Dragon and Thief: The First Dragonback Adventure (Hardcover)

Fourteen-year-old Jack Morgan is a thief, a fugitive, and an orphan accused of a crime he didn't commit; the guy raising him is a holographic replica of his Uncle Virge. When Jack is hiding on an abandoned planet, he sees ships engage in a battle, and one crashes. When he and Virge check out the wreckage, a dragon-like creature leaps at Jack -- and becomes a two-dimensional, tattoolike image on his skin.

It turns out the dragon is Draycos, a K'Da warrior whose symbiotic host died in the attack. The K'Da are incredibly smart and dangerous, but they die in six hours if their host dies. Jack soon learns that there are advantages to having the stalwart Draycos on his side -- especially when they are being attacked by the Valahgua, the deadly race who have lethal energy weapon "The Death." Together Jack and Draycos must clear Jack's name and stop the Valahgua.

"Dragon and Thief" takes place in a pretty standard sci-fi setting, with space travel, cool gadgets and a few trappings reminiscent of cheesy SF movies. Aliens, battles, and a teenaged anti-hero are the basis of it all. Zahn doesn't add a lot to the setting, but he gives a good feeling for the grit and danger of it.

Written with a young adult audience in mind, "Dragon and Thief" could use a few more pages. Zahn keeps the plot going by fast, but fails to pause for much development -- he barely even describes the future world that he drops readers into, and the characters don't get a lot of development. But he's clearly thought out the sci-fi elements, such as the Valahgua and the K'Da. The idea of a giant dragon that turns into a tattoo could have been silly, but Zahn pulls it off well.

Draycos (the dragon of the title) is by far the most interesting character in the book. He's a "poet-warrior," with a strict code of ethics and wicked fighting skills of all stripes. Jack (the thief) is substantially less interesting as an anti-hero, and he never develops much of a personality. Uncle Virge is much more interesting (which is surprising as he is actually dead).

"Dragon and Thief" is a flawed but promising start to a new sci-fi series. Zahn needs to get a better handle on the characters, but it might all turn out to be worth it in the end.

MY FEEDBACK:
1) SETTING - The title of the book brought expectations of a fantasy novel to mind so I was nicely surprised to see it was a sci-fi story. We get little peeks into an alien planet (it doesn't feel too alien though), space station/community, and a luxury space yacht (made me think of Fifth Element). The world is given very little detail but what is given is functional and entertaining. I look forward to the rest of the series fleshing the universe out a lot more.

2) CHARACTERS - I like our three protagonists a lot. Each one has thier separate voice and brings along individual strengths to the story. What is the appeal of the book is the growing friendship between Jack and Draycos. Nicely done.
My only complaint is that Draycos seems overly powerful to the point that it becomes almost too much to believe...even for an alien race.

3) PLOT - Here is where I knock things down from a 5 star to a 4 star. First of all, the story read fast and easy and before you know it you are done with all 250 pages. That is good. What is bad is that it feels like one big prologue (which it kind of is) to a much larger story, thus it leaves very little (almost nothing) resolved. How much longer do we have to wait till the next book comes out to hopefully resolve some of the story??? I hope not too long.
Also, Jack at one point goes on a "mission" on a space yacht...he and Draycos seem to do the "impossible" way too easy.
I did like the descent plot twists and turns. It was enough to keep me turning the pages.

OVERALL: This is my first Timothy Zahn book. It was a fun fast read, just perfect for summer when it is too hot to go outside. The story makes you want more but who knows how long you'll have to wait. Thus, if you think you'll forget everything before the next book comes out, then wait until the next book comes out and read them both back-to-back.