Review: Dragons, humans, invisible beings and gypsies, oh my
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2012
The "Battle of Black River" is a prequel short story by author Samantha Warren and part of the "Blood of the Dragon" fantasy series.  The story centers around a red dragon named Sigurd who is the King of Dragons in the now turbulent Kingdom of Layr.  Apoph, a black dragon and Sigurd's brother hungers for power.  Betraying his own kingdom, Apoph and a large group of his followers ally themselves with the human warlord king Aron in attempts to wage war and overthrow King Sigurd.  Here are my thoughts on the Battle of Black River;Pros+ Interesting concept of the Hidden race.+ Decent amount of action and combat.+ Human and dragon coexistence/rule creates a unique setting.Cons- Anthropomorphized and overly emotional dragons grew tiresome very quickly.  They laughed, cried, smiled, stuck their tongues out and went through labor pains.  It all just made them seem more human and less dragon, especially given the struggles they were facing.- Standard and rather generic story.- No world map."Battle of Black River" does an admirable job at leading up to the later events of "Blood of the Dragon."  The story provides you with just enough back history to keep you interested in continuing the series.  While the story isn't anything terribly original there are a few unique aspects that set it apart from other fantasy series.  The introduction of the Hidden and Gypsies add flavor to an otherwise mediocre premise and story.  If you're into dragon focused fantasy then this might be the series worth looking into.