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Scaleshifter #1

Scaleshifter

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Caleb never wanted to join the army. And he certainly didn't want to be turned into a dragon. But when he doesn't understand how his new body works and can barely make a move without being watched by the wizard who took his humanity, how is he supposed to escape before he can be turned into a weapon of war?

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2019

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About the author

Shelby Hailstone Law

19 books35 followers
Although Shelby Hailstone Law was born in Utah, she was raised in Georgia from the age of three and considers herself a true Southern girl. She recently returned to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she met her husband, Matt Law, when they worked as summer camp counselors there. She recently graduated with her bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in editing, and she now works for Cedar Fort Publishing in Springville, Utah.

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5 stars
279 (63%)
4 stars
119 (27%)
3 stars
29 (6%)
2 stars
11 (2%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Ksaa Zair.
8 reviews3 followers
March 30, 2024
Admittedly, I felt dubious about this book. The synopsis didn't quite draw me in as well as I had hope. Thankfully, I'm not one to quit a book unless it's really, really bad. This was not that.

I cannot say I love the book, but I also will not say it's bad. It's slow to build, but by the end of the book I found myself facing one of my favorite topics: cultural dichotomies.

Once the story actually gets rolling, the author does, what I feel, a decent job at not making the tropish "scalie humans". (Ironic that the protagonist actually, literally, is.) There is a depth of cultural exchange and differences that is rendered as the protagonist tries to handle his new situations.

You have the "scalie human" who knows little to nothing about (actual) dragons, and dragons who have chosen a sort of collective ignorance of humanity. Both are rife with development potential, and as the book ended I quite enjoyed the direction this potential was going!

As you can see, this still means I cannot give a five star rating. But I've been hooked enough to continue reading the series!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for J.F.R. Coates.
Author 24 books57 followers
February 3, 2023
This book opens with some fairly heavy and largely unnecessary exposition, and I was a bit worried at that point.
But once the story gets going, a few pages in, this rapidly turned into one of my favourite books of the last few years. A truly wonderful story that really hits a lot of my favourite tropes and plot beats, with a great cast of characters to enjoy. The growing dynamic between Kaal and Rikaa was great, and I am keen to read more.
Profile Image for EEX.
17 reviews
October 18, 2025
Didn't like it.

The book starts off interesting, with the boy Caleb looking for food and/or supplies when he's taken by the army and will, in his mind, be forced to fight. And it's at this point I expected they'd take him to the wizard and the wizard would be like "Poof, you're a dragon. NOW WE HAVE THE ADVANTAGE!" Or something like that.

The thing is... There's already lots of dragons. And this wizard even says that a lot of people know how to turn humans into dragons. This particular wizard, Alan, has a 50% success rate at it, but it's not something that ONLY HE can do. So I was like, alright, whatever. That's a little less exciting, but we'll continue.

Then the next QUARTER of the book is dedicated to Caleb's transformation without anything else notable happening.

Now, look. I read and write fiction that centers around transformation as a plot point. I've read some GREAT fiction, and I've read some fiction that was written specifically because the author wanted to scratch a fetishy itch. This was that fetishy itch for the author. Caleb is chained up, abused, forced to drink this potion that SLOOOOOWLY changes him, and Alan eventually tries to get Caleb to kill someone. The kid is 14 years old. He's a child. It's WEIRD.

And this whole time, he doesn't try to escape. There's no change in viewpoint to any other character. It's more of the same for several chapters. Around the 35% mark, Caleb is finally able to escape... Not by brute-forcing his way out of his cell as a mighty and rare white dragon, but by turning into a human again for unknown reasons, eluding the guards, and then turning into a dragon again.

He hears a roar and a cry for help and frees another victim-turned-dragon named Ziya. Ziya has a lot of Main Character Vibes (tm). She helps Caleb, is a black dragon that is just a little rarer than a white dragon, and they even manage to escape together. Then she disappears. Like... She just disappears. She is mentioned a couple more times through the book, but they never get back to her. Character was totally introduced and set up for the reader, then she was just gone forever.

Caleb then meets a natural blue dragon named... Well, who knows? Because the blue dragon asks Caleb to follow him but there isn't a name given for a very long time. He's just called The Blue Dragon for a further 5% of the book. And for the rest of chapter ten, both dragons talk with sibilant s's. But then the author rightly determined that was distracting and stopped immediately after, so at least that was a good decision.

The blue dragon turns out to be named Rikaa. Which is sometimes spelled Rikka. I read a little more of the book, then realized at 50% that this story had turned wholly domestic, and rather than take any sort of action, Caleb and Rikaa were just going to talk to each other for most of the rest of the book. It got SUPER repetitive at this point, with Caleb and Rikaa both asking the same questions of each other, just framed a little differently. So I started to skim to try to find a point where anything interesting happened.

I kind of expected them to go back and rescue Ziya, or something else of note, rather than sit in Rikaa's cave for the rest of time. But chapter 12 was called "Learn About Each Other," so I didn't have much hope for that chapter. Chapter 13 was called "Human Again" which was just about Rikaa finding out Caleb could become a human and then distrusting him for a whole chapter. And then chapter 14, then finally left the cave.

Only to fly away from the action, spend an entire chapter with more talking, and eventually land in the sea where they met another natural dragon and talked more. The green dragon doesn't like human Caleb. Caleb talks to her and shifts back to dragon and then she's fine (?) and we're 76% into the book and nothing notable has happened.

Chapter 17 is called "Stand before the Council." Which is the council of dragons. I hoped something interesting would happen in this chapter, but besides meeting more dragons and talking a little bit more, it's a lot more of nothing particularly interesting. I went back and re-read this part because the first time I read it, I was still skimming, looking for something to catch my attention. But on my second read, it really wasn't that engaging either.

Caleb essentially repeats his WHOLE STORY to the council. Readers already know it. You can save words and headache just by inserting "Caleb told his story to the council" or something similar instead of repeating everything again. And then there's an attempt to insert a villain into the story, because one of the council members is like "I DON'T TRUST HIM" which, ok, kinda fair. But also he's a child, so I'm not sure what kind of spy you expect him to be.

On a side-note, I've read a lot of stories lately where adult characters seek to harm children just for being different than they are, and I don't love it. I mean, I could say a lot about current events, and finding out that that's a true, actual thing that happens. But I don't really want to read about that in fantasy books. It would have been more believable in this case if Caleb wasn't a 14 year old kid, but was instead a hardened soldier who perhaps used to try to capture dragons and had now realized the error of his ways.

If that was the case, I could probably agree that maybe he couldn't be trusted and it would be a little more of an ambiguous decision to make.

The blue dragon villain (who also is never given a name) continues to act as a stereotypical foil, then Caleb and Rikaa leave. Then there's more talking and talking and talking.

Chapter 18 is called "Flee the island" so I thought, maybe, at 81%, something interesting would finally happen. But then the green dragon from the council visits Caleb and just tells him that... the dragons aren't going to do anything. They're neither going to try to kill him for being a human, nor do anything about the humans who are turning people into dragons. The green dragon can't guarantee Caleb's safety if he stays, but there's no warrant or anything out for his death. It's just another neutral answer to what's going on.

Then Rikaa and Caleb took a nap and just... left. There was no fleeing done.

I generally don't give a summary of the book I'm reading like this, but I want to illustrate the fact that almost nothing happens in this book. After the first 40%, there's pretty much no conflict for the main character. The story is done and the interesting part is over. There's very little character-vs-self, no character-vs-environment, and virtually no character-vs-character.

At no point is there any incident that would provoke action. This is so close to a coffee shop story with dragons, but without even the romantic tension or advancement you would usually see in those cozy stories. There's no real political intrigue. No ticking clock. No talk or plan to rescue the vanished main character, Ziya. There is a LOT of talking, which makes this entire book almost an exercise in worldbuilding rather than a story with a cohesive plot.

With 15% left in the book, I really had no hope at all for anything meaningful to happen, so imagine my surprise when Caleb and Rikaa finally arrived right back where they'd started, and there was an army waiting to capture them!

I don't know why they were waiting there, because there were no dragons there. But no sooner did they see the entrance to Rikaa's home than a whole battalion of humans start shooting arrows at them. It's weird if you think about it. Neither Rikaa nor Caleb have been there for many days, and all these people were just sitting out in the snow, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

At this point, there's 10% left in the book, so I'm thinking, OK, I get it. Finally some action and it'll end on a cliffhanger so I have to grab book 2 to see what happens. That kinda makes sense. Doesn't make the book better, but I might have at least given it 3 stars for that.

But within just a few pages... They escaped.

There was barely a fight. It was nothing. Then there was more talking, and they went to Rikaa's daughter's house. And once again, Caleb tells his story. Then, the book just ends. There's no reason for me to get the second one to see what happens, because at this point:

1. I didn't like this book, and the characters just all kind of speak with the same voice.
2. The one character I am sort of interested in is safe.
3. The characters don't care what happened to Ziya, and at this point I don't either.
4. The army, Alan, and the rest of the bad guys are so far away that I don't care about them, either.

I really wanted to like this book, and the beginning had SO much promise! After a few pages, I was hooked, then it all fell apart.
15 reviews
February 23, 2020
Excellent Dragon yarn

This is the first of Shelby's books that I've read, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. The characters are well drawn and engaging, the plot moves along at a nice pace, and the story is original.
10 reviews
June 3, 2020
Awesome! Just an absolutely fantastic read!

Unpredictable in the best way possible and so well written and detailed that I could picture each scene as though it were happening right before my eyes. The relationships that form feel just as special and authentic as the protagonist's situation, and the world is believable and interesting. The beginning of the story is a bit slow, but it's hard to avoid that given the setup needed for the story, but the book immediately picks up the pace and becomes much more engaging once the setup is complete. I'm looking forward to reading this a few more times while I eagerly await the sequel.
42 reviews
January 21, 2021
It has been quite some time since I've given a book five stars, but this one deserves it. The story of Caleb and his trials are engaging and exciting, and it is hard to put this book down. The language and pacing is spot on, and this would be a perfect book for younger readers too - especially for those who loves dragons, or even wishes they could be one!

If this book has any flaws, it's that it leaves too many unresolved questions. Hopefully the next book (or books) will resolve some of these! In any case, Scaleshifter is a fantastic start to a new series, and I look forward to reading more!
Profile Image for Richard.
9 reviews
April 7, 2021
To bring to mind popular dragon movies, this resembles "Dragonheart" moreso than "Reign of Fire" though some elements of either are here. Most enjoyable for me was the human-cum-dragon becoming friends with a natural dragon, and the learning they both get from one another. Plenty of misconceptions on both sides.

Well-written, immersive, and poignant at times, it's easily the best dragon book I've read in decades.
73 reviews
November 25, 2020
Awesome book

This book is seriously underrated. I really enjoyed Caleb’s story. Rikka is awesome, and the author does a really good job of showing how traumatic events can affect people. This is one of the first books in a while that I read through in one sitting. I can’t wait to read more!
33 reviews
June 8, 2024
a different kind of dragon story!

I enjoyed this story, it was a little slow after a tense and harsh beginning, but I still had to know what happened next.
The Dragons are much like humans, some good, some more full of prejudice against humans. I want to read what happens in the next book now.
3 reviews
May 28, 2020
Amazing(words do not do justice of how good this book is)

This book is amazing, I like the plot and how the book shows the main protagonist’s life and how it changes. Other then the beginning being a little rocky, this book was great.
73 reviews
January 8, 2021
Young for a Silver Adult,

but worth reading to the end.
Good writing, excellent editing and the main characters are honorable.
And best of all: a loving, caring and devoted family for an orphan.
Profile Image for Boyslove.
265 reviews24 followers
February 18, 2021
4.5 stars!
I highly enjoyed Scaleshifter. The main character was likeable and intelligent.

This story deals a lot with a topic that I really like: belonging. Family is often times “found” or “created”.

I loved the bond that developed between two of our main characters, A father son type bond.
Profile Image for Josh.
82 reviews3 followers
August 23, 2021
Finally got around to reading Shelby's book. It was really good! Dark, gritty novel that doesn't gloss over the trauma caused by experiences and how that shapes the characters' personalities, which I really enjoy. It makes the story feel so much more immersive.
30 reviews
June 8, 2022
Surprisingly Good!

I truly enjoyed this. So far, the storyline has been unsurprising, but the subject matter has been competently dealt with, so that makes up for the difference I guess. It’s well written.
2 reviews
February 5, 2023
Innocent, compassionate and full of a youthful perspective on war the main character is thrown into the world of being controlled or flea, but manages to keep his humanity. This book is entrancing without being gory or overly violent despite hardship.
12 reviews
October 2, 2020
A really nice story. Quite heartbreaking at moments. I look forward to reading the continuation of Caleb's story.
229 reviews
April 2, 2021
Well written story

I just discovered this Author and found that I enjoyed the book and my only true complaint was that it ended
Profile Image for Ragna Reynisdóttir.
5 reviews
April 13, 2021
I well written story, ended too soon, would have read it if it was twice as long! A worthy book to check out for any fantasy and dragon lover.
1 review
August 8, 2021
A nice young adult book with some interesting themes. Not quite what I was looking for however.
640 reviews
September 25, 2021
Wonderful. The story stayed with me and I am eagerly awaiting the 3rd book.

I loved the characters, the plot, and the setting.

Profile Image for Angie Dokos.
Author 4 books231 followers
May 10, 2022
I really enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
1 review
September 15, 2022
Amazing

Wasn't sure how I would like this, but since it has dragons in it, I figured I'd give it a shot. So worth it! I couldn't put it down!
Profile Image for Tundra.
4 reviews
November 4, 2024
The dude turns into a dragon. Say no more, I am jealous. But the ending is abrupt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cristi.
669 reviews
April 1, 2025
I read about half of this book, stopped and skipped to the end when I realized I was bored.
Profile Image for Leeann Mitchell.
125 reviews
May 22, 2025
Unique Dragon story

This is awesome. Very unique concept of a story line. Enjoyed the characters and the emotions that were portrayed. A must Read.
1 review1 follower
January 25, 2025
I enjoyed the series but would not have begun the series had I known the series was not complete. So BEWARE…this is not a completed series and book 5 in the series definitely keeps you hanging. By the time book 6 in the series comes out I will likely have forgotten much of what I read in the prior books.
Profile Image for Pierre.
182 reviews22 followers
October 23, 2022
[I read this book about ne year ago, I'd been slacking on my review then but as I post it for book 4 it is now or never; although details are blurred I still remember the main facts and feeling of the book.]
In a world ravaged by war, Caleb is stripped of what little he has left, his very being, but maybe he'll find out this is not an end if he manages to go beyond the loss and hate that surround him.
This is not done in a naive optimistic way as my previous statement could lead to think, but rather a struggle to find one's way.
A word on the shapeshifting in this book, it is well leveraged to explore the life experience of another kind and the misunderstandings that would arise, it is not a mere plot device.
An interesting series, and one readable at any age as long as one can deal with the anguish the imposed trials, and the unsavory abusing wizard.
13 reviews
November 20, 2019
Great start to a new series

This book drew me in from the first chapter. It's well written and well edited, which I sincerely appreciate. The concept of a human-made dragon is really fascinating and I eagerly await the next book for more of the Caleb/Kaal saga.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews