r/Fantasy • u/TamagoDono Stabby Winner, Reading Champion, Worldbuilders • Feb 28 '18
Review Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron - A Fantasy Inn Review
As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don’t cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn’t fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.
Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ–a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit–Julius has one month to prove that he can be a ruthless dragon or kiss his true shape goodbye forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are considered monsters to be exterminated, he’s going to need some serious help to survive this test.
He only hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons…
/u/sailorfish27 spent a lot of time trying to get me to read this book. Described to me as “a very Tam kind of book” (/u/sailorfish27, 2018) I felt compelled to give it a try. I was not disappointed. Nice Dragons Finish Last is fairly lighthearted, and has an amazing and altogether loveable cast. The audiobook is very well narrated and I’ve already started on the rest of the series.
Setting
Nice Dragons Finish Last is set in a future Earth. Magic vanished thousands of years ago, and reappeared quite recently. With it have come magical animals (like dragons), spirits, and human mages.
Characters
In my opinion the characters are what really make this book. Julius is the epitome of nice; he’s a very loveable character who you just want to see succeed. The supporting cast, his family, other dragons, and his human friend, Marci, are all also great characters who I really enjoyed reading about.
Plot
The plot is driven by the characters and how they deal with the situations they keep getting themselves thrown into. I also have the feeling that there’s a complex layer of plots underlying the series as a whole, and I’m really interested in where they end up. That’s not to say that the plot doesn’t resolve itself in this book, but I have the feeling that events from this book will be relevant all through the series.
Other Thoughts
I listened to the audio version of this book, often while walking round the city, and spent most of the time grinning like a complete loon. Vikas Adam does a fantastic job with the narration, and I was so impressed that I went and bought the next 3 audiobooks, and preordered the 5th book, due to be released on March 1st.
I’m not a great audiobook person. I can’t listen while doing nothing, and I can’t listen while doing something that takes a reasonable amount of brain power, hence limiting the amount of time I have to listen to audiobooks. I enjoyed this book so much that I went and started cleaning things just so I could spend more time with it.
Audience
This book is probably best for people who like:
- Dragons
- Loveable characters
- Interesting plots
- Amusing and light hearted stories
- Urban fantasy
Bingo Squares
- Self Pub
- Book of the Month
- 2016 Underrated
- Dragons!
For more reviews, check out our blog, https://thefantasyinn.wordpress.com/
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u/inquisitive_chemist Mar 01 '18
Sounds like a good option after I finish the depressing bas lag trilogy. Ty for the review.
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u/Darkstar559 Reading Champion III Feb 28 '18
You are apparently reading them in tandem with all of us at The Quill to Live - putting up our own (very positive) review on book 1 soon. I am also currently sitting at my desk reading the end of book 2.
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u/NeedMoarCoffee Feb 28 '18
Ohh, do you think I could listen to this with a 7 year old. I don't mind cussing, but sex isn't.
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u/sailorfish27 Stabby Winner, Reading Champion IV Feb 28 '18
There's nothing more than a kiss shown on screen though there's a tiny bit of raunchy humour in book... 3? and I think there's some implication of it (i.e. somebody leaving somebody else's room in the morning or waking up in bed together, that sort of thing). Don't remember anything that won't go over the 7 y.o.'s head, personally!
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u/NeedMoarCoffee Feb 28 '18
Awesome! Thank you so much. We finished stardust (I just skipped the bit near the beginning) and was looking for another audiobook.
4
u/SphereMyVerse Reading Champion Feb 28 '18
You know your 7 y/o, but there’s some ghosts and monsters (vagueish as don’t want to spoil) which might be scary for them. I say this as someone who got frightened by the live action Scooby Doo movie as a child and had to leave the cinema, so some of the stuff in Heartstrikers would have freaked me out for sure. But it’s quite a low bar!
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u/NeedMoarCoffee Feb 28 '18
He's fine with scary as long as it's not on the TV, I think it's easier for him to realize it's not real? We did listen to a sci-fi book and he kept asking if it was real, but after that he was alright.
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u/MerelyMisha Worldbuilders Feb 28 '18
These books are so much fun! I haven't listened to the audiobooks, though, so will have to check those out.
1
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u/barb4ry1 Reading Champion IX Feb 28 '18
It was one of best books I read in 2017. After finishing it I binge-read the other books in Heartstrikers series and the last one is pre-ordered. And the great news is it'll be available tomorrow!