Dragons Run Review

So I just finished up Dragon’s Run, which is the fourth book in Robert Aspirin’s Dragon’s Wild series and written by Jody Lynn Nye, who’s continued the series after his passing. I love this world Aspirin’s created and the tone of the series.  I hate to be one of those fans that gets upset when a new author steps into an old favorite’s shoes (such as Brandon Sanderson with Robert Jordan…hmm, what’s with these Roberts lately?) however, this did not hold a candle to the memory I had of the previous novels, even the one she co-wrote with him. 

The plot was absolutely amazing and I loved it, credit where it’s due. But I did not care for the execution. I felt like a lot of details were left out and there was a lack of depth and believability to the characters. I kept wanting to reach into the pages and slap Griffin MacCandles for about the first third, and Valerie was little better.

Part of the problem is that a lot of the characters, especially those who are supposed to come across as maybe being villains, are very manipulative. Here’s the thing, nobody likes being manipulated and when aware of it, even if they believe the person has their best interest at heart, actively resist it. Griffin and Val KNEW they were dealing with manipulative people and repeatedly let themselves get pushed into doing things. I thought Griffin had grown a spine and Val had learned that a certain family of dragons didn’t have any qualms about using mind control on her.  To be fair, there’s enough intrigue in here to keep you turning pages for the first half, but absolutely none of it goes anywhere.

Certain other scenes were either choppy or hard to follow, especially the fight scenes. It was really hard to get a clear image in my head of what was happening. The BIGGEST disappointment however, was the conclusion. The scene had SO MUCH POTENTIAL! So much going on, multiple confrontations on several different levels—the sort of chaos I LOVE. And it was awkward and rushed. A happens, then B, then C, and no great detail is given to any of them. The mind controller kind of walks fast at Val and chases her around a pool table, which had the potential to be hilarious and instead felt cumbersome and tacked on. Griffin is furious at this undead guy who hasn’t really done anything but a few pranks to the point of nearly attacking him, but the person who kidnapped his sister shoes up and he’s totally chill.

Everything happened because it was supposed to and not because it was organic and the conclusion suffered horribly for it with an incredibly abrupt ending. I have to wonder if Jody Lynn Nye simply got sick of writing it and couldn’t wait to put the pen down. I understand she's got a lot of projects, but this is easily the least of the Dragons Wild series.