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The Dragon's Rising
Centuries ago, the continent of Naegleria was in chaos, overrun by various forces of evil. The Twelve Ancients who created the world chose a man named Rakar Gorxand to be their champion and granted him wearing a suit of armor imbued with their power. With their power in hand, Rakar traveled across Naegleria striking darkness from the world and returning order to the world. However, he slowly became corrupted by the very evil he sought to eliminate until he became the largest source of darkness on the continent of Naegleria.
Now Falkier Inalumin, a wrongfully imprisoned court scribe, has been granted a sword containing the spirit of the Dragon Ancient. With this sword in hand, he must travel across Naegleria locating pieces of armor and weaponry imbued with the spirits of the other Ancients in order may create a new suit of armor capable of defeating Rakar Gorxand and correcting the Ancient’s centuries-old mistake.
Now Falkier Inalumin, a wrongfully imprisoned court scribe, has been granted a sword containing the spirit of the Dragon Ancient. With this sword in hand, he must travel across Naegleria locating pieces of armor and weaponry imbued with the spirits of the other Ancients in order may create a new suit of armor capable of defeating Rakar Gorxand and correcting the Ancient’s centuries-old mistake.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 13, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2024
2.75
Because I tend to be a little bit too honest (read: mean and graphomaniac) in requested reviews and can’t really hold the straps of my opinions tightly sometimes to the liking of masses, the following review probably won’t be short nor uplifting. But I gave my word to the author five years ago to write an honest review, so let’s stick with that.
In the first place I must state that Mr. Ayersman as a new author did a surprisingly good job at the time. I have read far worse stories in books by renowned authors than what I found in The Dragon’s Rising, no offence to anyone who enthusiastically shares their inner worlds publicly. But after all these years of reading tons of stories, I just can sense a glimpse of talent in a writer's style that amuses me… or its pitiful absence. And in Mr. Ayersman’s story this glimpse was not, in fact, absent.
However, I can see a decent space for improvement, because pure enthusiasm for writing and for genre is sometimes not enough if you want to read a good story.
So to be more specific, let’s state another thing now: I am fine with the Skyrimish jump into the swirl of events. I am fine with the Chosen One trope, although perhaps both of these elements seem boring in the vast ocean of original characters, mind blowing plot twists and crazy writers’ ideas on how to grab readers by eyes / ears, minds and hearts. The difference between one star and five star ratings is mainly in the execution of these elements. And here I was not convinced I would get something extra thrilling for the way how simplistically these tropes were used in this specific book or how they were described.
In Falkier’s story of a wrongfully imprisoned scribe who became the Chosen One to stop the turned-to-evil champion, and who needs to learn about his new powers and the rules of Powers in the world he probably haven’t heard about before due to sitting behind towering piles of papers on his desk, you can clearly identify one commonly used cliché upon another. (But let’s be honest, the idea of a hero scribe was a refreshing one. So don't spread the rumour that the bureaucracy is only a product of the dark side of the force that will never altruistically save the world, okay?)
Falkier’s adventure was described in a quite simplistic manner and in the world that is yet to be (hopefully) more developed in the next books. The same simplicity counts for characters' behaviour, even of those who were supposed to be wise and experienced in life. Their decisions were sometimes so immature and fast that it bordered on idiotism. I would appreciate more realism and variations of decisive thinking adequate to the age of characters on that point. That would have helped me immensely to not think that I was reading about an overly brave / mysterious bunch of teens without a broader perspective on the world and what is actually at stake.
The next point I struggled with was the author’s concentration on less important details at the expense of those that were truly crucial. It was most visible at the end event where the depiction of action was so abruptly chopped off, that I was like: Wait, WHAT?! and had to return a couple of paragraphs to make sure that I had read it right. By the way, I would not recommend repeating the whole paragraph of the Old language quotes, if the reader won't understand it anyway and probably won't be able to learn the fictional language either.
However, it was a fun and fast paced read otherwise and as a reader of a different mother tongue than English, I liked especially Swagin’s way of speaking. I read it in my mind with a passion of the famous youtube Frostbit Boy mixed with the baffled British parliamentarian listening to his Scottish colleague and it was even funnier. So, anyway, the last really important statement in this review is that this book is just the start of a potential saga. Would I read the following book? Probably yes, as I would like to read even the already released Naeglerian novella. In summary, as well as the human being can grow through experiences, even the authors often grow in skill to portray these experiences in their fictional worlds. So thank you, Mr. Ayersman for patience and interesting new world I could dive into and hopefully would be able even more with next books.
Because I tend to be a little bit too honest (read: mean and graphomaniac) in requested reviews and can’t really hold the straps of my opinions tightly sometimes to the liking of masses, the following review probably won’t be short nor uplifting. But I gave my word to the author five years ago to write an honest review, so let’s stick with that.
In the first place I must state that Mr. Ayersman as a new author did a surprisingly good job at the time. I have read far worse stories in books by renowned authors than what I found in The Dragon’s Rising, no offence to anyone who enthusiastically shares their inner worlds publicly. But after all these years of reading tons of stories, I just can sense a glimpse of talent in a writer's style that amuses me… or its pitiful absence. And in Mr. Ayersman’s story this glimpse was not, in fact, absent.
However, I can see a decent space for improvement, because pure enthusiasm for writing and for genre is sometimes not enough if you want to read a good story.
So to be more specific, let’s state another thing now: I am fine with the Skyrimish jump into the swirl of events. I am fine with the Chosen One trope, although perhaps both of these elements seem boring in the vast ocean of original characters, mind blowing plot twists and crazy writers’ ideas on how to grab readers by eyes / ears, minds and hearts. The difference between one star and five star ratings is mainly in the execution of these elements. And here I was not convinced I would get something extra thrilling for the way how simplistically these tropes were used in this specific book or how they were described.
In Falkier’s story of a wrongfully imprisoned scribe who became the Chosen One to stop the turned-to-evil champion, and who needs to learn about his new powers and the rules of Powers in the world he probably haven’t heard about before due to sitting behind towering piles of papers on his desk, you can clearly identify one commonly used cliché upon another. (But let’s be honest, the idea of a hero scribe was a refreshing one. So don't spread the rumour that the bureaucracy is only a product of the dark side of the force that will never altruistically save the world, okay?)
Falkier’s adventure was described in a quite simplistic manner and in the world that is yet to be (hopefully) more developed in the next books. The same simplicity counts for characters' behaviour, even of those who were supposed to be wise and experienced in life. Their decisions were sometimes so immature and fast that it bordered on idiotism. I would appreciate more realism and variations of decisive thinking adequate to the age of characters on that point. That would have helped me immensely to not think that I was reading about an overly brave / mysterious bunch of teens without a broader perspective on the world and what is actually at stake.
The next point I struggled with was the author’s concentration on less important details at the expense of those that were truly crucial. It was most visible at the end event where the depiction of action was so abruptly chopped off, that I was like: Wait, WHAT?! and had to return a couple of paragraphs to make sure that I had read it right. By the way, I would not recommend repeating the whole paragraph of the Old language quotes, if the reader won't understand it anyway and probably won't be able to learn the fictional language either.
However, it was a fun and fast paced read otherwise and as a reader of a different mother tongue than English, I liked especially Swagin’s way of speaking. I read it in my mind with a passion of the famous youtube Frostbit Boy mixed with the baffled British parliamentarian listening to his Scottish colleague and it was even funnier. So, anyway, the last really important statement in this review is that this book is just the start of a potential saga. Would I read the following book? Probably yes, as I would like to read even the already released Naeglerian novella. In summary, as well as the human being can grow through experiences, even the authors often grow in skill to portray these experiences in their fictional worlds. So thank you, Mr. Ayersman for patience and interesting new world I could dive into and hopefully would be able even more with next books.
March 18, 2020
To be upfront, I received an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of this book with the request that I leave a voluntary honest review for other potential readers. So having said that, here is my honest opinion and review of this book. The plot is well conceived and beautifully executed from start to finish. We are given great character development and world building to draw us into the story. Our court scribe is a wonderful character to follow with his overwhelming simplistic view of the world. Every time that something happens, it takes him totally by surprise like he could never imagine that it could happen to him or anyone else. All of the events in the narrative flow smoothly and the writing is eaxy to read and follow. It flows along at a steady even pace from start to finish. The story ends on a cliffhanger of course since it is a multi book series and I'm good with that since I found the story so entertaining. In my opinion, the book is worth the time to read it as it meets my 5 criteria of a good book (plot, characters, world building, writing and pacing). I eagerly look forward to reading the sequel.
September 18, 2020
Ancients armor book 1
At first I thought it would be slow but then it got interesting. Made me want to keep reading for what happens next. Will he find the rest of his armor and how and whom will he find as friends.
At first I thought it would be slow but then it got interesting. Made me want to keep reading for what happens next. Will he find the rest of his armor and how and whom will he find as friends.
November 9, 2020
I enjoyed this one, and look forward to being able to read the rest of the series. It was a breezy read, and reminded me a lot of the fantasy novels I spent time reading when I was a teenager in the '90s.
I do wish it had a map printed with it though.
I do wish it had a map printed with it though.
September 1, 2019
Nathan is a really good writer. His style is clear and visceral and lets you feel like you're there, but the story moves at a good clip and you don't feel too bogged down by details, even as he is excellent with descriptions. As an example, there's clearly magic and supernatural elements at play, but he never uses the words "magic." He shows it. The world he created is detailed and layered, with nations, religions, laws, languages, colorful intricate characters, and he shows command over it all.
It's a fantasy novel but it also, in many ways, reminded me of a Kung-Fu novel. There are ancient powers of deities taking forms of animals and dragons here,all with their own personalities. There is goodness and training as tests are pressed and challenges faced, all in very imaginative ways.
The hero we journey with, Falikier, is seemingly simple at first, an unskilled scribe victimized by unfair cause, yet still remains good and pure. A nice example given is that he cares for others and animals, mainly puppies, not his own. Throughout the novel he gains skills and learns astonishing revelations as he teams with memorable and exciting characters, such as "The Archer" and his guild.
This novel is a nice set up for what's to come in Book 2 and an epic clash between good and evil. It's a really fun read.
(I received this novel for free in exchange for a review).
It's a fantasy novel but it also, in many ways, reminded me of a Kung-Fu novel. There are ancient powers of deities taking forms of animals and dragons here,all with their own personalities. There is goodness and training as tests are pressed and challenges faced, all in very imaginative ways.
The hero we journey with, Falikier, is seemingly simple at first, an unskilled scribe victimized by unfair cause, yet still remains good and pure. A nice example given is that he cares for others and animals, mainly puppies, not his own. Throughout the novel he gains skills and learns astonishing revelations as he teams with memorable and exciting characters, such as "The Archer" and his guild.
This novel is a nice set up for what's to come in Book 2 and an epic clash between good and evil. It's a really fun read.
(I received this novel for free in exchange for a review).
dnf
January 4, 2020I'm going to accept the fact that this is just not all that good and I'm not going to finish it. DNF it is.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews