What do you think?
Rate this book
Of Cinder & Bone #1
Of Cinder and Bone
OF CINDER AND BONE is Ron Howard's Ransom meets Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park!
After centuries of being the most dangerous predators on the planet, dragons were hunted to extinction. That is, until Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali cracked the code to bring them back. Through their research at MIT, they resurrected the first dragon anyone has seen alive since the 15th century.
There’s just one problem.
Someone stole it.
Caught between two ruthless yakuza clans who want to clone the dragon, Jack and Kamala brave the dangerous streets of Tokyo to steal their dragon back in a race against time before the world is taken over by mutated, bloodthirsty monsters that will raze it to ashes.
Of Cinder and Bone is an all-new sci-fi thriller from the author of the Amazon bestselling Black Parade novels. Don’t miss out on this explosive first-in-series! Fans of Westworld, I Robot, Pacific Rim, and Reign of Fire will fall in love with this mashup novel that opens up a whole new world of possibilities into what we know and love about dragons. Of Cinder and Bone was selected for the Top 30 books in Hugh Howey's 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Contest.
After centuries of being the most dangerous predators on the planet, dragons were hunted to extinction. That is, until Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali cracked the code to bring them back. Through their research at MIT, they resurrected the first dragon anyone has seen alive since the 15th century.
There’s just one problem.
Someone stole it.
Caught between two ruthless yakuza clans who want to clone the dragon, Jack and Kamala brave the dangerous streets of Tokyo to steal their dragon back in a race against time before the world is taken over by mutated, bloodthirsty monsters that will raze it to ashes.
Of Cinder and Bone is an all-new sci-fi thriller from the author of the Amazon bestselling Black Parade novels. Don’t miss out on this explosive first-in-series! Fans of Westworld, I Robot, Pacific Rim, and Reign of Fire will fall in love with this mashup novel that opens up a whole new world of possibilities into what we know and love about dragons. Of Cinder and Bone was selected for the Top 30 books in Hugh Howey's 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Contest.
438 pages, ebook
First published December 23, 2016
343 people are currently reading
1414 people want to read
About the author
Kyoko M.
23 books400 followersKyoko M is a USA Today bestselling author, a fangirl, and an avid book reader. She has written the Amazon bestselling Black Parade urban fantasy series as well as the Of Cinder and Bone science-fiction dragon hunting series. The Black Parade has been reviewed by Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews. Of Cinder and Bone placed in the Top 30 books for the 2021 Hugh Howey Self Published Science Fiction contest. She is also a contributor to Marvel Comics Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (March 2, 2021). Kyoko M has appeared as a guest and panelist at such conventions as JordanCon, Geek Girl Con, DragonCon, Blacktasticon, Momocon, and Multiverse Con. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Lit degree from the University of Georgia, which gave her every valid excuse to devour book after book with a concentration in Greek mythology and Christian mythology. When not working feverishly on a manuscript (or two), she can be found buried under her Dashboard on Tumblr or chatting with fellow nerds on Twitter. Like any author, she wants nothing more than to contribute something great to the best profession in the world, no matter how small.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
April 25, 2018
I'm nuts over Reign of Fire and all things dragons so when I saw this was a freebie on Amazon, I had to grab it. I mean, what's not to love when you're cloning dragons, like in Jurassic Park? A honest-to-goodness dragon thriller filled with adventure, suspense, kidnapping and intrigue. Science and cloning are front and center in this story. A tad slow in places but just my thoughts on that. Kamala was my favorite character and I have to read the next one to see what happens next.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Rating: 4 stars
May 20, 2022
I can easily buy a world with dragons. What I can't buy is whatever wonky AU this version of MIT is operating in.
Listen, here's the good: The characters in this book are charming, the descriptions are lushly visual, there are dragons, Kyoko clearly has an awesome imagination, and there is a wonderful range of adventures. But the book just didn't work for me for a series (probably) silly and specious reasons.
It is not, of course, Kyoko's fault that this is the second book about Komodo dragons I have read this month. (The first was The Dragon Keeper). Probably I would have been more patient with this one if I had read it first. Also: I am a science writer who has worked with both zoos and academic institutions. I am a very niche market, and probably most people who read these books do not have my specific background that made my reaction to this book so (occasionally) irate. Probably the book will work for you much better than it did for me.
However. This is not the way any of this works. This is not the way any of this works.
Here are my issues in no particular order.
1. I still don't understand the part where they were just apparently putting an egg and a sperm in the same petri dish and just . . . letting them chill? I don't understand why they didn't use a donor egg. I don't understand how their PI was just letting them cruise along improvising. I don't understand how there wasn't a much more rigorous experiment plan. Seriously.
2. How did they get that Komodo dragon so fast?? They hand-waved it as being from "a reserve." Do you have any idea what it takes to import an animal from overseas?? Especially an endangered species? We're talking months, if not years, of meetings, paper work, approvals, negotiation, and that's even before you start worrying about the logistics. And you have to have a much more rigorous care plan than apparently keeping it in a non-secure multi-species veterinary hospital with, as far as I can tell, almost no supervision, scrutiny, or security. Who was caring for Sarah? Who was monitoring behavior and enrichment? What about diet? Who was responsible for her, legally? The hapless postdocs??? A Komodo dragon is not a lab rat. (Frankly, lab rats need more attention than Sarah got in this book). I know this needed to be easy for the plot to work, but this step should have involved, at minimum, the USDA, the IUCN, IACUC, maybe the AZA, and at least a care team of a vet, pathologist, and at the very minimum one actual herpetologist/keeper. As you can tell, this bothered the heck out of me.
3. Have you tried to break into an animal exhibit area at the zoo? (I hope not. You shouldn't. But just in case you're considering it: It's way harder than this book makes it seem. You've been warned.) Maybe years ago this is how zoos were, but now breaking in a zoo exhibit, especially something like a Komodo dragon, is a lot more like trying to steal artwork from a museum. Because they're freaking precious endangered creatures and we care for them as such.
4. OMG, you all, the press conference. Listen. I know people who work at MIT in the PR/communications department. They also have a highly regarded science communication program. There is no way they wouldn't have all been heavily involved in an effort like this. The entire program and outreach, not just the press conference. But OMG! The press conference! Which was run by . . . the post-docs?? (not even the PI! Just the post-docs!) And don't give me this BS about not letting Kamala be part of the press conference because she is a woman of color. That's utter and complete bullshit, and the comms team would have told them that. She should have been there. And it completely boggles my mind that the PI wasn't there! He should have been front and center, giving the press conference! Then waving off-sides to Jack and Kamala as "the ones who did most of the work." Jack and Kamala are exhausted after the press conference, because they spent all day doing the job that the PR/comm team should have been doing. Seriously. This is MIT. They're awesome at this. There is no way this is the way it all would have gone down. (I'm serious: I have a far easier time suspending my belief for dragons than I do for this nonsense.)
5. The care of the dragons was awful. You don't invite the press to a hatching. First of all no one, let alone a whole roomful of non-science journalists are going to just chill until eggs hatch. Secondly, even if they would (and, honestly, if my editor would let me, I as a science journalist probably would have), there is no way the vet team would have let them. You don't move eggs ready to hatch. You keep them safe, secure, stable, and in a relatively sterile environment not in a room full of germy, mask-less members of the public. That's just an awful idea. However, it pales in comparison to anesthetizing a new hatchling just to check out its skeleton. Seriously. If it's that necessary (and it isn't!) you restrain it, move quick, and hope for the best. And by "you" here I obviously mean "you, a veterinarian with herpetological expertise" or "you, a team of vets, keepers, herps, techs, and other experts" not "you two plucky genetics/cellular biology post docs." That same team, conveniently, is also the one who should be conducting the necropsy. (Not an autopsy, a necropsy. Of course, it's OK that Kamala and Jack don't know this term because they're not qualified to do one anyway.) And when did they suddenly become experts on pathology? This just didn't make any sense and it literally ruined the book for me.
I can suspend my belief for lots of things: spaceships, FTL travel, sapient AIs, dragons, unicorns, magical telepathic horses that don't need oats, etc. But when it comes to my world, the stuff I know (zoos, biology, science communication, academia) there were just too many loose ends flying about in the wind for me to enjoy what I was meant to be enjoying.
Listen, here's the good: The characters in this book are charming, the descriptions are lushly visual, there are dragons, Kyoko clearly has an awesome imagination, and there is a wonderful range of adventures. But the book just didn't work for me for a series (probably) silly and specious reasons.
It is not, of course, Kyoko's fault that this is the second book about Komodo dragons I have read this month. (The first was The Dragon Keeper). Probably I would have been more patient with this one if I had read it first. Also: I am a science writer who has worked with both zoos and academic institutions. I am a very niche market, and probably most people who read these books do not have my specific background that made my reaction to this book so (occasionally) irate. Probably the book will work for you much better than it did for me.
However. This is not the way any of this works. This is not the way any of this works.
Here are my issues in no particular order.
1. I still don't understand the part where they were just apparently putting an egg and a sperm in the same petri dish and just . . . letting them chill? I don't understand why they didn't use a donor egg. I don't understand how their PI was just letting them cruise along improvising. I don't understand how there wasn't a much more rigorous experiment plan. Seriously.
2. How did they get that Komodo dragon so fast?? They hand-waved it as being from "a reserve." Do you have any idea what it takes to import an animal from overseas?? Especially an endangered species? We're talking months, if not years, of meetings, paper work, approvals, negotiation, and that's even before you start worrying about the logistics. And you have to have a much more rigorous care plan than apparently keeping it in a non-secure multi-species veterinary hospital with, as far as I can tell, almost no supervision, scrutiny, or security. Who was caring for Sarah? Who was monitoring behavior and enrichment? What about diet? Who was responsible for her, legally? The hapless postdocs??? A Komodo dragon is not a lab rat. (Frankly, lab rats need more attention than Sarah got in this book). I know this needed to be easy for the plot to work, but this step should have involved, at minimum, the USDA, the IUCN, IACUC, maybe the AZA, and at least a care team of a vet, pathologist, and at the very minimum one actual herpetologist/keeper. As you can tell, this bothered the heck out of me.
3. Have you tried to break into an animal exhibit area at the zoo? (I hope not. You shouldn't. But just in case you're considering it: It's way harder than this book makes it seem. You've been warned.) Maybe years ago this is how zoos were, but now breaking in a zoo exhibit, especially something like a Komodo dragon, is a lot more like trying to steal artwork from a museum. Because they're freaking precious endangered creatures and we care for them as such.
4. OMG, you all, the press conference. Listen. I know people who work at MIT in the PR/communications department. They also have a highly regarded science communication program. There is no way they wouldn't have all been heavily involved in an effort like this. The entire program and outreach, not just the press conference. But OMG! The press conference! Which was run by . . . the post-docs?? (not even the PI! Just the post-docs!) And don't give me this BS about not letting Kamala be part of the press conference because she is a woman of color. That's utter and complete bullshit, and the comms team would have told them that. She should have been there. And it completely boggles my mind that the PI wasn't there! He should have been front and center, giving the press conference! Then waving off-sides to Jack and Kamala as "the ones who did most of the work." Jack and Kamala are exhausted after the press conference, because they spent all day doing the job that the PR/comm team should have been doing. Seriously. This is MIT. They're awesome at this. There is no way this is the way it all would have gone down. (I'm serious: I have a far easier time suspending my belief for dragons than I do for this nonsense.)
5. The care of the dragons was awful. You don't invite the press to a hatching. First of all no one, let alone a whole roomful of non-science journalists are going to just chill until eggs hatch. Secondly, even if they would (and, honestly, if my editor would let me, I as a science journalist probably would have), there is no way the vet team would have let them. You don't move eggs ready to hatch. You keep them safe, secure, stable, and in a relatively sterile environment not in a room full of germy, mask-less members of the public. That's just an awful idea. However, it pales in comparison to anesthetizing a new hatchling just to check out its skeleton. Seriously. If it's that necessary (and it isn't!) you restrain it, move quick, and hope for the best. And by "you" here I obviously mean "you, a veterinarian with herpetological expertise" or "you, a team of vets, keepers, herps, techs, and other experts" not "you two plucky genetics/cellular biology post docs." That same team, conveniently, is also the one who should be conducting the necropsy. (Not an autopsy, a necropsy. Of course, it's OK that Kamala and Jack don't know this term because they're not qualified to do one anyway.) And when did they suddenly become experts on pathology? This just didn't make any sense and it literally ruined the book for me.
I can suspend my belief for lots of things: spaceships, FTL travel, sapient AIs, dragons, unicorns, magical telepathic horses that don't need oats, etc. But when it comes to my world, the stuff I know (zoos, biology, science communication, academia) there were just too many loose ends flying about in the wind for me to enjoy what I was meant to be enjoying.
July 19, 2018
I never like to stop a book only a few chapters in because I always wonder if there is going to be a turnaround and an amazing story will surface. But this time I just couldn't. The three characters that are introduced at the beginning are beyond ridiculous and I just can't get over the childish interactions, the high school drama, the over stereotyping of a nerdy scientist and the annoying dialogues. It was just all too much. I also felt like there was no natural flow to the writing. It felt forced and to me, the focus was more on what a character looked like and what he or she wore instead of actually introducing complex, multifaceted characters. It was just all one big let down and I didn't even get to the dragon part and let's face it, dragons are the only reason I picked up this book.
July 17, 2022
Premise intrigued me so I decided to give it a go.
Resurrecting extinct dragons from DNA does reminds me of Jurassic Park, and book even mentions reference to it, but storyline quickly diverges from it. Dragon gets stolen and book turns into action and thriller, with addition of romance.
What completely won me over though, were characters. From the start I enjoyed their dynamics and interactions. They were believable, flawed characters I could root for.
Pacing of this book is fast and keeps you wanting to read more.
I have an issue with last chapter which sets up a conflict for its sequel. I would have preferred if this book ended before that is introduced, but that is a personal preference.
Plot may not be completely believable in terms of science and actions taken, but it's highly entertaining read and I would recommend it.
Resurrecting extinct dragons from DNA does reminds me of Jurassic Park, and book even mentions reference to it, but storyline quickly diverges from it. Dragon gets stolen and book turns into action and thriller, with addition of romance.
What completely won me over though, were characters. From the start I enjoyed their dynamics and interactions. They were believable, flawed characters I could root for.
Pacing of this book is fast and keeps you wanting to read more.
I have an issue with last chapter which sets up a conflict for its sequel. I would have preferred if this book ended before that is introduced, but that is a personal preference.
Plot may not be completely believable in terms of science and actions taken, but it's highly entertaining read and I would recommend it.
January 22, 2018
Terribly Written
I am sorry. This book reads like the text of an anime book. The author spends more time describing clothing and colors than on character development or plotline. The title and teaser enticed me, but this is an embarrassingly bad piece of writing whose author needs to spend some time reading better quality books to learn how to write. If I could have done so, I would have given it zero or negative stars because it is so bad. Don't waste your time on this one. D- ( would be an F if not for the idea of cloning dragons)
I am sorry. This book reads like the text of an anime book. The author spends more time describing clothing and colors than on character development or plotline. The title and teaser enticed me, but this is an embarrassingly bad piece of writing whose author needs to spend some time reading better quality books to learn how to write. If I could have done so, I would have given it zero or negative stars because it is so bad. Don't waste your time on this one. D- ( would be an F if not for the idea of cloning dragons)
February 20, 2023
I’m going to be honest. I picked up this book solely because it had a dragon on the cover. I didn’t really know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. This book is perhaps best described as a fantasy thriller. You don’t see that combination every day, but somehow it works, mixing Ron Howard's Ransom with Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. There was a kidnapping, car chases through the streets of Tokyo, shootouts, betrayals, and yakuza getting eaten by a dragon. I had a lot of fun with this one!
When two scientists, Dr. Jackson and Dr. Anjali, crack the genetic code to resurrect a previously extinct dragon, it doesn’t take long before someone steals it. Caught between two yakuza clans, the two scientists will risk their career and their lives to get their dragon back.
The characters are definitely the highlight of the book. I really enjoyed them all—from the two snarky scientists with great banter, to the snappy engineer roommate, to the Japanese female bodyguard who is an absolute badass. In addition, Dr. Anjali is a great representation of a woman of color in STEM. The characters were diverse, well-written, and three-dimensional.
Although the ending drags a bit and I don’t know how feasible all of the science stuff checks out, for a thriller set on streets of Tokyo with a dragon on the loose, this gave me everything that I wanted. I would love a movie of this one.
When two scientists, Dr. Jackson and Dr. Anjali, crack the genetic code to resurrect a previously extinct dragon, it doesn’t take long before someone steals it. Caught between two yakuza clans, the two scientists will risk their career and their lives to get their dragon back.
The characters are definitely the highlight of the book. I really enjoyed them all—from the two snarky scientists with great banter, to the snappy engineer roommate, to the Japanese female bodyguard who is an absolute badass. In addition, Dr. Anjali is a great representation of a woman of color in STEM. The characters were diverse, well-written, and three-dimensional.
Although the ending drags a bit and I don’t know how feasible all of the science stuff checks out, for a thriller set on streets of Tokyo with a dragon on the loose, this gave me everything that I wanted. I would love a movie of this one.
December 14, 2021
Read for 2021 SPSFC
Overall Thoughts
Oh my goodness, the voice in this book. That was what originally drew me in, and kept me going through the whole thing. I got only a few chapters in and there is a tense will he/she won’t he/she relationship between three characters with enough bisexual energy to stun a dragon. Speaking of which, I also love the world this is in, which is just like ours, except dragons, an offshoot of dinosaurs, were alive and well until the 1400s. But the dragons are not the stars of the show. Leave that up to Jack and Kam, two scientists decide to bring one back to live, like their very own high fantasy Jurassic Park. I’ll go into my thoughts in much more detail below, but I’ll leave you with the one reason this book isn’t even higher on this list. There weren’t enough dragons in the book…
Plot
So, our two main characters are busy bringing a dragon back to life, while trading barbs filled with sexual tension between themselves and their friend Faye, who might like both of them, yes in that way. Except very soon the newly hatched dragon is stolen, which leads to a wild chase through the streets of Tokyo, Japan, Yakuza thugs, disaffected scientists, dirty cops, and one very angry dragon.
Now, I will say I thought the plot thread with Japan went on a little too long, as did, if I’m honest, the book as a whole. I felt like there was a really good end point about 80% of the way through, but there were a few more plot points after that. This is the first of a series (which I will definitely be checking out) so I feel the last part of the book probably could have been the beginning of book 2 instead, and not really lost anything. In addition, the genre of the book changes more to thriller or suspense, with the dragon as a McGuffin, rather than the focus being on the dragon, as I was expecting from the first few chapters.
Setting
Another thing that really drew me into this world is that it appears to be exactly the same as ours, except many species of dragons persisted through the middle ages, when they were finally wiped out by dragon hunters. Makes those fairy tales and knights and dragons make a lot more sense, right? But that said, I actually wanted more dragons. There are little tidbits through the book, and a bit more at the end, but I wanted more scenes with the dragon and more talking about how they functioned in society. I felt it got lost against the Japanese backdrop.
This brings me to my second point. A good half of the book takes place in Japan, and as such there are people speaking Japanese. I have a rudimentary understanding (thanks college anime and Duolingo) but I felt a bit more, especially in the long phrases, could have been translated. There is, in fact, one footnote to translate a phrase in maybe Hindi or Tamil, but none for the Japanese. Crime organizations also played a big part, and while they are connected to the story, I feel it sort of buries the lede of Cool Big Dragon coming back to life. That said, I’m hoping for a lot more dragon action in the next books of the series.
Character
This is the big one for this book. The characters here make the story. Jack and Kam are absolutely adorable together, and Faye is an amazing foil to both of them. There are some other characters later on (one in particular) who are an absolute joy to read. The writing style here is such that I would read just about anything by this author, simply to enjoy the character interactions. Also, there’s a big plus for me in adding a bi character, even if she doesn’t end up having a huge part.
This is why I’m less annoyed by the lack of dragons than I otherwise might be. The character arcs here are deep, bringing in the characters’ pasts, and how they affect them as individuals, while not slowing down the action sequences. They build and inform the action sequences, and the many snarky responses more than once made me snort in laughter. Jack and Kam (and several others in the book) are so real I feel I’ve known them for a long time. I’m sure I’ll get to know them more in the next books in the series. You should too! Go check this one out.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
A page-turning dragon heist through Japan with snarky and loveable character, even if there isn’t quite enough dragon for my taste. 8/10
Overall Thoughts
Oh my goodness, the voice in this book. That was what originally drew me in, and kept me going through the whole thing. I got only a few chapters in and there is a tense will he/she won’t he/she relationship between three characters with enough bisexual energy to stun a dragon. Speaking of which, I also love the world this is in, which is just like ours, except dragons, an offshoot of dinosaurs, were alive and well until the 1400s. But the dragons are not the stars of the show. Leave that up to Jack and Kam, two scientists decide to bring one back to live, like their very own high fantasy Jurassic Park. I’ll go into my thoughts in much more detail below, but I’ll leave you with the one reason this book isn’t even higher on this list. There weren’t enough dragons in the book…
Plot
So, our two main characters are busy bringing a dragon back to life, while trading barbs filled with sexual tension between themselves and their friend Faye, who might like both of them, yes in that way. Except very soon the newly hatched dragon is stolen, which leads to a wild chase through the streets of Tokyo, Japan, Yakuza thugs, disaffected scientists, dirty cops, and one very angry dragon.
Now, I will say I thought the plot thread with Japan went on a little too long, as did, if I’m honest, the book as a whole. I felt like there was a really good end point about 80% of the way through, but there were a few more plot points after that. This is the first of a series (which I will definitely be checking out) so I feel the last part of the book probably could have been the beginning of book 2 instead, and not really lost anything. In addition, the genre of the book changes more to thriller or suspense, with the dragon as a McGuffin, rather than the focus being on the dragon, as I was expecting from the first few chapters.
Setting
Another thing that really drew me into this world is that it appears to be exactly the same as ours, except many species of dragons persisted through the middle ages, when they were finally wiped out by dragon hunters. Makes those fairy tales and knights and dragons make a lot more sense, right? But that said, I actually wanted more dragons. There are little tidbits through the book, and a bit more at the end, but I wanted more scenes with the dragon and more talking about how they functioned in society. I felt it got lost against the Japanese backdrop.
This brings me to my second point. A good half of the book takes place in Japan, and as such there are people speaking Japanese. I have a rudimentary understanding (thanks college anime and Duolingo) but I felt a bit more, especially in the long phrases, could have been translated. There is, in fact, one footnote to translate a phrase in maybe Hindi or Tamil, but none for the Japanese. Crime organizations also played a big part, and while they are connected to the story, I feel it sort of buries the lede of Cool Big Dragon coming back to life. That said, I’m hoping for a lot more dragon action in the next books of the series.
Character
This is the big one for this book. The characters here make the story. Jack and Kam are absolutely adorable together, and Faye is an amazing foil to both of them. There are some other characters later on (one in particular) who are an absolute joy to read. The writing style here is such that I would read just about anything by this author, simply to enjoy the character interactions. Also, there’s a big plus for me in adding a bi character, even if she doesn’t end up having a huge part.
This is why I’m less annoyed by the lack of dragons than I otherwise might be. The character arcs here are deep, bringing in the characters’ pasts, and how they affect them as individuals, while not slowing down the action sequences. They build and inform the action sequences, and the many snarky responses more than once made me snort in laughter. Jack and Kam (and several others in the book) are so real I feel I’ve known them for a long time. I’m sure I’ll get to know them more in the next books in the series. You should too! Go check this one out.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
A page-turning dragon heist through Japan with snarky and loveable character, even if there isn’t quite enough dragon for my taste. 8/10
March 13, 2017
Of Cinder and Bone
Written by: Kyoko M
Kindle/ E-book version: 491 pages
Amazon Digital Services LLC, December 23, 2016
*May contains some minor spoilers*
This ain't ya mama's dragon fantasy novel! The first book of Kyoko M’s new series is a fast-paced fantasy/adventure novel that features an intriguing love square, descriptive battles, and the birth of an ancient creature that could destroy cities in under an hour. This book is well worth ditching Netflix and chill for the love square alone! Who can’t relate to a love square? (I cannot relate, I am drinking a Straw-Ber-Rita and writing this review alone)
Scientists Kamala and Jack are onto something that could change the world. When this discovery blossoms into a giant, winged reptilian reality, gangsters and a rival scientist with a complex go after the intellectual love child of Jack and Kamala. Luckily, our slightly nerdy heroes are always up for a fight. Of Cinder and Bone, the first book of what promises to be a thrilling series, is a griping tale that will leave readers weeping for the next installment of the series.
Kyoko M’s growth as a writer is evident in Of Cinder and Bone. The Black Parade series was marvelous but Kyoko’s writing in OCAB is visibly more confident and finessed. OCAB is about a lot more than dragons and ex-girlfriends that happen to be lethal body guards. Readers will appreciate all of the research and thought that went into this novel. Kyoko M effortlessly feature believable jargon and builds a fantastical world that is believable.
OCAB will also please fans of relationship and family drama. Writing about relationships and family issues are not easy. This book however, takes readers into a relatable world that features a man dealing with past abuse and a strong woman of color who struggles with an overbearing father. New readers and fans of The Black Parade series will easily be able to relate to the characters and their compelling stories.
I am still waiting for a steamy boys-love Black Parade spin off (*cough, #teammilial for life, cough*) but Of Cinder and Bone is a captivating adventure and I cannot wait for book two!
Review written by: Andi T. Cedillo
Written by: Kyoko M
Kindle/ E-book version: 491 pages
Amazon Digital Services LLC, December 23, 2016
*May contains some minor spoilers*
This ain't ya mama's dragon fantasy novel! The first book of Kyoko M’s new series is a fast-paced fantasy/adventure novel that features an intriguing love square, descriptive battles, and the birth of an ancient creature that could destroy cities in under an hour. This book is well worth ditching Netflix and chill for the love square alone! Who can’t relate to a love square? (I cannot relate, I am drinking a Straw-Ber-Rita and writing this review alone)
Scientists Kamala and Jack are onto something that could change the world. When this discovery blossoms into a giant, winged reptilian reality, gangsters and a rival scientist with a complex go after the intellectual love child of Jack and Kamala. Luckily, our slightly nerdy heroes are always up for a fight. Of Cinder and Bone, the first book of what promises to be a thrilling series, is a griping tale that will leave readers weeping for the next installment of the series.
Kyoko M’s growth as a writer is evident in Of Cinder and Bone. The Black Parade series was marvelous but Kyoko’s writing in OCAB is visibly more confident and finessed. OCAB is about a lot more than dragons and ex-girlfriends that happen to be lethal body guards. Readers will appreciate all of the research and thought that went into this novel. Kyoko M effortlessly feature believable jargon and builds a fantastical world that is believable.
OCAB will also please fans of relationship and family drama. Writing about relationships and family issues are not easy. This book however, takes readers into a relatable world that features a man dealing with past abuse and a strong woman of color who struggles with an overbearing father. New readers and fans of The Black Parade series will easily be able to relate to the characters and their compelling stories.
I am still waiting for a steamy boys-love Black Parade spin off (*cough, #teammilial for life, cough*) but Of Cinder and Bone is a captivating adventure and I cannot wait for book two!
Review written by: Andi T. Cedillo
December 23, 2016
Dr Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr Kamala Anjali were working over the incubator at MIT. After more than 60 attempts, the genetically modified egg was still not fertilized. They put everything away in the lab and left for a party to unwind.
As the work continued, Kam thought about the asexual reproduction that a Komodo dragon is capable of; so they again prepared the egg and implanted it in a female Komodo. The egg implanted and grew – developing faster than expected. Within a month, the eggs were about to hatch. A news conference was called to watch the ground-breaking event. As Jack checked the eggs one last time with a stethoscope, there was no longer any sound of life in any of the eggs! They injected the eggs with an epi-pen to resuscitate them, but nothing happened. As Jack and a reporter were arguing about the failure, there was a sudden loud CRACK from one of the eggs! What will this mean for the project? For the whole world? Did a dragon actually survive?
Beautifully filled with vivid description, the author brings the reader right into the story. You feel like you are right there with the characters, sharing whatever activity is going on. The characters, too, are developed in such a way that the reader feels like an old friend, knowing their thoughts and aspirations. I have never felt more comfortable in a book as I did in this one. The dialog was witty and humorous. Interspersed in the developing relationship between Jack and Kam, scientific information is shared which makes the reader feel like this is ground-breaking research going on. It was such a fresh, novel approach and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this book. It’s definitely worth the read!
As the work continued, Kam thought about the asexual reproduction that a Komodo dragon is capable of; so they again prepared the egg and implanted it in a female Komodo. The egg implanted and grew – developing faster than expected. Within a month, the eggs were about to hatch. A news conference was called to watch the ground-breaking event. As Jack checked the eggs one last time with a stethoscope, there was no longer any sound of life in any of the eggs! They injected the eggs with an epi-pen to resuscitate them, but nothing happened. As Jack and a reporter were arguing about the failure, there was a sudden loud CRACK from one of the eggs! What will this mean for the project? For the whole world? Did a dragon actually survive?
Beautifully filled with vivid description, the author brings the reader right into the story. You feel like you are right there with the characters, sharing whatever activity is going on. The characters, too, are developed in such a way that the reader feels like an old friend, knowing their thoughts and aspirations. I have never felt more comfortable in a book as I did in this one. The dialog was witty and humorous. Interspersed in the developing relationship between Jack and Kam, scientific information is shared which makes the reader feel like this is ground-breaking research going on. It was such a fresh, novel approach and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this book. It’s definitely worth the read!
January 29, 2022
3.5 stars
This was an interesting and compelling book, that’s for sure. I enjoyed it and the time we spent together flew by, but even if I enjoyed the ride a lot, I think I won’t continue the series. I will talk more about the things that I liked and the things that I didn’t like so much in a moment, but just to summarize here, this book was not cohesive. Sure, I talked about it with my teammates while I was reading it and one of them reassured me that in the end, all things would have come together quite nicely, and yes, this was true, but it was not enough for me. It is quite unbalanced, and this was the main reason I am not interested in the series as a whole, but it is a book that I still recommend if you are in for some fun, a bit of science, a ton of action, and dragons!
So let’s start with the good. The idea here is really akin to Jurassic Park (the movies, I haven’t read the books, sorry!) and the characters themselves remark this (and I loved it!). We have a couple of scientist, that are our MC, Kamala and Jack, who are studying a way to re-create dragons in our wolrd. And they manage it using some dragon’s DNA implanted (I hope this is the right word!) in a Komodo dragon. It is not so easy and straightforward, obvioulsy, they studied a lot and they made a lot of tries, but in the end they have their own personal little dragon, Pete. The first one since hundreds of years. Amazing, right? Pete, this is the name of this amazing creature, is the first dragon in centuries and she is the cutest creature, really.
But some bad people stole her!
Let’s stop a moment here with the plot. In this first part we get to know the characters pretty well. The author give them a lot of space, and I am not only speaking about Kam and Jack, that we get to know pretty well all the same, but about Faye, too, Kamala live-in and friend-enemie with Jack. And their interaction are so good! They are funny, they carry the story forward and they are a pleasure to read. And we get to see them interact outside this triangle too, and this is pretty good because it helps create characters that are alive. And usually I am all in for well developed characters. But even if I enjoyed this part a lot, I have to confess that it felt slightly unbalanced to me. The level of attention for the characters interactions and relationship was a bit too much. And here I am a bit at a loss for words, because it is something difficult to explain. On one hand I enjoyed them, because they are well developed and funny and they made the characters seem more real and complex, but on the other hand I think that they are a bit outside the story, they are not really well fitted in the whole.
Okay, back to the plot and other things! So, Pete is stolen and very bad people is behind the kidnapping, very very bad people. And our scientists are soon involved in something way bigger than them. And they follow the cues up to Japan, where they are even more in danger and where they are helped by Misaki.
And stop here again!
So, if the first part is a good mix between sci-fi and romance, here we have the thriller part. And the action part. It seems like the author wanted for this book to be too many things. And even if I appreciated this part, because it is action packed, we get to see Pete again, and we visit Japan too (and you won’t get bored, at all!), again I don’t think that it really fit in there. It is that all keep seeming unbalanced to me. It is almost as, as I was saying, the author couldn’t make her mind up and choose, so she didn’t choose and tryed to cover every genre. Mind me, I turned page after page, because I wanted to see what would happen next, I needed to know all about Pete and I was engaged in the story and the characters but… but it wasn’t as cohesive as I would have preferred.
Also, you have to just suspend your disbelief in this part, because we have two scientist who turn detective in a place where neither of them has been before, who is not just geographically far away but in which the culture and the language are completely new to them (I mean, okay they are not in a brand new world, but the differences between America and Japan are pretty heavy, and you can’t just learn some basic Japanese while flying from point A to point B. With just a book.) and they are up against the yakuza. Not a lab rat like them. Nope. The yakuza. All with the help of WonderWoman, A.K.A. Misaki. She is an amazing character, and she is capable (a lot!), she is strong willed and resorceful. Sure, but she is human and this fact is not really taken in account in here. It is not that she is portraied as other-worldy, not at all, but it is just that she is a sort of female Rambo (or every other Stallone/Statham characters you can choose, basically one woman army. Come on!). And yes, Jack is pretty resourceful too. And he is not your usual lab rat either (and okay, neither is Kamala), but yes, you just have to suspend your disbelief for this part.
And then we have the ending. And I won’t spoiler it for you, but there are a couple of things to say. After Jack and Kamala come back to America we get to see some pretty epic scenes, and I loved them. And I really appreciated the fact that the author wrote them. Because it would have been such a shame and a waste to just not have them. And all things really come together nicely, and the ending is quite more balanced that all the rest. But, yes, there are some buts even here, sorry! In the end we get a 180 degree and we change from Jurassic Park to Godzilla (but with a nice Russian vibe to it!), and the last scene of the book, even if it fit and I can’t find an objective reason to complain here, this is just the truth, was not of my liking. It is a thing that usually made me snort. Or roll my eyes, because it is the same damn end for all the romance. Sooner or later you just have it. I can count on one hands the series or the books that don’t use this trope (or this narrative path), I think, and it is something that keeps annoying me. And yes, it is 100% personal. And usually I just get over it pretty quickly, but here we are a bit too much in the beginning of the romance part so… yeah, it was a choice that didn’t make me happy. But this is totally on me.
Anyway, I know that I was pretty criticizing in this review, but I want to remark that the book is pretty enjoyable, and the idea behind it is epic. Really. I loved the Jurassic Park with dragons a lot. And if you are in for something that would take your mind off, action-packed and with dragon(s), well… try this one!
This was an interesting and compelling book, that’s for sure. I enjoyed it and the time we spent together flew by, but even if I enjoyed the ride a lot, I think I won’t continue the series. I will talk more about the things that I liked and the things that I didn’t like so much in a moment, but just to summarize here, this book was not cohesive. Sure, I talked about it with my teammates while I was reading it and one of them reassured me that in the end, all things would have come together quite nicely, and yes, this was true, but it was not enough for me. It is quite unbalanced, and this was the main reason I am not interested in the series as a whole, but it is a book that I still recommend if you are in for some fun, a bit of science, a ton of action, and dragons!
So let’s start with the good. The idea here is really akin to Jurassic Park (the movies, I haven’t read the books, sorry!) and the characters themselves remark this (and I loved it!). We have a couple of scientist, that are our MC, Kamala and Jack, who are studying a way to re-create dragons in our wolrd. And they manage it using some dragon’s DNA implanted (I hope this is the right word!) in a Komodo dragon. It is not so easy and straightforward, obvioulsy, they studied a lot and they made a lot of tries, but in the end they have their own personal little dragon, Pete. The first one since hundreds of years. Amazing, right? Pete, this is the name of this amazing creature, is the first dragon in centuries and she is the cutest creature, really.
But some bad people stole her!
Let’s stop a moment here with the plot. In this first part we get to know the characters pretty well. The author give them a lot of space, and I am not only speaking about Kam and Jack, that we get to know pretty well all the same, but about Faye, too, Kamala live-in and friend-enemie with Jack. And their interaction are so good! They are funny, they carry the story forward and they are a pleasure to read. And we get to see them interact outside this triangle too, and this is pretty good because it helps create characters that are alive. And usually I am all in for well developed characters. But even if I enjoyed this part a lot, I have to confess that it felt slightly unbalanced to me. The level of attention for the characters interactions and relationship was a bit too much. And here I am a bit at a loss for words, because it is something difficult to explain. On one hand I enjoyed them, because they are well developed and funny and they made the characters seem more real and complex, but on the other hand I think that they are a bit outside the story, they are not really well fitted in the whole.
Okay, back to the plot and other things! So, Pete is stolen and very bad people is behind the kidnapping, very very bad people. And our scientists are soon involved in something way bigger than them. And they follow the cues up to Japan, where they are even more in danger and where they are helped by Misaki.
And stop here again!
So, if the first part is a good mix between sci-fi and romance, here we have the thriller part. And the action part. It seems like the author wanted for this book to be too many things. And even if I appreciated this part, because it is action packed, we get to see Pete again, and we visit Japan too (and you won’t get bored, at all!), again I don’t think that it really fit in there. It is that all keep seeming unbalanced to me. It is almost as, as I was saying, the author couldn’t make her mind up and choose, so she didn’t choose and tryed to cover every genre. Mind me, I turned page after page, because I wanted to see what would happen next, I needed to know all about Pete and I was engaged in the story and the characters but… but it wasn’t as cohesive as I would have preferred.
Also, you have to just suspend your disbelief in this part, because we have two scientist who turn detective in a place where neither of them has been before, who is not just geographically far away but in which the culture and the language are completely new to them (I mean, okay they are not in a brand new world, but the differences between America and Japan are pretty heavy, and you can’t just learn some basic Japanese while flying from point A to point B. With just a book.) and they are up against the yakuza. Not a lab rat like them. Nope. The yakuza. All with the help of WonderWoman, A.K.A. Misaki. She is an amazing character, and she is capable (a lot!), she is strong willed and resorceful. Sure, but she is human and this fact is not really taken in account in here. It is not that she is portraied as other-worldy, not at all, but it is just that she is a sort of female Rambo (or every other Stallone/Statham characters you can choose, basically one woman army. Come on!). And yes, Jack is pretty resourceful too. And he is not your usual lab rat either (and okay, neither is Kamala), but yes, you just have to suspend your disbelief for this part.
And then we have the ending. And I won’t spoiler it for you, but there are a couple of things to say. After Jack and Kamala come back to America we get to see some pretty epic scenes, and I loved them. And I really appreciated the fact that the author wrote them. Because it would have been such a shame and a waste to just not have them. And all things really come together nicely, and the ending is quite more balanced that all the rest. But, yes, there are some buts even here, sorry! In the end we get a 180 degree and we change from Jurassic Park to Godzilla (but with a nice Russian vibe to it!), and the last scene of the book, even if it fit and I can’t find an objective reason to complain here, this is just the truth, was not of my liking. It is a thing that usually made me snort. Or roll my eyes, because it is the same damn end for all the romance. Sooner or later you just have it. I can count on one hands the series or the books that don’t use this trope (or this narrative path), I think, and it is something that keeps annoying me. And yes, it is 100% personal. And usually I just get over it pretty quickly, but here we are a bit too much in the beginning of the romance part so… yeah, it was a choice that didn’t make me happy. But this is totally on me.
Anyway, I know that I was pretty criticizing in this review, but I want to remark that the book is pretty enjoyable, and the idea behind it is epic. Really. I loved the Jurassic Park with dragons a lot. And if you are in for something that would take your mind off, action-packed and with dragon(s), well… try this one!
October 12, 2019
I've always been fascinated with dragons. They are so beautiful and dangerous and yet regal too.
Dr. Rhett Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali are biological engineers working to bring dragons back from extinction. After many, many, many trials, they are finally successful only to have their day-old dragon stolen and their lives put in terrible danger. Off to Japan they head to find the kidnappers and get their baby back.
This is a very exciting story that really and truly had me flipping pages as fast as possible to find out who stole the dragon, where they could find and recover her and why in the world someone stole her in the first place.
I enjoyed the characterization of Jack, Kamala, Faye and even the bad guys were well done. There was plenty of excitement, action, danger and even romance. All in all, a well-written story that keeps you reading past your bedtime and looking for the next installment.
Dr. Rhett Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali are biological engineers working to bring dragons back from extinction. After many, many, many trials, they are finally successful only to have their day-old dragon stolen and their lives put in terrible danger. Off to Japan they head to find the kidnappers and get their baby back.
This is a very exciting story that really and truly had me flipping pages as fast as possible to find out who stole the dragon, where they could find and recover her and why in the world someone stole her in the first place.
I enjoyed the characterization of Jack, Kamala, Faye and even the bad guys were well done. There was plenty of excitement, action, danger and even romance. All in all, a well-written story that keeps you reading past your bedtime and looking for the next installment.
March 5, 2021
Dragons Are Real
Drs. Kamala Anjali and Rhett "Jack" Jackson are neck-deep in genetic experiments to bring back the dragons that were hunted to extinction. Pete is born, just barely, after the others of her clutch were murdered by sabotage. A theft, A kidnapping, A fire, and one plane ride to Tokyo, Japan later, and Kamala and Jack find themselves facing down yakuza and fighting for their lives. Also, romance, because saving a dragon isn't exciting enough, is it?
Drs. Kamala Anjali and Rhett "Jack" Jackson are neck-deep in genetic experiments to bring back the dragons that were hunted to extinction. Pete is born, just barely, after the others of her clutch were murdered by sabotage. A theft, A kidnapping, A fire, and one plane ride to Tokyo, Japan later, and Kamala and Jack find themselves facing down yakuza and fighting for their lives. Also, romance, because saving a dragon isn't exciting enough, is it?
dnf
December 19, 2022dnf @ 50 pages
this was absolute unbearable and i am so sad about it. i couldn’t stand the writing and the incredibly cringey dialogue. i also feel a little bit catfished by the ‘jurassic park but with dragons’ tagline because it is a completely different tone and v much not what i’m looking for.
this was absolute unbearable and i am so sad about it. i couldn’t stand the writing and the incredibly cringey dialogue. i also feel a little bit catfished by the ‘jurassic park but with dragons’ tagline because it is a completely different tone and v much not what i’m looking for.
April 4, 2023
I read a lot of quality self pub fantasy novels (SPFBO and otherwise) and this is not one of those. This book has all of the basic failures that you would attribute to someone learning to write fiction.
*A lot of this book feels like it's the daily world of the author and it's in there because it's part of that day to day as opposed to advancing the plot. A lot of unnecessary scenes and a lot of talking about people's emotions and background - all telling not showing.
*This book gets off to completely the wrong start for any sort of scifi adventure. Laboriously establishing the ins and outs of these basic characters and their average, generic lives does not set the book up for where it wants to go.
*The characters are all stereotypes: the farm boy nerd who can't talk to girls, the oblivious girl nerd that everybody wants, the slutty drunk girl who parties too much, etc. The book uses racial stereotypes in terms of the Japanese and Indian characters, which is off putting when paired with the overall lack of characterization.
*So much of this doesn't follow; they establish that the other guy in the room is somebody they hate and he can hear them talking, so, the main male character proceeds to tell deep dark secrets of his past which he explicitly states in the scene that he doesn't want anyone to know. It just doesn't make any sense as a scene. They hate the Japanese scientist for no stated reason and that lasts one scene and then suddenly they like him.
*Suddenly, the book remembers it wants to be sci-fi fantasy, so the next few pages are 100% info dumping. Any science is jarringly dropped into the story in chunks of info dumps throughout the book.
*Just way too many TV and movie references - trite, juvenile and uninteresting. Cheers, really? Anachronistic. Harry Potter? Played out.
*Cliches abound, i.e. pinch me, "tomato, to-mato," "hey is for horses" (the last two used back to back).
*Unexplained, random time jumps. Jack does not associate with his abusive father so why suddenly are his mother and father flying in to see him? This is not believable. The book skips getting us the scientific discovery and goes straight to media attention. What is shown and what is skipped is bizarre in this book. The plot of the book ends and there's still another 93 pages left.
*There is no world in which this initial press conference would occur. The parts of this book that are supposed to be set in the real, academic world are completely unbelievable and inaccurate.
*The author gets the details wrong - all you need is Google to find that, yes, the US does have an extradition treaty with Japan. In addition to all the laws they break throughout the book, Kamala gets the doctors to violate HIPAA with no qualms and for no reason.
*How the parental relationships resolve is very hokey and unrealistic and all the dialog in these portions is particularly forced. There is a lot of clunky, stilted dialog throughout this book.
The premise is cool but the actual book is a dreadful mess - it's not well written, characterized, paced, plotted or anything else. I know people are inclined to be more lenient with self pub books in terms of reviews, but, don't be fooled, this book is legitimately subpar.
*A lot of this book feels like it's the daily world of the author and it's in there because it's part of that day to day as opposed to advancing the plot. A lot of unnecessary scenes and a lot of talking about people's emotions and background - all telling not showing.
*This book gets off to completely the wrong start for any sort of scifi adventure. Laboriously establishing the ins and outs of these basic characters and their average, generic lives does not set the book up for where it wants to go.
*The characters are all stereotypes: the farm boy nerd who can't talk to girls, the oblivious girl nerd that everybody wants, the slutty drunk girl who parties too much, etc. The book uses racial stereotypes in terms of the Japanese and Indian characters, which is off putting when paired with the overall lack of characterization.
*So much of this doesn't follow; they establish that the other guy in the room is somebody they hate and he can hear them talking, so, the main male character proceeds to tell deep dark secrets of his past which he explicitly states in the scene that he doesn't want anyone to know. It just doesn't make any sense as a scene. They hate the Japanese scientist for no stated reason and that lasts one scene and then suddenly they like him.
*Suddenly, the book remembers it wants to be sci-fi fantasy, so the next few pages are 100% info dumping. Any science is jarringly dropped into the story in chunks of info dumps throughout the book.
*Just way too many TV and movie references - trite, juvenile and uninteresting. Cheers, really? Anachronistic. Harry Potter? Played out.
*Cliches abound, i.e. pinch me, "tomato, to-mato," "hey is for horses" (the last two used back to back).
*Unexplained, random time jumps. Jack does not associate with his abusive father so why suddenly are his mother and father flying in to see him? This is not believable. The book skips getting us the scientific discovery and goes straight to media attention. What is shown and what is skipped is bizarre in this book. The plot of the book ends and there's still another 93 pages left.
*There is no world in which this initial press conference would occur. The parts of this book that are supposed to be set in the real, academic world are completely unbelievable and inaccurate.
*The author gets the details wrong - all you need is Google to find that, yes, the US does have an extradition treaty with Japan. In addition to all the laws they break throughout the book, Kamala gets the doctors to violate HIPAA with no qualms and for no reason.
*How the parental relationships resolve is very hokey and unrealistic and all the dialog in these portions is particularly forced. There is a lot of clunky, stilted dialog throughout this book.
The premise is cool but the actual book is a dreadful mess - it's not well written, characterized, paced, plotted or anything else. I know people are inclined to be more lenient with self pub books in terms of reviews, but, don't be fooled, this book is legitimately subpar.
August 9, 2018
I've always loved and been fascinated by dragons -- so a book where two scientists create their own dragon in a fantastic twist on "Jurassic Park" sounded right up my alley. The fact that this was a Kindle freebie didn't hurt things either -- if I end up hating it, I'm not out anything, right? I'm pleased to say that, despite starting off slow and some iffy science along the way, "Of Cinder and Bone" is a highly entertaining and exciting ride, one that kept me reading and that has me eager to start the next book.
"Of Cinder and Bone" takes place in a world where dragons once existed... but sadly, they were hunted to extinction during the Middle Ages. In the modern day two scientists, the dorky but hot-tempered Jack and the level-headed but stubborn Kamala, set about to genetically resurrect one of these magnificent creatures in a bid to start a program to save endangered and extinct species. After multiple failures, they finally hatch their first baby dragon... but the infant dragon is quickly stolen out from under their noses. As Jack and Kamala track their charge to Japan and team up with a no-nonsense bodyguard to find it, they find themselves entangled in a plot involving a desperate scientist and a power-mad Yakuza... and discover that the dragon they have created is far more powerful and dangerous than they thought.
I'll get the book's flaws out of the way first. The story starts off slow, almost maddeningly so -- though it's well-worth sticking through it, as it develops the characters and allows us to learn about and care for them before dropping them into hot water right off the bat. The science is somewhat iffy, as other reviewers pointed out (I myself am questioning whether it's possible to actually build a long-distance DNA detector), but no worse than the "science" in any Hollywood blockbuster. And I personally found it obnoxious that no less than three different women were falling over themselves to woo or bed Jack over the course of the novel... and that while Kamala and the bodyguard were excellent characters in their own rights, the third woman felt thrown in just for the sake of having a love triangle (square?).
All that said, however... the book told a fascinating story about an alternate timeline where dragons really did exist at one point, and once the story got its gears truly rolling it moved along at a steady pace and remained entertaining and exciting throughout. The writing isn't overly flashy or grand, but worked nicely for this type of story -- maintaining the action and suspense, and drawing us into the various twists and turns of the adventure. I greatly enjoyed most of the characters, and even the dragon gets some personality of her own. And while the ending is satisfying, there are enough loose ends left to pick up in a follow-up novel... as well as a blood-chilling sequel hook at the very end...
If you liked "Jurassic Park" or love dragons, you'll enjoy this book. And despite its flaws it's enormously entertaining and fun, with an exciting premise and good characters. I'm eager to read the next book in the series, and hope Kyoko keeps writing more in this universe.
"Of Cinder and Bone" takes place in a world where dragons once existed... but sadly, they were hunted to extinction during the Middle Ages. In the modern day two scientists, the dorky but hot-tempered Jack and the level-headed but stubborn Kamala, set about to genetically resurrect one of these magnificent creatures in a bid to start a program to save endangered and extinct species. After multiple failures, they finally hatch their first baby dragon... but the infant dragon is quickly stolen out from under their noses. As Jack and Kamala track their charge to Japan and team up with a no-nonsense bodyguard to find it, they find themselves entangled in a plot involving a desperate scientist and a power-mad Yakuza... and discover that the dragon they have created is far more powerful and dangerous than they thought.
I'll get the book's flaws out of the way first. The story starts off slow, almost maddeningly so -- though it's well-worth sticking through it, as it develops the characters and allows us to learn about and care for them before dropping them into hot water right off the bat. The science is somewhat iffy, as other reviewers pointed out (I myself am questioning whether it's possible to actually build a long-distance DNA detector), but no worse than the "science" in any Hollywood blockbuster. And I personally found it obnoxious that no less than three different women were falling over themselves to woo or bed Jack over the course of the novel... and that while Kamala and the bodyguard were excellent characters in their own rights, the third woman felt thrown in just for the sake of having a love triangle (square?).
All that said, however... the book told a fascinating story about an alternate timeline where dragons really did exist at one point, and once the story got its gears truly rolling it moved along at a steady pace and remained entertaining and exciting throughout. The writing isn't overly flashy or grand, but worked nicely for this type of story -- maintaining the action and suspense, and drawing us into the various twists and turns of the adventure. I greatly enjoyed most of the characters, and even the dragon gets some personality of her own. And while the ending is satisfying, there are enough loose ends left to pick up in a follow-up novel... as well as a blood-chilling sequel hook at the very end...
If you liked "Jurassic Park" or love dragons, you'll enjoy this book. And despite its flaws it's enormously entertaining and fun, with an exciting premise and good characters. I'm eager to read the next book in the series, and hope Kyoko keeps writing more in this universe.
August 8, 2022
The review
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Of Cinder and Bone is the first book of the homonym serie of books, written by Kyoko M. It starts from the premise of a world where dragons were a reality and currently, they are extinct; honestly, this was my main hook to pick this book and I can say it worked perfectly.
We are brought into the story of Jack (I negate to call him Rett, sorry) and Kamala, two brilliant scientists whose proposal is trying to bring back a dragon using technology. The whole process and the frustration after the failures are vividly painted, and in general, there’s something I want to bring the focus on: we are on a sci-fi story, but the characters are really well written, and for me, the trio formed between Jack, Kamala and Faye is marvelous.
Apart from that, I find the way they deal with the trauma after the dragon is stolen and how they have to confront the adversities a real strength of the book. I don’t want to spoil the book outside of some details, but the main characters feel real. Not superheroes or a supermen, just normal humans.
Plotwise, this book is really fast. All the time things are happening, and there aren’t many moments to rest, which is something I personally thanked. From the start to the end, the full plot will go without a pause. For a 400 pages book, it felt really short.
I recommend this book for the fans of Jurassic Park, as it is heavily inspired by this film, and for people who love sci-fi which is situated in the near future/ a near world. Solid book in definitive.
You can find a full detailed review here: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
And a Q&A with the author here: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Of Cinder and Bone is the first book of the homonym serie of books, written by Kyoko M. It starts from the premise of a world where dragons were a reality and currently, they are extinct; honestly, this was my main hook to pick this book and I can say it worked perfectly.
We are brought into the story of Jack (I negate to call him Rett, sorry) and Kamala, two brilliant scientists whose proposal is trying to bring back a dragon using technology. The whole process and the frustration after the failures are vividly painted, and in general, there’s something I want to bring the focus on: we are on a sci-fi story, but the characters are really well written, and for me, the trio formed between Jack, Kamala and Faye is marvelous.
Apart from that, I find the way they deal with the trauma after the dragon is stolen and how they have to confront the adversities a real strength of the book. I don’t want to spoil the book outside of some details, but the main characters feel real. Not superheroes or a supermen, just normal humans.
Plotwise, this book is really fast. All the time things are happening, and there aren’t many moments to rest, which is something I personally thanked. From the start to the end, the full plot will go without a pause. For a 400 pages book, it felt really short.
I recommend this book for the fans of Jurassic Park, as it is heavily inspired by this film, and for people who love sci-fi which is situated in the near future/ a near world. Solid book in definitive.
You can find a full detailed review here: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
And a Q&A with the author here: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
April 6, 2023
Long Stretches of Boredom Punctuated by Brief Bursts of Action
This novel takes place in a world similar to ours but one where dragons actually existed. Two scientist attempt to do a Jurassic Park in order to resurrect the species. They do this by giving long, less than exciting information about their efforts. I get it, they've world hard and sometimes played hard. Time to move in to their dragon being stolen along with their data in its creation. And the comes my most irritating problem. The characters are shown to be quite bright but when their laptops and iPad's are stolen they suddenly become idiots who don't know how to use Find My or how to remotely lock or erase their computers to protect the data from the bad guys.
Then comes the pursuit of the bad people and the eventual retrieval of the dragon. This is fairly interesting, people get hurt, people get killed, people survive. It's the obvious climax do the story yet the author goes on to give almost every single character a conclusion of, not just a paragraph or two, but of pages for each. I don't really care about the widow of a minor character or the disposition of the relationships of the main character's parents. They aren't relevant. This story has more endings than LOTR: the Return of the King. Several of them could've been edited out without harming the story as could many of the parts dealing with the science of creating the clones. Finally, there's a word used near the beginning of the novel, 'sinhalite,' that wasn't found in any dictionary I tried, nor in Wikipedia or anywhere else I searched. If using an uncommon word like that you could at least provide a definition or, better still, just use a word more likely to be found in normal use.
This novel takes place in a world similar to ours but one where dragons actually existed. Two scientist attempt to do a Jurassic Park in order to resurrect the species. They do this by giving long, less than exciting information about their efforts. I get it, they've world hard and sometimes played hard. Time to move in to their dragon being stolen along with their data in its creation. And the comes my most irritating problem. The characters are shown to be quite bright but when their laptops and iPad's are stolen they suddenly become idiots who don't know how to use Find My or how to remotely lock or erase their computers to protect the data from the bad guys.
Then comes the pursuit of the bad people and the eventual retrieval of the dragon. This is fairly interesting, people get hurt, people get killed, people survive. It's the obvious climax do the story yet the author goes on to give almost every single character a conclusion of, not just a paragraph or two, but of pages for each. I don't really care about the widow of a minor character or the disposition of the relationships of the main character's parents. They aren't relevant. This story has more endings than LOTR: the Return of the King. Several of them could've been edited out without harming the story as could many of the parts dealing with the science of creating the clones. Finally, there's a word used near the beginning of the novel, 'sinhalite,' that wasn't found in any dictionary I tried, nor in Wikipedia or anywhere else I searched. If using an uncommon word like that you could at least provide a definition or, better still, just use a word more likely to be found in normal use.
January 16, 2020
I picked this book up because it was said to be a cross between Jurassic Park and Ransom. I can't tell you how much I love Jurassic Park. If, like me, you love it too, you NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! Jack and Kamala are scientists at MIT and have decided that resurrected extinct species will help the Earth. They start with dragons. Because, come on! Who doesn't want to see a dragon! They've been extinct for more than 500 years. So through much trial and error, they splice DNA to give rebirth to this amazing reptile. After Pete, the dragon, is born, Jack and Kamala are bombarded with requests to see her, touch her, interview them as to how and why. And then the worst thing happens. Pete is gone! As they search for their missing dragon, these characters come to life. Real problems, real pasts. Real investment in getting their baby dragon back. Not for money or fame, but for the fact that they know what can happen if the wrong people get their hands on her. She'll be hurt, experimented on, tortured. Seriously, it's been a while since I've read a book that I could actually see being based on true events because it's so real. Jack has abuse in his past. Kamala deals with her parents worry over her being passed over because she is a woman and of color. A little romance brews here and there, but it happens naturally. I'm glad it isn't a stand alone book - though without the HUGE cliffhanger at the end, it could be - as I love the world created and the fantasy/sci-fi/reality so closely woven together. I look forward to seeing what happens to Jack, Kamala, Faye, Misaki and Pete in the next book.
November 29, 2020
This is a book that starts off warmed up, and I really like that. You get the characters instantly, you jump right into what's going on, you laugh in the first few pages, and I really have to give this book a big thumbs up simply because it starts to show you depth right from the start, and that's a rare treat.
Of Cinder and Bone is a beautiful character driven story. The fact that the characters are in an over the top situation makes the whole thing fun, and I really enjoyed how nonchalant the cloning dragons is played. Like, even though these characters are cloning dragons they are still worried about what to wear to a party or what to say to a girl. That makes it feel grounded, believable, and easily fresh.
On a personal note, I used to work in a genetics lab and there are two specific things that I really appreciate about this book that I don't get very often from fiction. One was that it was nice to see a group of scientists who weren't stereotypical bookworms. They're living, breathing, well rounded characters and I for one give that a lot of respect. That's what it's like. The lab coat wearing, all business all the time researcher trope is pure hollywood. And second, I like that the experiments didn't just magically work right away. Science is trial and error, so it felt extremely realistic to me to see geneticists who were buckling down and really trying to think, how do I make this work?
The book is delightful in it's substance. If you want all flash and dragons, it might not be for you. If you want something that pulls you into a world where cloning dragons feels real and authentic, then pick this one up.
Of Cinder and Bone is a beautiful character driven story. The fact that the characters are in an over the top situation makes the whole thing fun, and I really enjoyed how nonchalant the cloning dragons is played. Like, even though these characters are cloning dragons they are still worried about what to wear to a party or what to say to a girl. That makes it feel grounded, believable, and easily fresh.
On a personal note, I used to work in a genetics lab and there are two specific things that I really appreciate about this book that I don't get very often from fiction. One was that it was nice to see a group of scientists who weren't stereotypical bookworms. They're living, breathing, well rounded characters and I for one give that a lot of respect. That's what it's like. The lab coat wearing, all business all the time researcher trope is pure hollywood. And second, I like that the experiments didn't just magically work right away. Science is trial and error, so it felt extremely realistic to me to see geneticists who were buckling down and really trying to think, how do I make this work?
The book is delightful in it's substance. If you want all flash and dragons, it might not be for you. If you want something that pulls you into a world where cloning dragons feels real and authentic, then pick this one up.
April 4, 2022
I read Of Cinder and Bone as part of a judging team for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), where it is a semifinalist.
Of Cinder and Bone strikes me as a summer blockbuster in book form. It’s got a smooth and fast-paced narrative style, quippy dialogue from literally every character, plenty of action, some scientific underpinnings that nod hard to Rule of Cool and probably don’t hold up to careful scrutiny, and a sizable enough romantic subplot that I’m borderline calling this sci-fi romance.
Unfortunately, I don’t go in heavily for summer blockbusters, so while that may appeal to a whole lot of readers, it’s not necessarily the best fit for me. I found the writing engaging enough to invest me in the characters and the initial setup of the problem, but the middle of the book included an extended action sequence with nearly every character being unrealistically competent (I think this is one of the things you’re not supposed to look too hard at in this type of book). And I struggle mightily with extended action sequences. I felt like there was enough mortal peril to inoculate me against the stakes, and I found myself losing the connection.
There were a couple missteps that I may consider more objective flaws, but I also don’t think they’re make or break. If you like quippy characters and romance and big action pieces and don’t mind suspending a lot of disbelief, I expect this novel will work well for you. I could do the characters and some of the disbelief, but there were just too many gunfights to keep me onboard.
First impression: 12/20. Full review at official SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
Of Cinder and Bone strikes me as a summer blockbuster in book form. It’s got a smooth and fast-paced narrative style, quippy dialogue from literally every character, plenty of action, some scientific underpinnings that nod hard to Rule of Cool and probably don’t hold up to careful scrutiny, and a sizable enough romantic subplot that I’m borderline calling this sci-fi romance.
Unfortunately, I don’t go in heavily for summer blockbusters, so while that may appeal to a whole lot of readers, it’s not necessarily the best fit for me. I found the writing engaging enough to invest me in the characters and the initial setup of the problem, but the middle of the book included an extended action sequence with nearly every character being unrealistically competent (I think this is one of the things you’re not supposed to look too hard at in this type of book). And I struggle mightily with extended action sequences. I felt like there was enough mortal peril to inoculate me against the stakes, and I found myself losing the connection.
There were a couple missteps that I may consider more objective flaws, but I also don’t think they’re make or break. If you like quippy characters and romance and big action pieces and don’t mind suspending a lot of disbelief, I expect this novel will work well for you. I could do the characters and some of the disbelief, but there were just too many gunfights to keep me onboard.
First impression: 12/20. Full review at official SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
August 8, 2023
"Reign of Fire meets Jurassic Park." That was the description I heard that got me curious enough to check this book out. And that's pretty much what it was.
Dr. Rhett "Call me Jack not Rhett" Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali of MIT have been working hard to bring back an extinct species: dragons. After years of difficult labor, and not exactly unwavering support from their families, they think they've succeeded. They get a clutch of dragon eggs, and that's where the story starts going in unexpected directions.
There's betrayal, yakuza, international intrigue, annoying media, conflicted and confused feelings, and specters from the past. Oh, and a dragon or two.
I won't go into detail because there were some enjoyable twists I didn't see coming that I didn't want to spoil. But I had fun with it and am looking forward to a chance to read more in the series when I can.
Dr. Rhett "Call me Jack not Rhett" Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali of MIT have been working hard to bring back an extinct species: dragons. After years of difficult labor, and not exactly unwavering support from their families, they think they've succeeded. They get a clutch of dragon eggs, and that's where the story starts going in unexpected directions.
There's betrayal, yakuza, international intrigue, annoying media, conflicted and confused feelings, and specters from the past. Oh, and a dragon or two.
I won't go into detail because there were some enjoyable twists I didn't see coming that I didn't want to spoil. But I had fun with it and am looking forward to a chance to read more in the series when I can.
January 12, 2019
Mattaku subarashidesu
Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone, but trying to keep in the same frame of mind. This book had me hooked right off the bat. I truly couldn’t put it down. Just when I thought I had a plot line figured out, the author did a 180, like Pete would. I can’t wait to read Of Blood and Ashes. I love the combination of science and fantasy. Too bad dragons aren’t real (or are they?) My only wish is that there were translations of the Japanese. I could figure out the basics, but a link to footnotes would be helpful. Otherwise I would recommend this as fast as a Diamondback.
Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone, but trying to keep in the same frame of mind. This book had me hooked right off the bat. I truly couldn’t put it down. Just when I thought I had a plot line figured out, the author did a 180, like Pete would. I can’t wait to read Of Blood and Ashes. I love the combination of science and fantasy. Too bad dragons aren’t real (or are they?) My only wish is that there were translations of the Japanese. I could figure out the basics, but a link to footnotes would be helpful. Otherwise I would recommend this as fast as a Diamondback.
January 31, 2022
I loved all the sarcasm, 80’s references, and dragons!!! I thought the characters were all well developed and their relationships were well crafted. There are a few times where the situation is resolved or handled a bit conveniently but it fit with the story so it didn’t bother me.
Dr.’s Jack and Kamala are working on a research project at MIT trying to bring back extinct and endangered species. The first species they decide to bring back is a dragon, which they do and a whole lot of shenanigans ensue from there. The beginning is a bit slow, but keep going because the fast-paced action fills the last half of the book.
Dr.’s Jack and Kamala are working on a research project at MIT trying to bring back extinct and endangered species. The first species they decide to bring back is a dragon, which they do and a whole lot of shenanigans ensue from there. The beginning is a bit slow, but keep going because the fast-paced action fills the last half of the book.
June 20, 2024
Stunning read! Finally got to this book and it was so good. Not talking about the science or how a nerd became such a fierce fighter, this is fantasy so go with the flow. Two scientists working on engineering extinct species as they recognize that humans need to stop trashing the world. Sort of dreamers who put in the work, Jack and Kemoko learn that all their work can be used for evil when the Dragon they created is stolen. Pete is the Dragon of fairytales, bonds to them, flies. The villains are really bad, lots of bodies pile up, family disputes and friends to lovers. 5 books in the series so buckle up and fly.
August 26, 2017
An intriguing concept, dragons brought to life via DNA (very Jurassic Park, and yes, that scenario is mentioned!). This is also a thriller, loads of mayhem that crosses the globe. A good story, but I felt it was a bit shallow here and there, and didn’t focus enough on the actual dragon. I wanted to stay with her, see how the modern world is for her.
Characters, however, were well rounded. I could definitely identify with each, particularly Jack; loved his take on things, his humour, and his hidden depths.
It remains a good story, If you enjoy a good thriller, you will enjoy this.
Characters, however, were well rounded. I could definitely identify with each, particularly Jack; loved his take on things, his humour, and his hidden depths.
It remains a good story, If you enjoy a good thriller, you will enjoy this.
January 5, 2018
Highly entertaining. Great premise well executed.
Why is it that authors have an incredibly annoying habit of making their book perma free just days after I've bought it? However, this one I'd be more than happy to re-purchase as it's a very well written and quite riveting story.
The science is grounded in reality, the characters are vibrant and interesting and there's more than enough action, intrigue and suspense to keep the pages turning. And dragons. Don't forget the potential dragons.
Why is it that authors have an incredibly annoying habit of making their book perma free just days after I've bought it? However, this one I'd be more than happy to re-purchase as it's a very well written and quite riveting story.
The science is grounded in reality, the characters are vibrant and interesting and there's more than enough action, intrigue and suspense to keep the pages turning. And dragons. Don't forget the potential dragons.
January 19, 2021
I can’t recall how I happened across this series, but I’m so glad I did. The alternate universe where dragons once existed and were wiped out by man is intriguing. Introducing Dr’s Rhett Jackson and Kamala Anjali working together at MIT to clone dragons. When they’re successful, a whole new world of danger crashes down on them. Not necessarily from the the dragons, but the greed and avarice of man. If you love science fiction you should definitely read this series. The author will bring about so many new thoughts about life and society on many levels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2022
OCaB has very interesting characters with a unique plot and I enjoyed it very much. There are two reasons behind my 4 star rating: 1- there are multiple errors that a proofreader could eliminate and they ‘threw me out’ of the story far too many times, I’m sure many readers will be disgruntled with me for this but it is a major factor to me 2- the use of G__damn is the reason I won’t be reading the rest of this series. I truly hate that because I really want to know the rest of the story.
Disclaimer: I received this ebook from the author and this is my honest and freely given opinion.
Disclaimer: I received this ebook from the author and this is my honest and freely given opinion.
February 28, 2018
Wonderful fantasy
A team of two scientists have discovered the means to genetically engineer the return of dragons. Due to hunting by humans, the last dragons became extinct in the 14th century. The project is immediately under attack by rivals from Japan, who want the dragons not for research and preservation of the species and the environment, but for nefarious reasons. Great book, ends in a cliffhanger
A team of two scientists have discovered the means to genetically engineer the return of dragons. Due to hunting by humans, the last dragons became extinct in the 14th century. The project is immediately under attack by rivals from Japan, who want the dragons not for research and preservation of the species and the environment, but for nefarious reasons. Great book, ends in a cliffhanger
September 3, 2020
Long, intense and worthy
Kamala and Jack are such fun characters who have a dream of bringing back dragons! That is super awesome! I found their story to be very compelling and so full of action. I couldn't believe that Pete was actually born and everything that happened after was so realistic but so dangerous at the same time. The way Kam and Jack danced around each other was a lot of fun to see. Sometimes things aren't what they seem but can turn out to be good.
Kamala and Jack are such fun characters who have a dream of bringing back dragons! That is super awesome! I found their story to be very compelling and so full of action. I couldn't believe that Pete was actually born and everything that happened after was so realistic but so dangerous at the same time. The way Kam and Jack danced around each other was a lot of fun to see. Sometimes things aren't what they seem but can turn out to be good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews