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acarman1's review against another edition
3.0
I think I've mentioned before that I am constitutionally unable to pass up books on dragons or with dragon in the title. Throw in setting it in the Far East with historical figures like Kublai Khan and Marco Polo and I was drawn in. It was a kind of slow start and I wasn't sure what to think as young Marco Polo and his friend run way from their home in Venice to seek Marco's father who has been taken by dark powers. It seemed a little forced, but about half way through it started to take off and more than made up for it. I enjoy the East vs. West story where the West is hostile to magic and has killed it off, but the East takes it as part of the world to be honored and revered (so the West has killed off its dragons and made the world run like a machine while the East has embraced the magical world). It falls a bit into problematic Eastern sensationalism and exoticism and it's pretty obvious the author hasn't seen any of the places he describes because a sense of place is largely missing. But the adventure story is very engaging, the characters are reasonably well drawn and I like that in the end the Polos embrace a more Eastern view of the world. It ends on a bit of a rough note which I assume was setting up for a sequel. I would likely be interested in reading more. The introduction of Kokachin without revealing much of their character would have been a good avenue of exploring. All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot--the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I hope we haven't seen the last from this author, and his writing style will probably evolve.
kailey_luminouslibro's review
2.0
Predictable, too long, unoriginal in every aspect, clumsy writing, unfocused characters. Meh.
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