Thursday, October 31, 2019

Book Review: "Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary" by Brandon Mul

Refuge in a Book Book Review: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mul Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

The group has to travel to a dangerous dragon preserve in order to get the key to a vault that hold a dangerous artifact. But in order to get to it they have to get past a giant, dragons, a hydra, and the demon Navarog.

CHARACTER GROWTH

Kendra develops in small ways. When she is all alone and trapped, she shows courage and her sarcasm is almost reminiscent of Seth. She still has a crush on Gavin but this is never expressed, unless you count letters they supposedly exchanged. On another note, she has to goad a new ally into killing a new enemy. I didn't like it. The new ally should have developed some courage and done it without any manipulation.

Seth does develop in a way. He learns more about his newly obtained skills. Also, it turns out he may have some new surprising ones. And how he reacts to witnessing the death of a character is quite moving, and we do witness how it effects him. Although there are a few times when he still acts as stupid as he did I the first book, making me annoyed.

Gavin returns in the second part of the book. There isn't any development between him and Kendra, which I was disappointed in, as it was hinted at in the last book. There are no conversations between them about anything personal. And although Seth takes him aside and asks him about their relationship, and Gavin hints that he likes Kendra, there isn't any real relationship. I get it, their teenagers. But they could have flirted, or held hands or...something.

Warren has more personality than others in that he is often joking. He is good for a laugh, but it's hard to develop a character that is so shallow. Considering that he has been around since book two, I kind of expected him to develop or at least be more crucial to the plot. Also, he encourages Seth to do something that could potentially get him killed, and disregards Grandpa Sorenson's orders. This is never addressed.

Mara actually appeared in the last book. She lived at Lost Mesa. She was barely in it, and although she is in half of this story, I still know nothing about her. She is described as serious and athletic. That is all. There are no conversations between her and other characters that reveal anything about her.

Dougan, Maddox's brother, is another character that seems to have no real personality. He was in the the last book as he went to Lost Mesa with Kendra. He had no personality then and still doesn't.

NEW CHARACTERS

Trask is a new character, who is the leader of the mission in the second portion of the book. The only impression I get from him is that he is mature and patient. Not much else. I would have liked to see him be a mentor Seth and Kendra. But that interaction just wasn't there.

Agad is the wizard and the caretaker of Wyrmroost, the dragon sanctuary. He isn't in the story much but comes across as a mentor, not just to Kendra, but to Seth as well.

Thronis is a giant who lives in Wyrmroost. His laid-back demeanor masks his willingness to kill. He isn't in the story quite enough to develop.

Bubda is a troll that resides in a magical item. He isn't that smart, but is rather amusing. Also, he is actually crucial in one part of the story.

Raxtus is a dragon who was rescued by faeries and hatched by them. Because of that, he is small and excluded from other dragons. He is slightly timid and not fierce or inclined to fight. He does play an important role, but I actually didn't care for how it was done.

PACING

The pacing is good, and the action starts pretty much right away. And from then, we split back in fourth between Kendra's and Seth's perspectives. That keeps the story moving pretty fast. Even when they are reunited, things go pretty fast. Seth has his own risky quest, as well as him and Kendra being attacked. Eventually, it all culminates into a trip to Wyrmroost, the dragon sanctuary.

SAME OLD SETH

I have the same problem I always have with Seth. He keeps ignoring the rules, disobeying and having no consequences whatsoever. And I don't just mean getting grounded. I mean messing up and having something bad happen as a result. It seems whenever Seth takes a big risk, he always succeeds and suffers no consequences. Just like in the last book, where Seth basically signs a death warrant with the centaurs, but gets pulled out by Patton.

Kendra actually does this too. There is a scene where she disobeys and talks to a dragon in the last book, but nothing bad comes from it. And it's starting to get annoying. Kendra blames herself for something bad that happens in this book, but it's not really her fault. It's the Knights of the Dawn's fault.

CLIMAX-THE BETRAYAL

In order to be shocked by a betrayal, I really have to know a character. So when he or she turns against the other characters, I can be angry. Or at least look back at certain moments and wonder if there was any sincerity. Also, looking back at hints and thinking, “I knew it!” or “It was so obvious!”

Oddly, I felt none of these things when a character is revealed to be a traitor. I went back to see if their were hints, to check if I was just being dense. But I saw nothing overt. Except for the whole “dragon” title thing. But honestly, the name was mentioned once, and I didn't think Mul would be so obvious. Although I think the big hint was supposed to be when this character went off on his own to defeat a dangerous enemy. I guess this was kind of fishy, but I chalked it up to crappy writing. Although it was mentioned that Navarog had an avatar.

I really think it would have been normal for Mul to simply have Navarog show up near the end. After all, we didn't learn about Ephira till well near the climax in the last book. So it would be par for the course.

THE KNIGHTS OF THE DAWN

One of the knights of the dawn is a traitor. Not surprising, right? We learned from book two that there were most likely traitors there. And then we learned the sphinx was the leader. So obviously no one can be trusted, right? Right?

So if a member was revealed to be a descendant of a previous member, and no one had heard of him...and only one person vouched for him and the sphinx was the leader of the knights...see where I am going? This person essentially never existed and no one decided to look in on it.

I kept thinking there should have been a side story where another character investigated or maybe accidentally found out the truth. The whole “Knights” thing suddenly seems like a joke. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief. This is a magical world. Couldn't we have had a more convincing lie, like a shapeshifter or something?

EXPLICIT CONTENT

Two characters get killed by a dragon, who eats them. Not much detail is given. Another is killed by having his youth sucked away.

CONCLUSION

The story isn't bad at all. In fact, it's original and well paced. Both Kendra and Seth are crucial to the story and have unique talents and there are many charming moments. But there are too many characters I care nothing about and the twist ending annoyed me, rather than shocked me in the way I think it was supposed

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