What do you think?
Rate this book
The Gamma Earth Cycle #1
Squawk - Beginnings: The Dragon Games Revolution
Alternate cover edition of ASIN B01N07YQ3O
"The one who rules the dragons is the one who rules the world."
In the year 2025, a nuclear holocaust incinerated the world.
Now it is a dark place of despots…and dragons.
Gabe has lived his entire life behind the walls of Newton, a secure compound housing the humans who survived the apocalypse. Ruled and repressed by the Dominion elite, the captive populace is kept entertained by “Dragon Games”—thrilling battles between monstrous beasts raised from hatchlings out of eggs brought in from the ravaged outside by brave hunters like Gabe’s father Saul. But Gabe wants something more, and his curiosity and restless spirit lead him secretly past the compound gates and into the wasteland with his father’s band of dragon hunters. It is a transgression that earns the boy a dangerous enemy, a painful punishment…and a priceless treasure.
Hiding a strangely colored dragon’s egg that he and Saul discovered, Gabe returns home with a new dream of becoming a dragon trainer. But that is an honor granted only to privileged children of the Dominion. And the creature that eventually hatches will be unlike any dragon Gabe has ever seen, becoming his friend and closest ally on a winding, perilous path that will lead them together through the fires of revolution and revenge. Let the Dragon Games begin!
***
Fans of the dystopian future worlds so brilliantly brought to life by Suzanne Collins in her Hunger Games trilogy, Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, and by Pittacus Lore in I Am Number Four, will eagerly welcome the work of another master of YA fantasy. The first book in an ingenious new series, Squawk: Beginnings by Craig Halloran is a coming of age story set in a near-future world destroyed in a nuclear holocaust—a dark, oppressive tomorrow where evil despots rule a diminished human population and dragons roam the ravaged landscape. The epic story of young Gabe, son of a dragon hunter, and Squawk, the miraculous winged creature who becomes his closest companion, starts here, ushering in an exciting new era of YA fantasy fiction.
"The one who rules the dragons is the one who rules the world."
In the year 2025, a nuclear holocaust incinerated the world.
Now it is a dark place of despots…and dragons.
Gabe has lived his entire life behind the walls of Newton, a secure compound housing the humans who survived the apocalypse. Ruled and repressed by the Dominion elite, the captive populace is kept entertained by “Dragon Games”—thrilling battles between monstrous beasts raised from hatchlings out of eggs brought in from the ravaged outside by brave hunters like Gabe’s father Saul. But Gabe wants something more, and his curiosity and restless spirit lead him secretly past the compound gates and into the wasteland with his father’s band of dragon hunters. It is a transgression that earns the boy a dangerous enemy, a painful punishment…and a priceless treasure.
Hiding a strangely colored dragon’s egg that he and Saul discovered, Gabe returns home with a new dream of becoming a dragon trainer. But that is an honor granted only to privileged children of the Dominion. And the creature that eventually hatches will be unlike any dragon Gabe has ever seen, becoming his friend and closest ally on a winding, perilous path that will lead them together through the fires of revolution and revenge. Let the Dragon Games begin!
***
Fans of the dystopian future worlds so brilliantly brought to life by Suzanne Collins in her Hunger Games trilogy, Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, and by Pittacus Lore in I Am Number Four, will eagerly welcome the work of another master of YA fantasy. The first book in an ingenious new series, Squawk: Beginnings by Craig Halloran is a coming of age story set in a near-future world destroyed in a nuclear holocaust—a dark, oppressive tomorrow where evil despots rule a diminished human population and dragons roam the ravaged landscape. The epic story of young Gabe, son of a dragon hunter, and Squawk, the miraculous winged creature who becomes his closest companion, starts here, ushering in an exciting new era of YA fantasy fiction.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2017
122 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Craig Halloran
179 books268 followersCraig Halloran grew up a role playing fiend and dungeon master's nightmare. Since, he's turned his boundless creativity into more than 80 acclaimed novels that span a wide variety of fantasy fiction sub-genres, from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery to future world apocalypse. Creator of the bestselling Darkslayer and the Chronicles of the Dragon series, he imagines unique worlds and wonders that are breathtaking in concept, and then brings them to life in stories brimming with excitement, suspense, and surprise. A former military policeman who now labors in the realm of the remarkable, Halloran has a large and loyal following of devoted fans who eagerly devour his page-turning, action-packed tales of fantastic adventure.
For more news and anecdotes you can follow him at:
Facebook: The Darkslayer Report by Craig
Twitter: Craig Halloran
www.craighalloran.com (Website and Blog)
www.thedarkslayer.com
www.dragonwarsbooks.com
Or drop him a line anytime as he loves to hear from readers: craig@thedarkslayer.com
***
#1 Bestseller of Epic Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery & KDP All-Star!
Dragon Wars (20 Books) releasing 2020-21
The Darkslayer Series #1 (6 Books)
The Darkslayer Series #2 (10 books)
The Chronicles of Dragon, Series #1 (10 Books)
The Chronicles of Dragon, Series #2 (10 Books)
The Odyssey of Nath Dragon, Prequel series, (5 Books)
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files (10 books)
The Henchmen Chronicles (5 Books)
The Red Citadel and the Sorcerer's Power (1 Stand Alone Book)
The Gamma Earth Cycle (2 Books, Work in Progress)
Zombie Impact (3 Books)
Top Spot: Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Coming of Age Anthologies, Werewolves & Shifters
Top 5: Thrillers & Suspense/Supernatural/Werewolves & Shifters/Vampires
Top 10: Dark Fantasy
Top 10: Coming of Age
Top 100: Genre Fiction
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: (Free in Kindle Store)
#1 Epic Fantasy
#1 Sword & Sorcery
#1 Coming of Age
#1 Urban
#1 Horror
#1 Dark Fantasy
#1 Genetic Engineering
#1 Thrillers/Supernatural/Werewolves & Shifters and Vampires
Over 4000 reviews
4-Star+ Average Rating
For more news and anecdotes you can follow him at:
Facebook: The Darkslayer Report by Craig
Twitter: Craig Halloran
www.craighalloran.com (Website and Blog)
www.thedarkslayer.com
www.dragonwarsbooks.com
Or drop him a line anytime as he loves to hear from readers: craig@thedarkslayer.com
***
#1 Bestseller of Epic Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery & KDP All-Star!
Dragon Wars (20 Books) releasing 2020-21
The Darkslayer Series #1 (6 Books)
The Darkslayer Series #2 (10 books)
The Chronicles of Dragon, Series #1 (10 Books)
The Chronicles of Dragon, Series #2 (10 Books)
The Odyssey of Nath Dragon, Prequel series, (5 Books)
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files (10 books)
The Henchmen Chronicles (5 Books)
The Red Citadel and the Sorcerer's Power (1 Stand Alone Book)
The Gamma Earth Cycle (2 Books, Work in Progress)
Zombie Impact (3 Books)
Top Spot: Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Coming of Age Anthologies, Werewolves & Shifters
Top 5: Thrillers & Suspense/Supernatural/Werewolves & Shifters/Vampires
Top 10: Dark Fantasy
Top 10: Coming of Age
Top 100: Genre Fiction
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: (Free in Kindle Store)
#1 Epic Fantasy
#1 Sword & Sorcery
#1 Coming of Age
#1 Urban
#1 Horror
#1 Dark Fantasy
#1 Genetic Engineering
#1 Thrillers/Supernatural/Werewolves & Shifters and Vampires
Over 4000 reviews
4-Star+ Average Rating
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 5, 2023
I start reading all books with nothing but goodwill towards them. If it's on my Kindle, it's because I thought I'd like it. I want to like the story.
There are very few things an author can do off the bat that makes that goodwill vanish. One of those few things is attempting to hide that their book is self published.
This book was "published" by Two-Ten Book Press. But when you google that, the very first result gives you:
Blogger
http://craighalloran.blogspot.com
TWO-TEN BOOK PRESS
When you click through, the "publisher" page looks like a publisher's site and is worded like one. "We are in the business of selling stories to readers" is the very second sentence on the page. (The very first paragraph is full of grammar issues, which is a whole different issue.)
The "publisher" lists two other authors besides Halloran it supposedly represents, but isn't it odd that Google finds nothing for either person and nothing for the small handful of their books? And that neither exists on Goodreads?
So anyway, right off the bat I went into this book with a bad taste in my mouth. I can't say it got better as I started reading.
Plot: A nuclear war hit, then dragons arrived (WTF?). Set in a post-nuclear war city in a dystopian world, the culture seemed to be centered around dragons: Hunting them, capturing them to use in pit fights, etc. Anyone associated with dragons looked down on everyone else.
I'm not sure if the author has an issue with overweight people or if it was just poor writing, but in the 15% I read before DNFing it, multiple he described heavy people in distasteful ways. Their arm fat flapped, they "waddled", etc. The moment an author has an overweight person "waddle", I'm ready to tap out.
On this book's page, Halloran described himself as a "master of YA fantasy" and this book as "ingenious". They're about as true as Squawk being a traditionally published book.
There are very few things an author can do off the bat that makes that goodwill vanish. One of those few things is attempting to hide that their book is self published.
This book was "published" by Two-Ten Book Press. But when you google that, the very first result gives you:
Blogger
http://craighalloran.blogspot.com
TWO-TEN BOOK PRESS
When you click through, the "publisher" page looks like a publisher's site and is worded like one. "We are in the business of selling stories to readers" is the very second sentence on the page. (The very first paragraph is full of grammar issues, which is a whole different issue.)
The "publisher" lists two other authors besides Halloran it supposedly represents, but isn't it odd that Google finds nothing for either person and nothing for the small handful of their books? And that neither exists on Goodreads?
So anyway, right off the bat I went into this book with a bad taste in my mouth. I can't say it got better as I started reading.
Plot: A nuclear war hit, then dragons arrived (WTF?). Set in a post-nuclear war city in a dystopian world, the culture seemed to be centered around dragons: Hunting them, capturing them to use in pit fights, etc. Anyone associated with dragons looked down on everyone else.
I'm not sure if the author has an issue with overweight people or if it was just poor writing, but in the 15% I read before DNFing it, multiple he described heavy people in distasteful ways. Their arm fat flapped, they "waddled", etc. The moment an author has an overweight person "waddle", I'm ready to tap out.
On this book's page, Halloran described himself as a "master of YA fantasy" and this book as "ingenious". They're about as true as Squawk being a traditionally published book.
October 21, 2023
Help me read more books
Well, if you like post apocalypse stories, this one might appeal to you, especially if you're a fantasy fan. Dragons, (definitely a check), psychopathic leader, (check), murder for murder's sake (yep, that too). This one falls into the category of ok, but too much nonsense for my tastes. It works as a story to be sure, and most readers who enjoy this kind of thing will probably like the story. For me though, it's just feels like there's a major flaw in the story. I can't place it (quite), but it's definitely a problem for me. It's probably related to how much the settlement leader(s) knew about what was going on, and yet, they still allowed it to continue. You can't run a settlement of any size the way this one is run for any extended length of time without serious issues, and this story doesn't address any of those side issues. I think that's my problem with the story overall. It's not a bad story, and perhaps some of those issues get addressed in other books in the series, but I doubt I'll read more in this series. This book was good enough as a stand alone story, I really don't feel the need to dig any deeper into the storyline of this world.
Well, if you like post apocalypse stories, this one might appeal to you, especially if you're a fantasy fan. Dragons, (definitely a check), psychopathic leader, (check), murder for murder's sake (yep, that too). This one falls into the category of ok, but too much nonsense for my tastes. It works as a story to be sure, and most readers who enjoy this kind of thing will probably like the story. For me though, it's just feels like there's a major flaw in the story. I can't place it (quite), but it's definitely a problem for me. It's probably related to how much the settlement leader(s) knew about what was going on, and yet, they still allowed it to continue. You can't run a settlement of any size the way this one is run for any extended length of time without serious issues, and this story doesn't address any of those side issues. I think that's my problem with the story overall. It's not a bad story, and perhaps some of those issues get addressed in other books in the series, but I doubt I'll read more in this series. This book was good enough as a stand alone story, I really don't feel the need to dig any deeper into the storyline of this world.
July 26, 2020
Post-apocalyptic Plus
Best-selling author Craig Halloran has started out with a simple post-apocalyptic environment and launched us into an amazingly rich and creative dystopian saga.
Halloran is well known as an author who especially reaches out to the young adult ("YA") audience. His "Dragon Games Revolution" series is defiantly targeted in that direction. However, his young readers will need minds tough enough to handle thinking about what life might look like if this world's adults are stupid enough to selfishly abandon their responsibilities and destroy the precious gift of civilization.
Craig has created a fascinating cast of characters, good and evil, that will keep you on the edge page by page. Oh, yes, and, "There be dragons!"
Before you start, make sure you have a comfortable chair!
Strongly recommended!
Best-selling author Craig Halloran has started out with a simple post-apocalyptic environment and launched us into an amazingly rich and creative dystopian saga.
Halloran is well known as an author who especially reaches out to the young adult ("YA") audience. His "Dragon Games Revolution" series is defiantly targeted in that direction. However, his young readers will need minds tough enough to handle thinking about what life might look like if this world's adults are stupid enough to selfishly abandon their responsibilities and destroy the precious gift of civilization.
Craig has created a fascinating cast of characters, good and evil, that will keep you on the edge page by page. Oh, yes, and, "There be dragons!"
Before you start, make sure you have a comfortable chair!
Strongly recommended!
November 8, 2021
I love this beginning
What a wretched world to grow up in. After the nuclear holocaust those that remain live in small communities controlled by the elite, the Dominion. Mutations from the gamma rays have created dragons. Saul, along with others, is a dragon hunter. Gabe, his son, finds himself thrown into a life he never envisions after sneaking out of the compound to follow his father and the rest of the hunters.
This is an excellent start to a series that follows Gabe as he finds his way.
What a wretched world to grow up in. After the nuclear holocaust those that remain live in small communities controlled by the elite, the Dominion. Mutations from the gamma rays have created dragons. Saul, along with others, is a dragon hunter. Gabe, his son, finds himself thrown into a life he never envisions after sneaking out of the compound to follow his father and the rest of the hunters.
This is an excellent start to a series that follows Gabe as he finds his way.
February 6, 2019
Rose
I absolutely love dragons!! Here I finally found a well written story which involved them. I truly enjoyed the story as it was written. I hope I am able to eventually get to read the follow-up stories about these dragons. Great book!!
I absolutely love dragons!! Here I finally found a well written story which involved them. I truly enjoyed the story as it was written. I hope I am able to eventually get to read the follow-up stories about these dragons. Great book!!
September 19, 2017
Squawk is awesome!
February 21, 2018
Good premise, okay story but kinda dark. The dragons were a bit of a let down.
December 29, 2016
I was lucky enough to receive a pre-release copy of Squawk. This book is easily one of the best books I have had the pleasure of reading about half way through I also thought it was the most tragic. The time frame is post nuclear war and the people that survived. The governing body has everything and the citizens have very little including food and water . The Dominon have dragon fights to distract from the real problems much like Rome with bread and circuses.Gabe is a thirteen year old boy who's only family is his grandmother and his father. Because of Gabes curious adventurous nature they land in a desperate situation where he bonds with a dragon egg but only Domionon children a allowed to bond with the eggs but this is not a regular dragon he can control other dragons and Gabe can control him. I'm trying not to spoil anything. The plot is full of twist and turns and no one is who they seem I loved it. One gripe is how long will I have to wait for the second book
September 30, 2017
Something different from Craig Halloran
I was curious about the different type of book from Craig Halloran than I was used to reading, specifically the Benjamin Dragon series. It has a completely different feel for me, a different style of writing. It was a good story, and refreshingly much longer than the other books, this being more than 300 pages, which gave him room to be more detailed. The story is good, the characters are good, the dragons seem to still be in early development as far as the tale is concerned, but good so far. I hope the sequels have as much or more volume to them as book 1. It will be interesting to see where the story takes us. Well done.
I was curious about the different type of book from Craig Halloran than I was used to reading, specifically the Benjamin Dragon series. It has a completely different feel for me, a different style of writing. It was a good story, and refreshingly much longer than the other books, this being more than 300 pages, which gave him room to be more detailed. The story is good, the characters are good, the dragons seem to still be in early development as far as the tale is concerned, but good so far. I hope the sequels have as much or more volume to them as book 1. It will be interesting to see where the story takes us. Well done.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews