Review: It all comes down to understanding your enemies
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2014
I was given a copy of Dragon: Book One (Histories of Purga) by author Rustin Petrae, in exchange for an honest review.  I met Mr. Petrae on [...].  After a quick discussion about his book, I was more than interested in reading what he had.  I actually was to read the book Roc: Book Two (Histories of Purga).  However, in order to understand what was going on, he sent me the first book, just to catch up.Dragon starts off in the Kingdom of Roanoke.  Rone sees that Lady Guilder is sporting wounds that she received at the hands of her brutal husband, Lord Guilder.  Not having patience with this, his father, King Rowan Varlamagne, expels Lord Guilder from the kingdom.  Not only is he expelled, he is stripped of title an all benefits he has received for his title.  Just a little upset over this, Guilder has basically sworn revenge for this action and will stop at nothing to make King Rowan pay.To help Guilder exact his revenge, a dark hooded, mechanical voice, mysterious individual appears and offers his help.  Not questioning who it is or what will be expected from him in the future, Guilder seizes the opportunity to make Rowan pay.Knowing that the only thing that could bring King Rowan down would be to witness his beloved son Rone suffer.  With the help of a little magic, mysterious person changes his appearance into King Rowan and gives permission for Rone to do what he is never allowed to do, go flying.  Never questioning his father’s motives, Rone, being the adventurous and young man that he is, takes the leap and is flying over the kingdom.While flying, Rone is all of a sudden attacked by something.  Thinking that he can out maneuver the missile, he heads for the Javardi Desert.  Over the desert, he has the room to do some fancy moves and avoid the attack. Unable to avoid the attack, he is hit, thrown into a dune and left to die.While out wandering out in the Javardi Desert looking for akavi herb, Keiara and her brother Asher discover Rone.  Bringing him back to their village for help due to his injuries, Keiara brings the wrath of her parents down on her.  The Tarraqouis are enemies of the Rooks.  This is only going to cause problems for the Tarraqouis.However, being the kind hearted person she is, Keiara insists that they help Roan.  This is their one chance to prove they aren’t the evil and cruel people they have been made out to be.  Seeing the logic behind his daughter’s argument, Roan is welcomed into their village.  He learns of who these strangers actually are.  He sees that the Rook’s have been wrong in their views of the Terraqouis.  Now it’s up to him to prove this to his father and the people of Roanoke.I really enjoyed this story.  The author did a great job at describing this new world the he created.  His descriptions are so vivid that you can actually picture what everything looks like.  It also helps that he has created a detailed map that shows the lay of the land.  Some books go overboard with details on geography or they just lack the details.  This was just the perfect amount of what you needed to envision this fantasy.I really enjoyed the way that the characters were able to grow and adapt to the way things were evolving.  With the two tribes not knowing and misunderstanding, it takes the younger generation to see the wrongs of the elders.The book builds up to this really dramatic ending.  At first, I was questioning the title of the book.  I was enjoying the sci-fi parts as well as the magical aspects.  But it was the ending that has me gasping and wanting more.  I do have the second installment, Roc, I can’t wait to jump to this book and see how things continue.I can’t say enough good things about what this author has created.  It takes a special person to create an entire new world of things that we have never seen.  The imagination of Rustin Petrae has me in awe.  I admire people who are willing to put those thoughts into words.