So, I’m afraid, I’ve done it again. I seem to be making a habit of reading the second book in the series before I read the first (see my review on Venom and Song). This time though, I tried to order the first book from the library to read before I wrote my review of the second, but it didn’t come. In fact, it still hasn’t come! So it wasn’t entirely my fault.
The Story:
War hangs over Chiril. For centuries, peace has reigned throughout the land, but now, in the space of a few short months, things have turned from bad to worse with the threat of “worser” things yet to come.
In this unstable time, the artist Bealomondore finds himself entrusted with a most unusual quest. Forced to abandon his easel for the dust of the road, his paintbrushes for a sword, and his fine clothes for battle gear, Bealomondore becomes a reluctant champion of Chiril. Far less reluctant to be on the road again, Princess Tipper becomes his traveling companion in a desperate attempt to keep three vitally important statues safe.
As enemies multiply throughout the country, cities fall, citizens disappear, and a strange attitude of disquiet descends upon the people, Tipper, Bealomondore, and a score of memorable companions set out to save the statues and hopefully Chiril as well.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Dragons of the Valley is the sequel to The Vanishing Sculptor. I found it quite an enjoyable read. Most of my favorite parts had to do with the characters! Although quests, magical statues and evil creatures are all exciting, I would have to say that it was the characters more than a suspenseful plot that kept me reading!
Lady Peg… my goodness! She is enough to turn your head upside down and keep it spinning! I’m convinced that woman could pleasantly and with all due courtesy talk the ear off a mule… and the best part of it is that she would not even notice what she had done! Be prepared to scratch your head for a moment when she speaks and then burst out laughing… but I pray you do it privately in your sleeve lest you offend the noble lady!
I would have liked to have read more about Paladin, but I loved the parts with the absentminded wizard Fenworth. As a bog wizard who hates getting wet, is prone to misplace and forget things of great importance, and whose plans don’t always work out quite as well as planned, Fenworth was quite hilarious. And Donita K. Paul makes it clear that the wizard’s “powers” were gifts from Wuldor (in allegorical terms: God) rather than an attempt to manipulate the world to his own will.
There is also an obvious Biblical aspect to the story, in that there is one God, Wuldor, in whom the peoples of Chiril must learn to put their trust.
Bealomondore the artist and Tipper were both interesting and engaging main characters. I appreciated the fact that they were not perfect. They both made mistakes and learned from them just like the rest of us.
I did find the first part of the story difficult to get into. Although the first scene grabbed my attention – statue thievery in the dead of night – it took a little while after that for me to get hooked again. I think I was more confused than anything else, but I’m sure reading the first book would have helped. One of these days, perhaps I’ll learn.
Now, what follows is purely my own personal opinion, so take it as that and nothing more. I love battle scenes – I love writing them and I love reading them. But in Dragons of the Valley, although the main premise of the story is that the country is under a vast invasion and several of the main characters are actively fighting the invaders, the story felt distanced from the actual battle.
I didn’t ever really see the effects of the war torn land – it seemed like everything was always simply reported to the commanders. And if you turn the last big battle in the book into a movie scene in your mind, there wasn’t a wide shot panning the entire field so I couldn’t quite visualize the whole picture, nor did I get a good feel for the close up, second by second, move for move, stroke for stroke action either. To put it simply, much of the battle was told rather than shown. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not my personal preference.
That said, I definitely enjoyed reading the story and I look forward to reading the first one… and the next one if there are more to come! If you’re looking for a fun, clean, light-hearted read with some action thrown in, then I’d certainly recommend Dragons of the Valley!
More posts to come over the next two days of the tour… Be sure to check back in for the exciting posts in store!
In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
If you’re interested, you can purchase the book here: Amazon
Author’s web site:http://www.donitakpaul.com/
Author’s blog: http://dragonbloggin.blogspot.com/
Other warriors participating in the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour Quest! Check out what they have to say:
In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
If you’re interested, you can purchase the book here: Amazon
Author’s web site:http://www.donitakpaul.com/
Author’s blog: http://dragonbloggin.blogspot.com/
Other warriors participating in the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour Quest! Check out what they have to say:
Noah Arsenault Amy Bissell
Red Bissell Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour
Amy Cruson D.G.D. Davidson
April Erwin Amber French
Andrea Graham Katie Hart
Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan
Becky Jesse Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner Julie
Carol Keen Emily LaVigne
Shannon McDermott Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis
John W. Otte Donita K. Paul
Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut Kathleen Smith
James Somers Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler Dave Wilson
Red Bissell Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse CSFF Blog Tour
Amy Cruson D.G.D. Davidson
April Erwin Amber French
Andrea Graham Katie Hart
Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan
Becky Jesse Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner Julie
Carol Keen Emily LaVigne
Shannon McDermott Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis
John W. Otte Donita K. Paul
Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut Kathleen Smith
James Somers Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler Dave Wilson
facesoflions says
Great review. You were much more thorough in providing your thoughts, but I believe we had a similar opinion on a couple of aspects of the book.
Dave
Jake says
I enjoyed this book as well. :) Characters are Donita K. Paul's strong points.
Donita K. Paul says
Ah, Gillian. How many times has my son tried to get me to improve my battle scenes. He said I did pretty well when the Grawl fought the head of the Schoergats. But yes, battle is not my thing. Some of those who read my books enjoy that, and some like you, see the big hole.
A Servant of the King says
Donita, thanks for your comment. I really enjoyed reading your book! Yes, I know battle writing is just a matter of personal opinion. But I agree with your son in regard to the Grawl versus Shoergat leader combat! I was really able to visualize it.
Rebecca LuElla Miller says
A wonderful review, Gillian. I've commented at a couple other sites how easy this book was for me to get into because I've read the others set in this world. I forget just how much a new reader has to absorb. So it's really interesting for me to hear your reaction to the story.
I'm planning on writing about violence in Christian fantasy today, as my tour post. All this battle talk has me thinking. ;-)
Becky
A Servant of the King says
Becky,
I'm looking forward to reading that. It sounds very interesting!
I've really enjoyed looking at the other sites and seeing everyone's different take on the story – I think that's been one of my favorite parts so far of my first blog tour!