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booklover160's review against another edition
3.0
Well yes, the title is stupid, but it held my interest for the whole book. If my library happens to obtain the second book, I'll continue but for now I'm okay. It does have a hefty cliffhanger just FYI.
Pros:
- Dree is a friggen badass. I loved her. She's a complex character for 12 years old and I loved her arc. She really steps into the person she's meant to be and I loved her relationships with her family as they were complex and different. I really appreciated that.
- Marcus was aight. He was a decent character and I did enjoy his complex feelings and character arc as well. I didn't feel quite as much for him because I don't think he was as thought out of a character; he felt one-dimensional.
- DRAGONS. I loved the dragons and their culture and their histories. I liked being pulled into their world and seeing how they interact with one another and the humans. It was so interesting!
Cons:
- Plot. It was confusing, somewhat difficult to follow, and jumped all over. I was into the plot until the last like 1/4th of the book when it got complicated.
- George. AKA Marcus's father. Did not like him, what he did, how they found him, anything to do with him. Nah.
- Baby Hybrid. That name is just so cringe and uninspired. Same with the fact that Marcus's favorite movie was Wizard of Oz? Just...... boring.
- Holy cliffhanger batman. Waaaay too over the top for me. I'd have liked SOME resolution, but instead it feels just unfinished.
Overall, this is a fun book for middle graders who have an interest in both coding and fantasy. It was a fun, quick read for reluctant readers. It would have been better if the ending wasn't such a large cliffhanger, but then it gets those reluctant readers to continue.
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10/4/19 - You know, I'm not really sure about the title. Sounds, well, it sounds dumb. But the synopsis and the reviews make it sound really good so I'll bite.
Pros:
- Dree is a friggen badass. I loved her. She's a complex character for 12 years old and I loved her arc. She really steps into the person she's meant to be and I loved her relationships with her family as they were complex and different. I really appreciated that.
- Marcus was aight. He was a decent character and I did enjoy his complex feelings and character arc as well. I didn't feel quite as much for him because I don't think he was as thought out of a character; he felt one-dimensional.
- DRAGONS. I loved the dragons and their culture and their histories. I liked being pulled into their world and seeing how they interact with one another and the humans. It was so interesting!
Cons:
- Plot. It was confusing, somewhat difficult to follow, and jumped all over. I was into the plot until the last like 1/4th of the book when it got complicated.
- George. AKA Marcus's father. Did not like him, what he did, how they found him, anything to do with him. Nah.
- Baby Hybrid. That name is just so cringe and uninspired. Same with the fact that Marcus's favorite movie was Wizard of Oz? Just...... boring.
- Holy cliffhanger batman. Waaaay too over the top for me. I'd have liked SOME resolution, but instead it feels just unfinished.
Overall, this is a fun book for middle graders who have an interest in both coding and fantasy. It was a fun, quick read for reluctant readers. It would have been better if the ending wasn't such a large cliffhanger, but then it gets those reluctant readers to continue.
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10/4/19 - You know, I'm not really sure about the title. Sounds, well, it sounds dumb. But the synopsis and the reviews make it sound really good so I'll bite.
kawarwick's review against another edition
3.0
I tried reading this in the mindset of a middle school reader and I still wasn't crazy about it. Storyline was ok, lots of adventure, and a good set up for book 2. In all, not a bad book, just not my cup of tea.
rkiladitis's review against another edition
3.0
In a land called Dracone, Dree labors away as a welder. Her family was once nobility; her father, a dragon rider, until their fortunes reversed. Now, dragon riders are considered traitors, dragons hunted for their fangs and scales, and Dree’s father spends his day as a shadow of the man he once was while Dree and her mother work to scrape together a living for their family.
In our world, Marcus, the son of a CIA analyst who disappeared when he was only 4 is desperate to find out what happened to his father. He’s told by the government that his father was a traitor; his mother died when he was a baby. Raised by his father’s best friend – who seems to know more than he’s letting on – Marcus has been studying weather patterns that may lead to some answers. The only problem is, he’s being watched by government drones.
When Marcus breaks a code that sends him into an alternate world, he meets Dree and discovers a world like nothing he’s ever known. But the drones have followed him and are wreaking havoc on the Draconian citizens. Can Dree and Marcus forge a peace between humans and dragons to save themselves from an evil plan to destroy the land?
Dragons vs. Drones is a fantasy novel that’s part fantasy and part tech/sci-fi thriller. It’s been called “Eragon meets Transformers”, which is a pretty accurate description. We’ve got dragons, and we’ve got codebreaking. STEM fans, there is some pretty intense discussions of welding/metalworking and coding/hacking here, so it’s a good book to give the kids in your life who love to play around at the computer, fool around with their own Raspberry Pi, and dream about dragons, swords and magic. Magic and science co-exist here, broadening the audience, and there are both male and female main characters, for anyone who still flinches at “boy books” vs. “girl books” (I’ve got a few in my library). There’s quite a bit of world-building on both worlds, and the ending provides a promise for a sequel.
Some timely topics to discuss in a group setting include government surveillance, deforestation for industrial progress, and ethics of hunting/endangered species.
A good addition to science fiction and fantasy collections.
jillcd's review against another edition
3.0
Actually I would rate this a 3.5. It mixes old world dragons with new world drones as indicated by the title. The plot is interesting and I can see many of my students who love sci-fi enjoying this read.
theartolater's review against another edition
3.0
As someone who does love b-movies and absurd premises, Dragons vs. Drones sounds like a fun, absurd idea in theory. In execution, though, it's a little too serious and overdone to truly reach a successful place for me.
Marcus is the child of a CIA agent, and he's spent much of his childhood trying to find the man who has been branded a traitor. He is somehow zapped to an alternate dimension where dragons are real and Earth-based drones are hunting those dragons down in what is actually an interdimensional war.
This is a bad movie premise, and it's just an okay story that would truly work better if it played up the absurdity of it all. Instead, it tries to play straight and just ends up being okay. It fails to really make any sort of impact in any direction and, with a massive cliffhanger at the end, offers no payoff to speak of.
I want to see this book done by the guys who do Sharknado instead. That might be something where we could accept what was going on instead of the half-baked craziness we ended up with. Not great, just a pass.
Marcus is the child of a CIA agent, and he's spent much of his childhood trying to find the man who has been branded a traitor. He is somehow zapped to an alternate dimension where dragons are real and Earth-based drones are hunting those dragons down in what is actually an interdimensional war.
This is a bad movie premise, and it's just an okay story that would truly work better if it played up the absurdity of it all. Instead, it tries to play straight and just ends up being okay. It fails to really make any sort of impact in any direction and, with a massive cliffhanger at the end, offers no payoff to speak of.
I want to see this book done by the guys who do Sharknado instead. That might be something where we could accept what was going on instead of the half-baked craziness we ended up with. Not great, just a pass.
karleneeberth's review against another edition
1.0
Read for work. Really dumb book, but I see why kids may like it. I think a 4th grader could read it. I think we will put it in circulation at the library.
nooralshanti's review against another edition
2.0
I finished this book, but it took a lot of skimming and by the time we reached the end, with the "big showdown" with the bad guy I no longer really cared and the battle was just another thing to quickly skim. I mean... it wasn't bad, but a book about dragons and drones, fantasy and sci fi colliding, could have been so much better.
You'd think there would be a lot of world-building in a book like this, but the world didn't really feel very big or very interesting. It was just there as a background for this story, which was, at the end of the day, very paint by the numbers. A bunch of boxes were ticked for the purpose of being ticked, but they didn't really make me as a reader feel any excitement. Which is sad, because dragons, people who have internal fire, magic!
I think part of the problem was that it was written for a younger audience, perhaps. And also, I don't like portal fantasy so... yeah.
I did still finish it, so I guess it did something right, but it just wasn't anything too gripping.
You'd think there would be a lot of world-building in a book like this, but the world didn't really feel very big or very interesting. It was just there as a background for this story, which was, at the end of the day, very paint by the numbers. A bunch of boxes were ticked for the purpose of being ticked, but they didn't really make me as a reader feel any excitement. Which is sad, because dragons, people who have internal fire, magic!
I think part of the problem was that it was written for a younger audience, perhaps. And also, I don't like portal fantasy so... yeah.
I did still finish it, so I guess it did something right, but it just wasn't anything too gripping.
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