Review: “The Souls of the Fire Dragon” by John Wrieden
A few weeks ago, BookAngel from As I Turn the Pages posted that she had received “The Souls of the Fire Dragon” from debut author John Wrieden for review. She commented that she hadn’t read sci-fi in a long time and felt it was a good chance to step outside her comfort zone. When she realized she couldn’t finish it though, she offered it to whoever would do a review. We all know I’m a self professed sci-fi fan and the book sounded intriguing so I jumped at the chance. (Although I must admit, I cringe every time I refer to myself as a “sci-fi/fantasy” fan because I’m just waiting for someone to contact me with a quote from some obscure cult classic that I’ve never heard of, much less read, and I’ll be exposed as a complete fraud.)
Mr. Wrieden’s debut book had every element that (usually) pulls me into a book: magic and dragons, alternate realities, love and war, rivalries and sacrificing friendships. There’s a lot of clichés but that’s not an issue for me; I consider familiar formulas the comfort food of entertainment. However, the ONLY reason I finished “The Souls of the Fire Dragon” was because I promised to do a review. This is not a fun review to write though. The writing was heavy handed and wooden. It lacked the subtlety that allows a reader’s imagination to take over and draw them in. Elements were introduced, then never mentioned again (ex. Akea’s telekinesis…he never uses it except to play with a chandelier once. Was it only supposed to be a hint of his true power?). There were inconsistencies from line to line, paragraph to paragraph. Descriptions were flat and often repetitive. On more than one occasion I wondered if maybe Mr. Wrieden’s first language is something other than English. I started to compare it to a bad translation of a great book but that’s not accurate. It’s poor construction from the start. It was just…awkward.
There were a few points where I wondered if he wasn’t going for a “punny” tone in the vein of Piers Anthony’s “Xanth” novels. For example on page 63 describes “The sounds of the operations were like a ticking clock, without the ticking.” But if that’s the case, it got bogged down quickly.
I wanted to love this book. I expected to love it. I know every story, including this one, is a labor of love. I KNOW its hard work. And the premise of the book was good – great even. It excited me: Fate (who is married to Chance) discovers that the main character, Akea, has cheated him – he was moved from one reality to another as a baby. Akea turns out to be the most powerful magician of all time and the key to overthrowing the oppressive government. He falls in love with a dragon and with their friends (and the help of Fate, Chance and their twin children Death & Life) they train and embark on their mission. It SHOULD have been fun…especially with the family of Fate, Chance & kids. That idea had me salivating with the possibilities.
Fans of this author, of this book, please stand up. Defend this. Tell me I’m missing the point, the subtle British humor. Tell me I’m dense and that I clearly did not understand the satirical jab at modern society. Show me why I should have loved this book. Because I wanted to but right now, I’m not feeling it.
