No Reflections: Red Dragon Book 1

by Danielle Linder

Robin has always believed in magic, but she didn’t used to believe in fairies or dragons or things that go bump in the night. Not really. Then she met one.

Turns out, the old stories have a bit of truth to them, and getting the attention of the fairies is trouble. The kind of trouble that gets people killed or kidnapped, or eaten by vampires. When Robin's cousin and her best friend go missing, she has to decide if any of the fey who are suddenly interested in her for reasons they won’t explain are trustworthy enough to ask for help. Either way, a rescue is happening. Saving the world from a power-hungry magical psychopath is just a side quest.

347 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2020

About the author

Danielle has been creating stories - and voraciously devouring other people's stories - since before she could read (her mother once had to record herself reading a favorite aloud so that thebook could go back to the library). Learning to read only encouraged her.

Outside of writing she's tried several day jobs, including software developer, project manager, and masseuse at a nudist club. She's lived in five different cities, and visited several more, and she plans to go into space one day in order to see the world from outside. Her favorite authors are too many and varied to list, but include Neill Gaiman, Charles de Lint, CS Friedman, and Roger Zelazny.

Danielle currently lives in Perth, Western Australia, with several cats, one human, and a great many plants.

Reviews

[Conor Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

No reflections is a fun little urban fantasy novel. While through the book you learn that the book is (probably) set in Australia it isn’t particularly obvious, allowing you to almost believe that this little adventure could be occurring in your backyard. Small pop-culture references are scattered throughout and I often found myself sharing amusing little passages from the book with friends.

I really like how the book introduces magic. Nothing was too “in your face” and I never felt like I was just reading an information dump “magic primer”, which is unfortunately common with some other urban fantasy book. Unfortunately, for me at least, I don’t think the magical/paranormal was expanded on enough for me to fully immerse myself in the experiences of our protagonists and I was left longing to understand the wider world that No Reflections was set in.
Hopefully we see more of it in the rest of the series.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept me up late reading on several nights, which is quite an accolade. A first novel by the author (as far as I know), blending Anglo-Celtic mythology with current-day Australia, and a smidgen of Aboriginal mythology as well. Very well-realised characters, and a couple of interesting mysteries which the reader uncovers as the characters do.

I have bought the second book in the series, and am looking forward to it.

[Sebastian Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic first novel. A rare entry in that category of "Australian urban fantasy" and a damn good edition at that! Robin is a great protagonist, the cast is many and varied and it leaves me really looking forward to the rest in the series. Cool worldbuilding and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop and grow! Can't wait to see more from this author!