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In a world where long-dead dragons created the thirteen races of humanity, war is brewing. Marcus Wester, former military man, is now reduced to guarding caravans. When his men get arrested, he has to hire some unlikely helpers to get a caravan to its destination. One of the wagons contains, not merchant goods, but the aggregate wealth of an entire bank. Its driver, a young girl fostered to the institution, must protect this wealth no matter what.
Far away from these events, an army is marching on a pivotal city. Political events back home leave Geder Palliako, a meek and scholarly man, as the governor of the conquered city. His obsession with a mythical object that may be the greatest weapon in the world leads him to shocking actions that will set him on a path that may compromise his morals and conscience.
And back in the ruling city, the king dithers on where to foster his son, the prince, not wanting to show favoritism to any one family. But those who seek power are not content to wait on the decision, and unrest begins to brew. What happens next may cause the downfall of many a great man, just when all need to stand united.
One of this novel’s strongest points is its characters. While not every single one stands out, a few have character arcs that are very interesting. My favorite was Geder, the reluctant soldier and governor. Put into the untenable position of being a political gamepiece, he makes moves that are increasingly bold in order to outwit those who would use him. It leads him to become a major player by the end of the book, and his actions will likely have major repercussions in future novels. I also enjoyed Marcus Wester and his second in command—their banter is amusing to watch, and has overtones of a true and honest friendship.
The action is a bit slow to begin in this story. This is partially because the novel has a wide scope and there’s much that needs to be established before the real movement can begin. But this slower action takes up a good third or more of the book before anything really interesting begins to happen. Once things are set in motion, the novel picks up pace significantly: there are battles and political maneuvering aplenty. It just takes a while to get there.
Essentially, I can tell that this series is going to be epic in scope, simply because of how long it takes to set up all the various people and factions and plotlines. I have to wonder if structuring some of the sections a little differently would have made it flow a bit better, but that’s a matter of conjecture and not a criticism on my part.
The one criticism that I do have concerns the thirteen races. There is no guide to them, no explanation that breaks down the differences between the thirteen different kinds of humans. Throughout the book there are some bits of description, and a few races that never enter the picture but are only hinted at. From what I can gather, each race not only looks different, but they have different personality traits and different functions in society as a whole. Unfortunately, the lack of a clear and straightforward description hampers readers when it comes to figuring out who’s what. For instance, a character might encounter a “Tralgu merchant”. It’s obvious that it should mean something that the merchant is of the Tralgu race, simply because the author takes the time to specify it, but it’s not always clear what that “something” might be. I eventually found some description of the races on the author’s website, but it really belongs in the book.
On the whole, I found this novel enjoyable, once it found its pace and events began to move a bit more briskly. Packed with politics, action and suspense, The Dragon’s Path should appeal to readers of Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. If you like your fantasy thick and beefy, this is the novel for you.
This book was provided by the publisher as an e-ARC via NetGalley.
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