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A review by kait_sixcrowsbooks
Dragonfall by L.R. Lam
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Note: this review may contain spoilers
I…honestly don’t know what to say. What a wonderful, wonderful read.
Dragonfall follows two characters: Arcady, a lowly thief attempting to take back what was once theirs, and Everen, a dragon who is supposedly the one that saves his kind from extinction. The two of them become bonded through a spell, and from there, they begin to learn about each other and both of their worlds. It’s hard to condense the plot down to a simple opening paragraph, but I hope you get the gist of it.
The characters were so fun — a lot of times when it comes to multi-POV books, there’s always one or two perspectives that I don’t like as much as the others, but I think it’s safe to say that that isn’t the case here. Each character has their own unique voice and perspective, and I loved each of them. I think part of that is the originality in which the author wrote: they use different points of view for different characters’ chapters. For Arcady’s, it’s first person within the actual story; for Everen, it’s as if he’s writing to Arcady (not technically second person, but not so much first either — it’s as if he’s writing it after the fact); and there were a couple others that were decidedly third person. I know there were a number of people who hated this style, but I devoured it. I loved every second of it, and I liked the ways in which it at all intertwined in unique ways.
The world-building is quite awesome, too. While it is a bit confusing learning the different magic systems and the politics and all that, is that not the fun of high/epic fantasy? To get lost in another world? It was a bit confusing at first, sure, but I loved the way in which I was simply sucked in. While there was some passages that could be considered “info-dumping” by certain people, I thought it was done nicely, and I found myself just sucking it all up.
And on top of that, I loved the way in which gender was discussed and explored — showcasing how accepting the society in which Arcady lives is of different genders as well as nudging towards the different cultural beliefs of other societies. It was interesting how gender isn’t a mode of oppression in Loc, but that there still is this hierarchy involved within its society. I really wish it continues to be expanded upon in further books because I’m very much intrigued by it.
I will say that, from a more critical perspective, the plot could be considered weak in some ways — it seems a bit choppy here and there, like it wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to do. However, it did find its groove well enough, and again…I had a wonderful time just sitting down and tearing through this book. I soaked in as much information as I could, and by the end of it, I hungered for more. To me, it was everything a first book should be: holding its own story arc while ending in just a way that has me clamoring for the next book in the series.
I…honestly don’t know what to say. What a wonderful, wonderful read.
Dragonfall follows two characters: Arcady, a lowly thief attempting to take back what was once theirs, and Everen, a dragon who is supposedly the one that saves his kind from extinction. The two of them become bonded through a spell, and from there, they begin to learn about each other and both of their worlds. It’s hard to condense the plot down to a simple opening paragraph, but I hope you get the gist of it.
The characters were so fun — a lot of times when it comes to multi-POV books, there’s always one or two perspectives that I don’t like as much as the others, but I think it’s safe to say that that isn’t the case here. Each character has their own unique voice and perspective, and I loved each of them. I think part of that is the originality in which the author wrote: they use different points of view for different characters’ chapters. For Arcady’s, it’s first person within the actual story; for Everen, it’s as if he’s writing to Arcady (not technically second person, but not so much first either — it’s as if he’s writing it after the fact); and there were a couple others that were decidedly third person. I know there were a number of people who hated this style, but I devoured it. I loved every second of it, and I liked the ways in which it at all intertwined in unique ways.
The world-building is quite awesome, too. While it is a bit confusing learning the different magic systems and the politics and all that, is that not the fun of high/epic fantasy? To get lost in another world? It was a bit confusing at first, sure, but I loved the way in which I was simply sucked in. While there was some passages that could be considered “info-dumping” by certain people, I thought it was done nicely, and I found myself just sucking it all up.
And on top of that, I loved the way in which gender was discussed and explored — showcasing how accepting the society in which Arcady lives is of different genders as well as nudging towards the different cultural beliefs of other societies. It was interesting how gender isn’t a mode of oppression in Loc, but that there still is this hierarchy involved within its society. I really wish it continues to be expanded upon in further books because I’m very much intrigued by it.
I will say that, from a more critical perspective, the plot could be considered weak in some ways — it seems a bit choppy here and there, like it wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to do. However, it did find its groove well enough, and again…I had a wonderful time just sitting down and tearing through this book. I soaked in as much information as I could, and by the end of it, I hungered for more. To me, it was everything a first book should be: holding its own story arc while ending in just a way that has me clamoring for the next book in the series.