Unnatural Dragons

by Jeffrey Cook, Sechin Tower, Lee French

Aliens
Hostile AIs
Echoes of the past
Genetic modifications

Four authors offer four unique visions for dragons. Rescue the blueprint. Travel to alien worlds. Discover the universe within. Soar over the remnants of humanity.

Clockwork Dragon presents an anthology of curious science fiction stories about dragons for eclectic minds.

Genres: Fantasy

248 pages, Paperback

Published June 27, 2016

About the author

Jeffrey Cook lives in Maple Valley, Washington, with his wife and three large dogs. He has lived all over the United States. He’s contributed to a number of role-playing game books for Deep7 Press out of Seattle, Washington, but First Light is his first novel. When not reading, researching or writing, Jeffrey enjoys role-playing games and watching football.

Reviews

[Pat MacEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The four tales told here do indeed present unusual dragons, in very different settings. The one I liked best was The Chupacabra and the Dragon, which had the most emotional depth and twistiness, with a hero who is forced into a form that renders him just as autistic as the boy he is trying to save. I think the author missed a bet in the end, especially where future stories involving this character could have evolved quite easily, but I was definitely rooting for the hero all along. Alien Dragons had the most original dragon form I've seen pretty much anywhere, and very clear-cut characters whose relationship to each other turned out to something entirely different from what I'd expected. I was hoping for a little more depth in those characters however, who could be the basis for an entire new string of super-heroes, given that depth. Angel Wing was somewhat disappointing in that it's written like a video game, and I had a hard time remembering who was who, or why I should care. Its basis was fun - a war between engineered dragons and AI entities who've taken over the world, but there is little else to sink your teeth into. The Dragon Within is about a dragon who doesn't even exist, as yet, but motivates everything else in the story. Again, there was not enough depth in the story to satisfy my love of mysteries, which depend upon either a good puzzle or good characterization, and both were somewhat lacking. The action scenes were well-done but undercut by that lack, and the moral question raised by the story is one that deserves a much more nuanced treatment. I thought all four of these stories could be the backbone of a full-length novel, and hope they'll evolve in that direction.

[Daryl Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to it's premise, this anthology presents four very different stories of dragons. From a planet devoted to entertainment using people resembling creatures of fantasy, to a future where AI's have taken over and humans create dragons as a weapon to fight them, to a wild story involving a portal to another world and mechanical dragons from this one, and finally to an emotional story where a young dragon is conflicted by the attachment it feels to humans and the discovery of another of its' kind.

Each story is well-paced and full of characterization and action. More than that though is each story gives a look behind the curtain so to speak on how society works and where that might lead. Using dragons of different types to tell these stories and the range told made for an emotional rollercoaster.

The book is worth getting just for the fourth story alone, so with four stories it's more than worth it.

[Jen Mccorkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love science fiction, and I love watching it take on elements typically associated with fantasy and make them work. Unnatural Dragons scratched that itch beautifully, and Sechin Tower's "The Chupacabra and the Dragon" kind of broke my heart. Would definitely recommend to friends.

[Elisabeth]

Great concept, weak execution. I need some really good sci fi and this isn't cutting it.