The Rage

Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #1

by Richard Lee Byers

Renegade dragon hunter Dorn hates dragons with a passion few can believe, let alone match. He has devoted his entire life - a life spent in the twisted body of a half-golem - to killing every dragon he can find.

You might feel the same way if one of them had killed your entire family in front of your eyes, bitten you in half, and left you for dead.

Killing one dragon at a time is hard enough, but when the irresistible impluse to slip into feral madness begins to overcome ont one, but every dragon all across Faerûn, civilization's only hope may lie in the last alliance Dorn and his fellow dragon hunters would ever accept.

No matter what happens, the next year is going to be a difficult one for Dorn, and for Faerûn itself. The Year of Rogue Dragons has come...

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Fiction, Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

A resident of the Tampa Bay area, Richard spends much of his leisure time fencing, playing poker, shooting pool and is a frequent guest at Florida science-fiction conventions. His current projects include new novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe and the eBook post-apocalyptic superhero series The Impostor.

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must preemptivley say that I give stars for Forgotten Realms books in a different manner than I do other books...I only compare them to other books written in this world, and therefore the scale is scued.

With all that said, this was a great book! I've enjoyed all the other books I've read by Byers, and this one did not fail to deliver. He does a great job creating characters and excellent and fantastical battles (I often find myself skimming through the long winded fight scenes by other authors, but Byers are viseral and unexpected)

There are two main characters in this novel, the grim half-golem Dorn, and the flamboyant flying elf, Teagan. Dorn, and his classic party (consisting of a dwarf, cleric, and snarky halfling) are dragon hunters for hire. Through the course of the story, they uncover a plot devised by the Dragon Cult to create many Draoclichs. The fact that a "Rage" (brought on by a passing 'red star', has anyone else read Anne McCaffrey?) is about to occur, helps the cult to convince dragons to take on the undeath.

Teagan, a master swordsman and teacher in the human city of Impiltur (spelling?), is also sucked into the Dragon Cult's evil plot when a student tries to infiltrate the cult and discover their secrets. The student ends up dead, but the cult is going to make sure that no one knows their secrets, and they burn Teagan's school to the ground. With nowhere to stay and revenge on his mind, Taegan joins up with Dorn's group to take down the Dragon Cult and protect the city he loves.

The climax is intense, Byers keeps the reader guessing. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

[Brenda Cothern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Lee Byers, author of Dissolution (War of the Spider Queen Series), weaves a fast paced adventure in The Rage, book one of The Year of the Rogue Dragon Series (2004). The setting is the Moonsea in Forgotten Realms (FR) and the story focuses on the evil plot of the Cult of the Dragon and the insanity that is afflicting the Dragon species.

Byers introduces readers to an interesting hunting party that consists of: Dorn Graybrook, an orphaned former gladiator who happens to be a half-golem; Will Turnstone, a former Guild thief; Pavel Shemov, a priest of Lathander, the god of dawn; and Raryn Snowstealer, an arctic dwarf hunter. This band of hunters primarily earns their coin by slaying large beasts, including dragons. After saving a wounded woman named Kara, a bard, the five find themselves thrown together to puzzle out the cause of the dragon frenzies.

Each chapter begins in the familiar FR style, providing the “Year of…” and the DR date, allowing Faerûn historians to easily place these events into the Forgotten Realms timeline. Some readers may recognize the Cult of the Dragon leader Sammaster, a lich, and will enjoy meeting the unexpected ally to the hunting party, Taegan Nightwind, an Avariel Elf, Maestro and Bladesinger. Dorn and Taegan struggle through their own individual resentments and try to come to terms with personal revelations but these insights do not present the characters as weak or whinny by any means. Readers will also enjoy Jivex (a faerie dragon) and Chatulio (a copper dragon) as they express their wit and humor throughout the tale and will be intrigued by the unlikely ally the group fines in Brimstone, a smoke dragon vampire.

The book is not a stand alone novel but readers will quickly become immersed and impressed by Byers knowledge of dragons and fencing. For fans of any type of Dragon related novel, this book and subsequently the series, is worth the time to read. Readers who wish to know more about dragons, types, powers, descriptions, and demeanor, will enjoy the variety that Byers presents. The novel does not leave the reader with a “cliff hanger” experience but defiantly the feeling the story is not at its end. Readers may want to buy the complete series before beginning this adventure, as they will defiantly want to continue this story!

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rage by Richard Lee Byers- This is the first book in The Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy. The second book is titled The Rite and the third book is titled The Ruin. The Rage is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Richard Lee Byers has written a number of books, mostly focused on the horror genre; Deathward, Fright Line, The Vampire's Apprentice, Dark Fortune, Dead Time, The Tale of Terrible Toys, and The Children of Gaia and Uktena: Werewolf, 5. His also contributed a number of stories to other series including; Nightmare Club (Joyride, Warlock Games, and Party Til You Drop), World of Darkness (Caravan of Shadows, Netherworld: Vampire, On a Darkling Plane, and Wraith: The Ebon Mask), a X-Men based novel titled Soul Killer, and a Warhammer based novel titled The Enemy Within. His also written a trilogy for the Scarred Lands called Dead God trilogy (Forsaken, Forsworn, and Forbidden). He has written a number of Forgotten Realms novels as well; a novel and a short story in the Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series (the short story is found in the first book of the series, The Halls of Stormweather, and wrote the third book, The Shattered Mask), wrote the first novel in R. A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series called Dissolution, a novel in The Rogues series called The Black Bouquet, a book in The Priests series called Queen of the Depths, The Haunted Lands trilogy (Unclean, Undead, and Unholy) and he is working on finishing The Brotherhood of the Griffon trilogy (The Captive Flame, Whisper of Venom, and The Spectral Blaze). He's also contributed a vast amount of short stories to various anthologies. The Rage was released in April 2004 and published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

An uncontrollable urge, or rage, has struck dragonkind on Faerun, causing them to go on murderous rampages. Even the goodly metallic dragons are struck with the affliction. With little to no hope of stopping the condition, many dragons choose to be put in a deep sleep, hopefully stopping the urge. However, not all dragons choose to do this and are trying to fight off the urge. However bad this may be, a group of hunters find this to be good news, or at least good news in the eyes of the leader. Dorn, a half-golem human who hates all of dragonkind, leads a group of hunters that specialize in killing dragons. He couldn't be happier. However, his companions see it in a different, more terrifying light. With dragons losing the ability to reason, they would be an unstoppable force, laying waste to the world and could cause the extinction of the populace. However, after the hunters help an injured bard, she asks them if they could help escort her to Lyrabar, a city in the country of Impiltur. The group, actually more like Dorn, reluctantly agree and they set sail. However, the bard, Kara, has secrets of her own. Meanwhile, in Lyrabar, a spy learns more than he should and runs for to the aid of his swordsmanship teacher, an avariel (or flying elf) named Taegan Nightwind. However, he's too late and gives Taegan what he stole, a folio of important notes. What is Kara's secret and will Dorn and the hunters still help her after they find out? What's the importance of the folio and does it contain information on how to stop the rage?

Criticisms:
1) Dorn. Dorn really brings down the novel. He is just bad. He's poorly developed, unlikable, and comes across as more of a chore to read about than he should be. Basically, he is a good idea gone horribly wrong. The idea of a half-golem human is really interesting and he also has an interesting back story. However, when it comes down to it, he is little more than a whiny character with no deeper motivation. While he may have gained a new outlook on things towards the end, but it never feels like it. His changes come across as more forced and unrealistic. What's worse is that he brings down the hunters and Kara. With Dorn being the leader of the group, almost everyone in it suffers. It's obvious that the group would be in better hands with anyone but him leading. He comes across as selfish and ignorant early on, definitely not the type of person you want leading. It just gets worse with Kara who develops an interest in the half-golem. Why? I have no idea because it seems to spring out of thin air. It would have been different if we see a relationship or attraction start, but we don't. This comes across as so farfetched and unbelievable that at times I just skipped the 'touching' scenes between them because they didn't belong. Dorn is what really ruins this book. He's not good, he has no personality, he's just a good idea gone bad, and he almost ruins the more interesting characters.
2) Dire. The situations that occur never came across as dire or life threatening, nor do they even seem that important. When we are thrust into the story, and I never felt like the events really were impacting the world as a whole. They came across as small and insignificant, bordering on pointless at times. In fact, the characters in the book didn't really seem to cringe at the prospects of dragons raging. It never felt like it phased the people. There wasn't the impact that was attended. Also, injuries to the main characters never seem to be all that life threatening. Having Pavel instantly heal them a few seconds later or having a potion conveniently on hand. This gets more frustrating as the story goes on, especially during a scene at the end. By that time we know they are going to be perfectly fine. It just felt like no one was in any real harm.
3) Story. The story just appears. There is no build up or anything, instead we are launched into a situation with little to no knowledge or idea about what is occurring. This really harms the overall immersion, because you are busy trying to understand what is going on rather than enjoying what's happening. This felt more like a second or third book in a series rather than a first. There never seemed to be a time when the story slowed down enough to allow the reader time to understand what's going on. It doesn't help that things move so quickly that more questions arise every other chapter. Overall, the story was sudden and left too much unsaid and much to be desired.

Praises:
1) Taegan. Taegan Nightwind almost single-handedly saves The Rage. He took the story and made it his own, easily stealing scenes from people like Dorn, which isn't hard to do. But Taegan did it with gusto that it was very impressive. What makes Taegan so great? Well, he has a likable personality and is surprisingly entertaining while talking. He makes the act of talking exciting. He comes across as a real rake, with a suave personality and a charm about him. That alone is great, however Taegan takes it a step further. He is of a rare breed of elves, that aren't seen much and that adds more of a mysterious quality to him. In fact, I don't believe there is any other stories that prominently feature a flying elf. After reading this, I wanted to find out as much as I could about avariels. Everything about him is unique and really drew me in. However, he doesn't appear until close to halfway through, but he still left an amazing impression.
2) Banter. There is some very amusing banter found in The Rage. It mostly occurs between two of the hunters, the priest named Pavel and the thief named Will, and it is really humorous and lighthearted. Hearing Will call Pavel a sham of a priest or making fun of his healing abilities did put a smile on my face. Also, hearing Pavel's retorts are as amusing. This really helps ground the pair and makes them come across as real friends. It really cements the friendship and reminds me of how real-life friends talk to one another. This does add a dash of realism to the story. The banter also helps the story be more bearable and interesting. The banter does a great job at making the story fun.

Side Notes:
1) Dragons. I always thought that Dungeon and Dragons dragons were forces to be reckoned with, almost impossible to kill. Yet, in The Rage they seem weak and easy. It could be blamed on the rage, but I highly doubt that. Also, there are a lot of different kinds of dragons introduced that I wish there was more said about them.
2) Avariels. Like I already mentioned, after reading this I became really interested in learning more about avariels. They are interesting and it's a shame that there isn't a lot of books and stories written about the elusive elves.
3) Cover Art. The cover art for The Rage is good. The dragon on the cover looks really good, the background does look good albeit a little stock, and the scene at the bottom does look great. The only issue I have is that the scene depicted never happens in the novel. Sure it may be happening somewhere else, but when I look at a cover, I kind of expect it to represent some scene in the novel. That's the only disappointment in an otherwise wonderful cover.

Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
The Rage is a poor beginning for a trilogy. The story just suddenly happened, with little to no build-up of the characters or events. It took time to understand what was happening, rather than just enjoying the story. Also, nothing seemed all that dire, even through the story tried to convey how dangerous the situation is. I never felt like it mattered and that the characters were in any real danger. However, the worst part of The Rage is Dorn. He almost ruins anything the novel could have accomplished. He was unlikable, under developed, and severely misused. But, thanks to Taegan the story is bearable. He is The Rage's biggest saving grace, but he just had too much to overcome. Another good thing is the witty and fun banter that is tossed back and forth between Pavel and Will. This does make some scenes fun, but overall, it barely helps with getting through the story. All in all, I could just recommend The Rage solely for Taegan, but that's a long shot. Read at your own risk.

[Belgerod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I tend to rank Forgotten Realms (and other D&D) novels against each other rather than against the field of fiction as a whole. The reason for this is because most people who seek out D&D novels do it because they want that type of experience. Many of the tropes that would be flaws in other books are perks here, so bear that in mind as you read this review (and any other of my D&D novel reviews).

This is one of the better books in the Forgotten Realms series and does a good job of setting up an epic trilogy. Byers does a great job with action and creating interesting characters. He also avoids the pitfall of spellcaster worship that tends to crop up in the setting. Like the better writers in the setting, he doesn't worry about hit points and makes the battles feel deadly. However, he does still manage to incorporate a large variety of spells and powers directly from the (3rd edition) sourcebooks. This is particularly fun for people who are knowledgeable with the rules, and it was clear that he was writing directly from the Draconomicon.

One thing about this book that might put some people off is that the main character (Dorn Graybrook) is very dour and brooding. Considering his backstory and race/template it seems reasonable that he wouldn't be cheerful, but it could alienate some readers. Without too many spoilers, he does get better. Despite that problem, I felt his character was surprisingly mature when compared to some other fantasy protagonists. Even if he is not your cup of tea, there are a good number of other characters that get an almost equal share of the spotlight. In particular, the avariel bladesinger Taegan is the ensemble darkhorse and easily becomes the second main character. He is everything Dorn is not, cheerful and flamboyant, but still competent. The other important characters (Kara, Pavel, Will, and Raryn) are also interesting and well-used.

All in all, I would recommend this book for fantasy fans, dragon fans, and (in particular) fans of the Forgotten Realms. It has become one of my favorite series in this very large setting.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a game of Dungeons and Dragons, my dad handed me this book. Talk about gripping. The characters are easily recognisable by their speech, and of course DRAGONS!

It was through this book that I gained an appreciation for just how complex the Forgotten Realms series can be - and that's before any of the backstory or history is included.

[Martin Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up the omnibus of the entire trilogy of this book back in 2010 at a local bookstore. It's premise sounded good, and it was a chunky book that would take me a while to read. With no previous knowledge of the "Forgotten Realm" universe, or it's lore I dove in.

14 years later I'm re-reading the series again, and it still holds up. Maybe even more so now then it did back then.

Most readers will agree that there are typically two types of books about/with dragons.
1. Dragons are rare, mystical creatures that are only spoken about in legends, but one day they will return.
2. Dragons are a problem, and humanity is just trying to survive.

This book is very solidly of the second type.

Without going into too much detail, or retreading the books description; dragons are all over the place in this world, and seemingly a "Rage" has begun to consume them to drive their urges to destroy everything up to 11. Our main cast of characters is a motley group of Dragon hunters, a bard, and a elven fencing instructor whom stumble into a greater conspiracy by a Cult that wants to use the raging dragons to bring about their ultimate goals.

The characters are all very distinct, and easy to differentiate, so there's no fear of getting confused as to who's who. The story moves along at a brisk enough pace that you don't get bored, or feel like you're reading "filler."

Let's admit it; you're here for the dragons. This world has multiple breeds/colored dragons with their own behaviors, and traits that are probably what we all consider basic knowledge. If not then you're in for a treat in finding out what this world brings to bear. Metal dragons [gold, silver, bronze, copper], colored dragons [red, blue, green, brown, black], and even more uncommon dragons [song, fairy, smoke, skull, crystal].

This series is the Gold standard for a fantasy book about, and/or with dragons in my opinion. For me it claimed that spot years ago in 2010, and hasn't been dethroned. I would say this series is great for people who want a somewhat shorter dragon-centric story that doesn't require you to dedicate globs of time to get through. If there is any down side I would think that after reading this book, and it's subsequent follow-ups; you'll be somewhat disappointed with the lack of dragon-centric, and/or diversity in dragons themselves books of the modern landscape are offering.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such Rages, as they were called, could result in the slaughter of countless thousands, annihilate entire kingdoms, and scar the world for generations to come.

Of the latter generation of Dungeons & Dragons writers, Richard Lee Byers has fast become a favorite. His kick-off to the Forgotten Realms’ War of the Spider Queen ensnared me with its assortment of wicked characters and lured me into the entire six book series. As a reward, Wizards of the Coast looks to have brought him back for a trilogy of his own -- featuring a full ‘fiend folio’ of chromatic dragons.

And boy, does Byers run away with opportunity! This tale is surprisingly epic as a party of monster hunters-for-hire discover the dragons of Faerûn falling victim to an uncontrollable madness while in the well-to-do city of Lyrabar, a sinister cult has taken to summoning demons and reanimating corpses in the metropolitan sewers. Byers’ Forgotten Realms setting is rougher-round-the-edges than say the high fantasy tone of the Dragonlance milieu, but it works well here as the characters and environment feels much more like what you’d get around an actual D&D table.

The plot spills well across the Moonsea as Byers covers an amazing amount of ground in just 340 pages, deftly weaving in new characters and villains into the story while offering plenty of mystery, battle and plot twists. And while some writers might struggle in conveying the kinetic energy of combat in prose, Byers’ battle descriptions are absolute poetry. Vividly choreographed, the combat that is such a core component of the D&D game is wonderfully described here – swords sparking and the sweat of beasts stinking the air as magic crackles. In game terms, these are high-level characters, and it was nice to see them slugging it out with the nasties, toe-to-toe, using powerful weapons and enchantments against formidable foes.

After The Hobbit, Dragonlance, and countless other fantasy yarns, I kind of yawn when the ubiquitous dragon makes yet another appearance. But Byers’ take on the mighty wryms is both fresh and entertaining and, though there’s lots of D&D lore to savor, you don’t need to be a gamer to like this one. If you are a fan of fantasy, this book does not disappoint as I put the next chapter of the trilogy right on my ‘must read next’ list!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having adequately enjoyed the second book in the series (“The Rite”), I decided to go back and read the first one, also as an e-book loaded to my phone, which means that I read it in short spurts while waiting on line, during short breaks at work, or other times when I would only consume a few screens before moving on to something else. If anything, I think I liked this one a bit better (not enough to earn it another star), because more time was put into character and world-building, and less on action and combat, as one expects from a “first book.” None of the characters grow much in the course of this book, but at least we get a firm sense of where they are starting from. The biggest surprise, reading “backwards” from the second book, was how late in the book Jivex, the fairy dragon, finally shows up – I assumed he had been Taegan’s familiar for many years, but he was nowhere to be found 2/3 of the way in. As one might expect from a Dungeons & Dragons book, the characters are all somewhat less powerful in this story, and so the challenges they meet are for the most part “low level encounters,” although right from the get go the main party is a group of dragon-hunters, so hardly inexperienced at the time. I’m not in any hurry to read the third book, but I probably will make my way slowly through it at some point.

[Cal Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is simply okay.
It has Characters that I like, but it also brought in too many characters for such a short book. 300 pages, with a fairly straight forward tale to tell, but it had chapters of new characters come in, do their business for a chapter or two, and were out. Nothing to care about. There were also chapters that were essentially flashbacks, but they were all like, "I will tell you the tale ... " and the next chapter told the tale and then back into normal time. Too many time jumps for my liking.
Also, every chapter had a timeline calendar stating the date, which means nothing if you do not know the calendar system, which I do not.
16 Hammer means nothing to me, so why put it at the header? Going back in time to tell a story on 13 Cram or whatever means nothing to me.
I only give this 3 stars because i like the main party. The main 4, and I mean those four only. The fifth unofficial member, I don't like. The side characters I don't like. The sixth kind-of member I didn't like.

Basically, if I had a story about the dragon hunters I would be okay with just that.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming heroes, horrible villains, brilliant plotting, and exciting pacing all make this a wonderful read. Richard Lee Byers has quickly risen to one of my favorite fantasy authors.

I'm currently also reading his Haunted Lands trilogy which is much darker than this series. Hadn't quite meant to start this trilogy before I finished the other. But when it arrived in the post, I thought I'd just read one chapter. The next thing I know, I've finished reading the whole thing. I have a feeling I'll be devouring most of Byers's D&D novels by the end of the summer, among other D&D novels. This is the fifth D&D novel that I have read and am really enjoying spending time in those worlds.

[E.D.E. Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I knew I was getting into more violence than I prefer to read, but amidst all the newer xpfic I'm reading at the close of a very challenging time, I've reflected often that Richard Lee Byers and Ed Greenwood have been two of the *sweetest* and kindest people to me this year, and what a joy (and revival of strength) an immersion into the comforts of fantasy adventure comradery can be.

I really enjoyed it! There was nuance and fullness to the characters, as well as to their state of mind in different situations. I found there to be a deep respect for the concepts of skill that was very satisfying, and ahhh a romance yet unsettled.

Very ready to get going on Book 2. : )

[Keblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like dragons and dragon combat? Then this is the book for you! What a joy to read after a different disappointing forgotten realms book. A good range of characters, who are introduced at a slow enough paced that you don't get befuddled in character lore.

Having some knowledge of dungeons and dragons or just high fantasy tropes would be a good idea but not a necessity. If you've recently played baldur's gate 3, this would be perfect as there's mention of several of the deities covered and the Zhentarim.

[Kagan Oztarakci · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Some people think that different is the same as ugly and frightening."

"If you can't have a laugh, what's the use of living anyway?"

"I like soft beds, blazing hearths,well-made roofs, comfortable chairs, fine wine, gourmet cooking, and luscious, affectionate women. Everything Lyrabar [a city] affords, and the wild doesn't."

[Jeff Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had its moments of great writing and exciting ideas, paired with writing that could have used a few more passes from an editor. A lot of the dialogue feels like awkward dungeon master dialogue, rather than the more polished writing of a novel. There was some fun moments but not enough to push it into 4 star territory. Among the readable passable selections of the FR library.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid fantasy title set in the Forgotten Realms world. Some of the combat sessions outstayed their welcome, but the characters were decently realized and I look forward to seeing how their story progresses.

[Troybf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, great series.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best non-mythology I have read in a long while!!

[Komble III · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no good story without a halfling in it.

კიდე ერთი სიგიჟე პიროვნება ჰალფლინგი მიემატა სიას, უილ თარნსთოუნი <3

[E J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently and having read FR books from about 6 authors, R. Byers is my favourite. Eager to see where this story leads on.

[Rick Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what it is, it was a lot of fun.

[Ricky DiAntonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story great!!! First FR book I ever read, oh boy did I get hooked

[Megan]

DNS 6/19/23

[Mathias Jedborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me search about the entirety of the Internet to find book no 2 and 3 (The Rite, respectively The Ruin). I HAVE to fins out how this goes. Also, fey drakes. Yeah!

[Jeanette Amundsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun story, but the audiobook narration is so bad I had to switch to physical books.

[Greg Moonan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reread that was worth it

Read this as a teen and was enthralled now it is a bit slow but lands the ending and will read a sequel

[Lucas Durand · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is genuinely great aside from the dialogue. Alas, there's a fair share of dialogue.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rage by Richard Lee Byers is the first book in The Year of Rogue Dragons series. This story follows a group of hunters who have been traveling around the Moonsea killing monsters. The sullen half-golem, Dorn Graybrook, the quick witted thief, Will Turnstone, Pavel Shemov the loquacious priest of Lathander, and the taciturn arctic dwarf Raryn Snowstealer are the members of this group. These hunters lives change after they help a wounded bard named Kara. Meeting Kara sends this unlikely group headlong into a race against time to stop a form of insanity among dragons, called the Rage, from bringing destruction to all of Faerun. Along the way they meet allies and enemies alike and learn that there is more to this mission than they could have guessed.

The Rage pits one of the oddest group of heroes against insurmountable odds creating a race against time whose urgency is very real. This urgency helps to draw the reader in and hold their attention. The Rage does unfortunately suffer due to poorly developed characters such as Dorn and Raryn. Dorn's character never really expands past the sullen brute we see at the beginning of the story even though there were plenty of opportunities to have him grow as a character. Raryn seems to have been just thrown in to the book by Byers just to round out the group, he doesn't play a huge role at any part of the book. In spite of these one dimensional characters Byers is able create a new epic adventure that manages to stand out in an established world filled to the brim with monsters, mystery, and adventure.

[Bishopt1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

One may wonder how start off this grand tale of magic and dragons. By having your protagonist's parents turned into pools of burning flesh and getting horribly disfigured in the same process by a hungry dragon, that's how! Throw an insanely cliche villain with an even more villainous, and ridiculous, agenda of ruling the world with an army of zombie dragons, then you've got your book. So, why would I rate this book a full 5 stars compared to books with a more varied and interesting premise? The characters, or more simply put, the relationship of a perverted priest and half-elf pick pocket. Throw in a snow dwarf (they actually exist), a feminine bard who can sing in meteor showers (flipping meteors by golly), and the most annoying dragon in the world who's speech pattern resembles that of a annoying 7 year old who just discovered the magical powers of sugar and you've got yourself a tale to be told. Yet, this is only the first part of the grand adventure that is contained in The Year of the Rogue Dragons, with even more zany and awesome things to come! Definitely will stand the test of time and I recommend this to any who wants to join on this crazy ride.


Also, there's a vampire dragon. A VAMPIRE DRAGON WITH A THING FOR CHOKE COLLARS!!!

[Tobi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like things kinda just happened to work for them in the end. But it was nice overall.

Karas struggle against the other Dragons was exciting and I liked how Taegan got involved in all this.

The first chapter was pretty brutal and cruel.

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Byers puts down a promising premise in this series. I dig dragons as much as the next fantasy genre addict. I hope that the next in the series is a little more balanced in the character development department. In this particular book, Byers has this nasty habit of introducing a new character by placing them in a battle or dangerous ambush. The problem is I, as the reader, am still trying to figure out who someone in and why I should care, and they're already in a predicament where they can die. It's a strain on the mental reading process, and made this a chore to read in places. The ending is strong enough that I'm interested in keeping with the series, however.