Review: "The Last Dragon Slayer"... the Pros and Cons... 3 1/2 Stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2014
"The Last Dragon Slayer (Deathsworn Arc) is the first in a series of fantasy adventures by author Martyn Stanley with Jack Pedley (Editor), Isis Sousa (Illustrator). This Kindle e-book was approximately 200 printed pages and sold for $2.99 at the time of writing this review.Please Note: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.General theme <spoilers>The Empress Jade summons Saul Karza to gather a group of adventurers and go in search of and kill a 'Noble Dragon'; a dragon reportedly rumored to be terrorizing the northern part of the realm. Saul and his mercenary group find themselves embroiled in several escapades before reaching their ultimate goal. A few new friends and several enemies are unexpectedly met along the way. As well, some strange information is revealed about their quest.Some thoughts on "The Last Dragon Slayer"...The Pros:1.) there were several new and interesting ideas put forth in this D & D type of adventure2.) various classes make up our party of adventurers. Humans, a dwarf, an elf and a dark elf. A party with some unique skills when it comes to defending themselves or attempting to attain their goal.3.) map... there is a good map giving a sense of direction, distance and topography.4.) dramatis personae... there is a listing of characters (with an illustrations) and some of their history.5.) cover art... attractive and eye-catching.The Cons:1.) writing concerns; repetitious word use. Many words like 'Humph' or 'smirk' (and a few others) were use several times throughout this book. Giving the writing a decidedly amateurish feel.2.) characters... although there was a good assortment of classes for this quest, my concern here was that their personalities and conversations seemed to me to be very wooden and stiff. I felt there was limited character development in this first book. But in fairness, this was a group of new people just recently thrown together for a dangerous quest. They'd be naturally wary of revealing too much of their personal thoughts to strangers. However, I suspect the aftermath of the final battle will change this attitude cnsiderably.3.) chapter titles... there were a couple of chapter titles that acted as spoilers for what was to come.4.) the 'teaching' relationship between Vishna (elf) and Korhan (human) was to me, something unrealistic as well as unbelievable (unbelievable even within the context of a fantasy setting). You need to be your own judge on this one.Impressions:A book, despite its having a fairly common fantasy adventure quest (kill a dragon) had some thrilling moments and I felt had the potential for many intriguing future installments.I came away feeling this author has the potential to write good novels. However he needs to hone his skills to improve the final product. A good editor and/or some honest Beta readers might be able to help significantly.As it is... 3 1/2 Stars.Ray Nicholsonraynicholsonsreviews@hotmail.com@ralannicholson