Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An imaginative and fun world of fantasy!, May 1 2004
I really liked Dragonkin. I'm new into the sci/fi fantasy genre of books (though I'm a huge dragon fan) and I think this is a really good book, especially for a newcomer like myself. It takes place in an area known as Wyvernwood, where Stormfire, the leader of the Dragonkin, led all fantastic and mythical creatures. It is a place of beauty, of comfort, of refuge. At least until the men of Angmar venture into the borders of Wyvernwood. The story follows Stormfire's three hatchlings, Chan, Harrow, and Luna; as well as an unlikely trio of friends composed of the last unicorn, an artist dragon, and a forgetful hummingbird. A previous reviewer said that the characters, esepcailly the hummingbird, Bumble, use very modern catch-phrases and sayings which don't belong in a fantasy world. But I disagree, the language of the characters is modern, not shakespearian, and the modern phrases bring humor into the story too. Another review mentioned the editing going downhill in the last quarter of the book, which I unfortunately agree with. Hopefully Mr. Bailey will choose a different editor on Dragonkin: Book II. My only complaint is that the story seemed like it was more about the side story of the unicorn, the artist dragon, and hummingbird than Chan, Luna, and Harrow, though they all tie in together in the long run. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am very excited about the sequel.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book! Robin is a wonderful story teller!, April 30 2004
I bought this book on a whim because I was intrigued by the idea of a book from the point of view of the dragons and mythical creatures of fantasy. It turned out to be a great book and a wonderful story!! I even preordered the sequel! :)Robin Wayne Bailey is a wonderful story teller and the characters are very loveable! I could easily imagine Marina (introduced in the prologue) recalling stories to her child of the adventures of the animals of Wyrvenwood. People who argue that the "real life" based jokes are "stupid" are taking things meant to cause the reader to smile a little to seriously. Besides I can recount numerous other fantasy novels that do similar things, The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony for instance! Throughout the book the animals discover more about life outside Wyrvenwood, humans, each other, and ultimately themselves. The reader can really feel for the characters and grow to love them! "There isn't a drop of magic left in the world, my friend, and yet I wish there were. We long for it, and we hope, sometimes we dream that maybe over the next hill, or in the next valley, or on some high mountaintop there's still just a little bit left - if we could just find it." -- Marian the Unicorn. Thank you Robin, for showing us just a little drop of that magic in your wonderful book and allowing us to dream a little more!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but something is out of order ..., Jan 19 2004
Is this book an epic fantasy? No, but it sure is a lot of fun to read. The entire book is taken from the point of view of the mythological creatures rather than from man's point of view - a wonderfully intriguing switch that grabbed my attention and held it throughout the entire storyline. Surprisingly, the author chose to have one of the most original creatures (Bumble) who regularly contributes some of the most hilarious comedic relief scenes in the book utter lines that simply could not exist in that fantasy world. Lines like, "One if by land, two if by sea" for example that clearly come from revolutionary American history are so out of place that it breaks the reader out of the fantasy world and unavoidably diminishes the entire work. Also quite surprising were the many grammatical and typographical errors in the last quarter of the book. It's almost as if the author tired of checking his work, or worse, that the editor simply didn't care about the quality of this published work. Overall, if not for the two things I've listed I would have given the book 4-Stars for originality and sheer fun, but in the light of these negatives, I must go with only 3-Stars. Should you read it? Sure, it's fun. But, don't expect perfection, just plain fun.
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