
My BIGGEST issue was the protagonist just kind of being there. He had no goals and no place in the story other than he was the protagonist. He relied on others to tell him what to do and how to achieve what was necessary.
The character development left MUCH to be desired. I felt like I was reading about cardboard cutouts instead of living, breathing people.
The other issue is as a reader nothing was left as a "surprise". I knew what was going to happen chapters before they did. The foreshadowing was obvious and not just a seed where the reader later goes, "Ohhhhhhhh".
DO give the book and series a chance. It is a quick easy read and while the writing aspect could be improved the story is worth the effort.
The second book is MUCH better when you get to a 1/3 through it. For this reason alone I recommend the series if you can manage to plow through the first book.
There IS a cliffhanger. I don't care what ANYONE says in their reviews. The cliffhanger is MAJOR. The author could have stopped sooner but they had to add on that last little bit and if the second book wasn't available I would have been furious. There is NO neat ending to this at all and you cannot read this book without the second.
December 27, 2015
SO MUCH TO LEARN.....CAN'T GUESS AT WHERE THE PLOT WILL GO.
Have you ever read a book that you know what will happen long before it ends? I don't enjoy books that are too obvious. This story is a good versus evil plot that is easy to read; but, it has subplot along the way that are surprising.. Author. Brian D. Anderson, has done a masterful job of setting up the Dragonvein series. I have already purchased book two as the ending had me wanting to know more.
The characters come to life and are easy to love or hate and it is interesting to watch their interactions with different race. Were elves given the short straw? There is much to learn and I want to see what happens as the magic becomes k nown and so I am sorry for this short review of scattered thoughts but I just can't wait to start book 2. KUDOS Mr. Anderson on a great first book in a series. Don't miss out on a great story. I can recommend this story to all ages and tell you that there is something hear for everyone to enjoy. Until next book...happy reading!
Have you ever read a book that you know what will happen long before it ends? I don't enjoy books that are too obvious. This story is a good versus evil plot that is easy to read; but, it has subplot along the way that are surprising.. Author. Brian D. Anderson, has done a masterful job of setting up the Dragonvein series. I have already purchased book two as the ending had me wanting to know more.
The characters come to life and are easy to love or hate and it is interesting to watch their interactions with different race. Were elves given the short straw? There is much to learn and I want to see what happens as the magic becomes k nown and so I am sorry for this short review of scattered thoughts but I just can't wait to start book 2. KUDOS Mr. Anderson on a great first book in a series. Don't miss out on a great story. I can recommend this story to all ages and tell you that there is something hear for everyone to enjoy. Until next book...happy reading!
August 5, 2016
Story didn't engage me, which made it difficult to complete. I cared a bit for the initial characters, but bored by the world they lived in. The antagonist was a curious player, but never really got off the ground; didn't reach any heights of wonderment or dread. Besides the writing, there wasn't much else to like.
I'm wondering if I'm treating it unfairly, since the last fantasy book I read and was blown away by was: "Son of the Black Sword" by Correia. It doesn't hold up to that standard. I feel like giving this book another chance, or maybe I'll just let this one choose its plot on my bookshelf.
If you think I should give it another electric dose of the defib, I'm open to your reasons.
I'm wondering if I'm treating it unfairly, since the last fantasy book I read and was blown away by was: "Son of the Black Sword" by Correia. It doesn't hold up to that standard. I feel like giving this book another chance, or maybe I'll just let this one choose its plot on my bookshelf.
If you think I should give it another electric dose of the defib, I'm open to your reasons.
October 1, 2015
A good start
I've read too many great novels this year to give this a five star rating; however it's still highly entertaining and worth a read. The story is there but the writing seemed to be missing some of the polish I've been spoiled by in other books this year. If you enjoy a good epic fantasy I'd recommend picking this up and giving it some time, I have a feeling this series is just going to keep getting better.
I've read too many great novels this year to give this a five star rating; however it's still highly entertaining and worth a read. The story is there but the writing seemed to be missing some of the polish I've been spoiled by in other books this year. If you enjoy a good epic fantasy I'd recommend picking this up and giving it some time, I have a feeling this series is just going to keep getting better.
March 28, 2016
The story is about a soldier in 2nd world war, who gets taken into another planet and discovers he's from the Dragonvein line, which have a connection with dragons.
I like the magic in this book. I like the characters.
The story, however, is predictable and I've seen it so many times before in fantasy.
I like the magic in this book. I like the characters.
The story, however, is predictable and I've seen it so many times before in fantasy.
August 31, 2015
Interesting premise, and the story moved along well enough. I had a hard time getting together with the MC though - he seemed a bit two-dimensional to me. I will read the next volume after this one has settled a bit.
October 18, 2015
While the first few pages didn't grab me, it got real interesting real quick, I could barely put it down.. even though I'm travelling the States,
November 5, 2015
great fantasy
November 12, 2015
Interesting book that can be read while we wait for Winds of Winter.
March 28, 2017
I might have mentioned at some point how deeply bored I get during fight scenes in books. The more the author tries to make them exciting by including lots of detail, marking a battle stroke by stroke and blood droplet by blood droplet, the more utterly bored I get.
There was a lot of fighting in this book.
It's one of my favorite conceits, the idea of someone being whisked from one world to another where they have to find allies and figure out which side they're on and so on. I wish this had taken advantage of the idea better.
Part of my disappointment stems from the fact that nobody trusted anybody from the beginning. Everybody tromped through the landscape just completely brassed off with everyone else, making hollow threats and snarky remarks, and nobody told anybody anything for chapters and chapters. "Why are you helping us?" Growl: "I have my reasons." *sigh*
And the whole book was a trail of question marks, not in terms of unanswered questions (though there are plenty of those as well) but more of "What??" moments. It just didn't make sense that a boy from 1944 Earth could see a little dragon, as he does on his first morning, and never say anything to anyone for days. It doesn't make sense that he never talked about the dreams he kept having (to the point that I dreaded every time the author sent him to bed), especially after Jonas told him his mother used to have prophetic dreams. It made no sense that Jonas never asked how much time had passed since he left – and the book never said, as far as I'm aware. (I might have zoned out at some point while listening, but I don't think so. Wait, there it is at 6 1/2 hours into the audiobook: more than 500 years.) And it took forever for all of them to discuss the brief period before they all went through the portal back to Whatsit. It made no sense that Ethan never protested what Jonas said about his mother – he knew the people who raised him were not his blood parents, but there should have been at least one squawk of "what?!" when it seemed like Jonas knew who his birth mother was – and he never so much as acknowledged it. It didn't make sense that Ethan also never asked about elves and dwarfs (or did the author use the Tolkien-esque "dwarves"? Probably); granted, in 1944, pre-Tolkien, maybe it wasn't such a Thing, but Ethan still should have known what they are, and been surprised they were real, and want to know more. It's silly that Ethan trompled through this fantasy land with a sword on his hip, but though he spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to use a magical ability he might not even have, it never occurred to anyone to teach him the rudiments of how to fight with a blade. Ever. That's … just dumb. (The only advice given Ethan is a less pithy version of GRRM's "Stick 'em with the pointy end". Hmm… The HBO GOT episode aired 6/5/11; Game of Thrones was published 8/1/96. Dragonvein was published in 2015. Gosh. I smell a … coincidence.)
(The first book in the Dragonvein series was only published just over a year ago, and it's already up to book five? Wow.)
Names like "Cynthia" and "Jonas" in the midst of this setting – Medieval Fantasy™ - were possibly more jarring than the ones people like to make up and fill with apostrophes and random capital letters.
Ethan came from a pre-Tolkien date, but Brian D. Anderson does not, and my boredom turned to annoyance as Ethan's introduction to the elves strongly echoed a certain scene in Mirkwood. Maybe Ethan grows up to come back to Earth as Tolkien, and that's why the elves were almost indistinguishable from those of Middle-earth (except for what sounded like comically large ears – seriously, I wouldn't want to try to depict that. It would be almost impossible to make them look legit). There was even something damned close to the Book of Mazarbul. Honestly, I would think a fantasy author would make a powerful effort to avoid close brushes with Tolkien, out of pride if nothing else.
Even more than of fight scenes, I'm bored by So-Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil. Even Nazis, the original enemy Ethan was fighting, were not uniformly evil, and not all evil just because evil was fun; it was (technically) for the Fatherland, for the Fuhrer, for the good of the many in their minds.
And even more than that I'm bored by a plot which consists largely of Our Hero getting himself and his friends into deep trouble, and then having his chestnuts pulled out of the fire by unexpected intervention. After the third, and fourth, and especially the fifth or sixth time, then really there was no more tension to any situation, no suspense of how are they going to get themselves out of this?! - because I learned to rest assured they were not going to get themselves out. They would be gotten out. Danger was irrelevant. The good guys might end up a bit battered, but someone always came rushing up to save the day. My eyes – they roll.
It's strange that while the author focused obsessively on fights, two of the biggest conflicts – including the most climactic scene toward the end – featured Ethan's point of view. And Ethan passed out. So everything went dark. And then we got told what happened along with Ethan when he came around again. It was a very odd, rather anticlimactic method of storytelling.
It was repetitive. There were echoes of words throughout, the same phrasing used over and over (and clichés like "a long moment" were used over and over), people kept asking the same questions twice… and the same things happened over and over. People took lots of cleansing breaths (which seems out of place in 1944). Both boring and repetitive is to have people toss off a comment about something non-Earthly, to which Ethan responds "What is/are - - ?" And I became deathly tired of the "Boy Scout" tendencies of Ethan. I mean, they were laudable and all that, but it got old – someone is in trouble, they should leave it alone lest they get in more trouble too, they help someone with everyone but Ethan grumbling, and everything works out for the best as the new waif and/or stray becomes a valuable member of the questing company.
And it was predictable: I figured out where Ethan's friend Marcus was pretty quickly. And the choice of the was telegraphed as clearly as anything Western Union ever sent. And as for that climax … *sigh* Yup. Saw it coming sixteen miles off.
I was not fond of Kat (Cat?), the thirteen-year-old girl who joined the quest; her personality was wildly inconsistent, going from coolly competent thief to petrified child to giggly teen to sultry seductress and cold-blooded killer to the one who saved the day to timid child to unrequited awkward and ineffectual flirt. There's a Star Trek podcast (Mission Log) which talks about the Gumby-fication (Gumbification?) of certain characters to force them into whatever role was needed for a plot. The story needs someone who's a smooth operator? Voila. Next episode needs someone who's a total idiot about women? Voila – same character. And so on. Kat was like that – token female character who was whatever was needed in a given scene. This situation came to a head when she became viciously, stupidly, hatefully jealous to the point that I almost jettisoned the book less than an hour from the end. She needed a good kicking – physical violence seemed to be the only language she really understood, given the frequency with which she punched and slapped other people (especially Ethan).
Ethan, who was supposed to be the chosen one and the one all of this land has been waiting for and so on and so forth, just didn't seem too bright. He was just a kid, of course – I couldn't help thinking the book would have been much better if he'd been just a few years older – but he was kind of an idiot. As mentioned, he kept things quiet when he should have been telling someone; he told people things when he should have kept his mouth shut; he passed out about half a dozen times; finally, again in the last half hour of the book, he drank something a complete stranger hands to him. I didn't care who this person turned out to be, Ethan had just said himself that almost everyone he ran into on this world tried to kill him, and the drink he tried here is a distillation of some kind of mushroom – he should have been twitching and frothing a minute later.
Two-thirds of the way through the book (and boy was I disappointed that it wasn't closer to the end), Ethan was given a chance to give a rousing speech … I wished he hadn't been. And not long after someone tells a long and heart-felt story, complete with sniffling, about how when she was young she fell in love with a grown man and he was too honorable to take advantage of her and so left her unrequited – which is very much to the point, until she adds that shortly after she married another man, who was horrible to her and "the day he died was the best moment of my life", or words to that effect. Which kind of negates the lesson of the story, since if the first guy had "taken advantage" he would have been kind about it, and saved her the agony of the second guy.
One constant annoyance was either a quirk of the writer or of the narrator's, not sure which: an insistence on possessives of names ending with "S" to be rendered as Marcus' instead of Marcus's. Example: "Marcus'" – which sounds like "His room was empty. So was Marcus". Poor Marcus. It just bugged me throughout – and there were several names ending in "S", two of them main characters. Oh, and constant use of "laying" instead of "lying" made me want to slap somebody too. (Maybe that's why Kat was as violent as she was.)
I did like that the portal magic responsible for Ethan's evacuation and return was not exactly favorably looked upon. I liked that the portal was completely unpredictable, that there was no way to know or find out what it did with Marcus – it was a great idea, with lots of possibilities. It was a bit unfortunate that what actually happened was predictable. I did not like the use the dwarfs were revealed to have made of portals long long ago: there was an elephantine infodump in the dreadful last half hour of the book which made a standard Tolkien rip-off into something sillier.
As happens so often, there were pieces of something good floating around in this stew, some good ideas and interesting sparks which, handled very, very differently, might have made a good book. Unfortunately, as it is, it's not much better than annoying.
The narration by Derek Perkins is excellent, making as much of a silk purse as possible out of a sow's ear. He reminds me strongly at times of Simon Vance, with much the same tone and facility for characterization, the same warmth. But the sow's ear was still very much a porcine auditory organ, however well read.
There was a lot of fighting in this book.
It's one of my favorite conceits, the idea of someone being whisked from one world to another where they have to find allies and figure out which side they're on and so on. I wish this had taken advantage of the idea better.
Part of my disappointment stems from the fact that nobody trusted anybody from the beginning. Everybody tromped through the landscape just completely brassed off with everyone else, making hollow threats and snarky remarks, and nobody told anybody anything for chapters and chapters. "Why are you helping us?" Growl: "I have my reasons." *sigh*
And the whole book was a trail of question marks, not in terms of unanswered questions (though there are plenty of those as well) but more of "What??" moments. It just didn't make sense that a boy from 1944 Earth could see a little dragon, as he does on his first morning, and never say anything to anyone for days. It doesn't make sense that he never talked about the dreams he kept having (to the point that I dreaded every time the author sent him to bed), especially after Jonas told him his mother used to have prophetic dreams. It made no sense that Jonas never asked how much time had passed since he left – and the book never said, as far as I'm aware. (I might have zoned out at some point while listening, but I don't think so. Wait, there it is at 6 1/2 hours into the audiobook: more than 500 years.) And it took forever for all of them to discuss the brief period before they all went through the portal back to Whatsit. It made no sense that Ethan never protested what Jonas said about his mother – he knew the people who raised him were not his blood parents, but there should have been at least one squawk of "what?!" when it seemed like Jonas knew who his birth mother was – and he never so much as acknowledged it. It didn't make sense that Ethan also never asked about elves and dwarfs (or did the author use the Tolkien-esque "dwarves"? Probably); granted, in 1944, pre-Tolkien, maybe it wasn't such a Thing, but Ethan still should have known what they are, and been surprised they were real, and want to know more. It's silly that Ethan trompled through this fantasy land with a sword on his hip, but though he spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to use a magical ability he might not even have, it never occurred to anyone to teach him the rudiments of how to fight with a blade. Ever. That's … just dumb. (The only advice given Ethan is a less pithy version of GRRM's "Stick 'em with the pointy end". Hmm… The HBO GOT episode aired 6/5/11; Game of Thrones was published 8/1/96. Dragonvein was published in 2015. Gosh. I smell a … coincidence.)
(The first book in the Dragonvein series was only published just over a year ago, and it's already up to book five? Wow.)
Names like "Cynthia" and "Jonas" in the midst of this setting – Medieval Fantasy™ - were possibly more jarring than the ones people like to make up and fill with apostrophes and random capital letters.
Ethan came from a pre-Tolkien date, but Brian D. Anderson does not, and my boredom turned to annoyance as Ethan's introduction to the elves strongly echoed a certain scene in Mirkwood. Maybe Ethan grows up to come back to Earth as Tolkien, and that's why the elves were almost indistinguishable from those of Middle-earth (except for what sounded like comically large ears – seriously, I wouldn't want to try to depict that. It would be almost impossible to make them look legit). There was even something damned close to the Book of Mazarbul. Honestly, I would think a fantasy author would make a powerful effort to avoid close brushes with Tolkien, out of pride if nothing else.
Even more than of fight scenes, I'm bored by So-Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil. Even Nazis, the original enemy Ethan was fighting, were not uniformly evil, and not all evil just because evil was fun; it was (technically) for the Fatherland, for the Fuhrer, for the good of the many in their minds.
And even more than that I'm bored by a plot which consists largely of Our Hero getting himself and his friends into deep trouble, and then having his chestnuts pulled out of the fire by unexpected intervention. After the third, and fourth, and especially the fifth or sixth time, then really there was no more tension to any situation, no suspense of how are they going to get themselves out of this?! - because I learned to rest assured they were not going to get themselves out. They would be gotten out. Danger was irrelevant. The good guys might end up a bit battered, but someone always came rushing up to save the day. My eyes – they roll.
It's strange that while the author focused obsessively on fights, two of the biggest conflicts – including the most climactic scene toward the end – featured Ethan's point of view. And Ethan passed out. So everything went dark. And then we got told what happened along with Ethan when he came around again. It was a very odd, rather anticlimactic method of storytelling.
It was repetitive. There were echoes of words throughout, the same phrasing used over and over (and clichés like "a long moment" were used over and over), people kept asking the same questions twice… and the same things happened over and over. People took lots of cleansing breaths (which seems out of place in 1944). Both boring and repetitive is to have people toss off a comment about something non-Earthly, to which Ethan responds "What is/are - - ?" And I became deathly tired of the "Boy Scout" tendencies of Ethan. I mean, they were laudable and all that, but it got old – someone is in trouble, they should leave it alone lest they get in more trouble too, they help someone with everyone but Ethan grumbling, and everything works out for the best as the new waif and/or stray becomes a valuable member of the questing company.
And it was predictable: I figured out where Ethan's friend Marcus was pretty quickly. And the choice of the was telegraphed as clearly as anything Western Union ever sent. And as for that climax … *sigh* Yup. Saw it coming sixteen miles off.
I was not fond of Kat (Cat?), the thirteen-year-old girl who joined the quest; her personality was wildly inconsistent, going from coolly competent thief to petrified child to giggly teen to sultry seductress and cold-blooded killer to the one who saved the day to timid child to unrequited awkward and ineffectual flirt. There's a Star Trek podcast (Mission Log) which talks about the Gumby-fication (Gumbification?) of certain characters to force them into whatever role was needed for a plot. The story needs someone who's a smooth operator? Voila. Next episode needs someone who's a total idiot about women? Voila – same character. And so on. Kat was like that – token female character who was whatever was needed in a given scene. This situation came to a head when she became viciously, stupidly, hatefully jealous to the point that I almost jettisoned the book less than an hour from the end. She needed a good kicking – physical violence seemed to be the only language she really understood, given the frequency with which she punched and slapped other people (especially Ethan).
Ethan, who was supposed to be the chosen one and the one all of this land has been waiting for and so on and so forth, just didn't seem too bright. He was just a kid, of course – I couldn't help thinking the book would have been much better if he'd been just a few years older – but he was kind of an idiot. As mentioned, he kept things quiet when he should have been telling someone; he told people things when he should have kept his mouth shut; he passed out about half a dozen times; finally, again in the last half hour of the book, he drank something a complete stranger hands to him. I didn't care who this person turned out to be, Ethan had just said himself that almost everyone he ran into on this world tried to kill him, and the drink he tried here is a distillation of some kind of mushroom – he should have been twitching and frothing a minute later.
Two-thirds of the way through the book (and boy was I disappointed that it wasn't closer to the end), Ethan was given a chance to give a rousing speech … I wished he hadn't been. And not long after someone tells a long and heart-felt story, complete with sniffling, about how when she was young she fell in love with a grown man and he was too honorable to take advantage of her and so left her unrequited – which is very much to the point, until she adds that shortly after she married another man, who was horrible to her and "the day he died was the best moment of my life", or words to that effect. Which kind of negates the lesson of the story, since if the first guy had "taken advantage" he would have been kind about it, and saved her the agony of the second guy.
One constant annoyance was either a quirk of the writer or of the narrator's, not sure which: an insistence on possessives of names ending with "S" to be rendered as Marcus' instead of Marcus's. Example: "Marcus'" – which sounds like "His room was empty. So was Marcus". Poor Marcus. It just bugged me throughout – and there were several names ending in "S", two of them main characters. Oh, and constant use of "laying" instead of "lying" made me want to slap somebody too. (Maybe that's why Kat was as violent as she was.)
I did like that the portal magic responsible for Ethan's evacuation and return was not exactly favorably looked upon. I liked that the portal was completely unpredictable, that there was no way to know or find out what it did with Marcus – it was a great idea, with lots of possibilities. It was a bit unfortunate that what actually happened was predictable. I did not like the use the dwarfs were revealed to have made of portals long long ago: there was an elephantine infodump in the dreadful last half hour of the book which made a standard Tolkien rip-off into something sillier.
As happens so often, there were pieces of something good floating around in this stew, some good ideas and interesting sparks which, handled very, very differently, might have made a good book. Unfortunately, as it is, it's not much better than annoying.
The narration by Derek Perkins is excellent, making as much of a silk purse as possible out of a sow's ear. He reminds me strongly at times of Simon Vance, with much the same tone and facility for characterization, the same warmth. But the sow's ear was still very much a porcine auditory organ, however well read.
March 14, 2019
I found book 1 of Dragonvein to be a solid, entertaining fantasy story. The pacing is quick, with some surprises and plenty of action. However, a warning - the main character is a solider in WWII who is pulled into a medieval-type society with dwarves, elves, trolls and magic. There are numerous references to modern day technology, slang, Nazis, and places in Europe and the US while the story moves along in the fantasy world. If you're someone who reads fantasy for the escape and immersion from modern times, this probably won't be the book for you. It was a bit much for me for in the first half of the book, but it became less frequent later on. There is no cliffhanger, but there is plenty of mystery enticing the reader to get book 2.
Overall, an entertaining read.
Overall, an entertaining read.
February 4, 2019
I found the book easy to read, and it had a nice variety of characters and fantasy races. But by the end of the book, very few questions have been answered. It's definitely not a stand-alone story.
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