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A review by nglofile
Gork, the Teenage Dragon by Gabe Hudson
3.0
Attracted to the promise of something completely different from the heavier fiction I'd been reading, I selected this at the beginning of summer as a welcome palate-cleanser. It had been reviewed as a John Hughes-ish story with dragons, which is irresistible in its absurdity, and I needed to sample for myself.
The good news is that Gork lives up to that sum-up and all the appeal that may carry (or not) for the reader. It's silly and smart and sweet, peppered with satiric insights on human behavior, and salted with fights and fantasy gore. Gork is a dragon with too-small horns and a too-big heart who must win the talon of his lady-love or be doomed as a slave. A constant disappointment to his grandfather, the infamous Dr. Terrible, he battles trying to be the dragon everyone expects him to be versus the compassionate creature he naturally is.
At first I thought this might have the fun genre-bias-busting potential of Ready Player One, but no. There will be far more readers tickled by the premise than won over by the story itself. Even as one who wanted it to succeed, I could only enjoy the first half or more of the book in small portions. It verges on too-pleased with its own quirk, and there are missteps in pacing. That said, there is wit and heart, and as long as I gave myself permission to pick it up and set it down in bits, it was fun to know it was there. Once the book finally gained traction, it was easier to more fully invest, and as an avowed fan of Some Kind of Wonderful, I can only be satisfied with the final character beats.
Readalike author names bandied about include Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Tom Holt, all of which I see, but ultimately this is going to appeal to a very specific taste and mood.
The good news is that Gork lives up to that sum-up and all the appeal that may carry (or not) for the reader. It's silly and smart and sweet, peppered with satiric insights on human behavior, and salted with fights and fantasy gore. Gork is a dragon with too-small horns and a too-big heart who must win the talon of his lady-love or be doomed as a slave. A constant disappointment to his grandfather, the infamous Dr. Terrible, he battles trying to be the dragon everyone expects him to be versus the compassionate creature he naturally is.
At first I thought this might have the fun genre-bias-busting potential of Ready Player One, but no. There will be far more readers tickled by the premise than won over by the story itself. Even as one who wanted it to succeed, I could only enjoy the first half or more of the book in small portions. It verges on too-pleased with its own quirk, and there are missteps in pacing. That said, there is wit and heart, and as long as I gave myself permission to pick it up and set it down in bits, it was fun to know it was there. Once the book finally gained traction, it was easier to more fully invest, and as an avowed fan of Some Kind of Wonderful, I can only be satisfied with the final character beats.
Readalike author names bandied about include Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Tom Holt, all of which I see, but ultimately this is going to appeal to a very specific taste and mood.