Draconian Symphony

by Benjamin Dempsey

The Earth has been stagnating for a thousand years after the apocalypse failed to happen, and even the forces of Hell are losing their passion. Draco is a self-trained mage good for little else than starting fires and staying alive. After fending of an attack by the predatory demon Lascivus, he extracts from her a single debt, which he demands she repays by helping him track down his mother, a psychotic, abusive mage, so he can kill her. While he succeeds, it comes at a cost, and it is only thanks to the intervention of Lascivus that he avoids spending eternity trapped in a strange, featureless plane. He and the living-sword Drakkengard find themselves embroiled deeper and deeper in the Devil’s machinations. Gods, ambitious madmen, and beings from other worlds are all vying to take advantage of an unfulfilled prophecy and to end the millennia of stagnation at any cost.

Genres: Fantasy

293 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2015

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 2 out of 5]

Netgalley # 21

Many thanks go to Tell-Tale Publishing, Benjamin Dempsey, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.


"And in a handful of dust I find fear."-T. S. Eliot

I admit it; I picked this book because I really liked the cover. Sadly I had to push through the story. It had the makings of a tantalizing story, but boy did it need serious proofreading. The author has an adequate grasp of composition skills but uses them to overload. It's busy just too darn busy. I was overwhelmed with the constant plot changes. My biggest question: what was even the point of the main character having a sister? Why was that even necessary?
I think if someone worked with Dempsey this book could be shaped into something quite dynamic, but there is quite a bit of extraneous story. Somebody help!

[Fajriy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story begins with a demoness attacking Draco. Draco wins, so he makes the demoness become his guide in finding his mother. Together with Draco's sister Diana and the living-sword Drakkengard, they journey to find and kill Draco's mother. After they succeed, they find themselves in the more dangerous situation with dangerous beings.

Well, I like the idea of the living-swords and how opposite characters find themselves in a situation that they have to work together to survive. With the interesting premise, I did expect much from this book. But, there's not much in it. Without giving the readers enough idea of what's this story about, who the characters are and what makes the world they live in is like that, the story just keep progressing and made it the more difficult to follow. Providing sufficient background to each character and some adjustments in how the story is written would be very helpful.

I voluntarily read and review a free copy of this book provided by the author.

[Selfinversion · Rating 4 out of 5]

The odd characters sweeten the journey, but make no mistake, where this author excels is in his prose and descriptions. I can't say I was particularly invested in the plot but there was enough gems to keep me going until the end. My biggest problem wasn't so much with the story itself but the editing, which probably could have seen another pair of eyes before publishing, but this is such a minor problem and not enough of an issue to deter the average reader. Definitely looking forward what this author is headed in the future, there's definitely some raw talent here.

[Natalie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received from Netgalley. Reading this one was like listening to someone talk whilst you’re drunk, I don’t know why since it’s a good book. It’s just taken me three tries to get through it. I like the sword and the snide little conversations with Luci, as well as the waspish relationship between the main two characters.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a slay in my opinion. I felt like I could read this and understand the authors intentions with the storyline and plot. He was very consistent with what he was writing.

[Barb VanderWel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.

[Sarah Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not really sure what to say about this book. It was a struggle to read partly because I could never really figure out what the purpose and the plot was. It jumped all over the place and I’m still trying to figure out why his sister was even in the book let alone having her own chapter. The entire book can be summed up in the description on goodreads. Literally. Aside from the descriptions of hell and it’s occupants, that’s all there is. The dialogue is also a bit of a trip. I had to reread certain parts a few times because its hard to follow. The battle scene dialogue is a write off and I just gave up.
It’s too bad because this book has potential but it needs to be drastically reworked.