#SPFBO Book Review: The Dragon’s Blade: The Reborn King by Michael R. Miller

After selecting our shortlist, the Bibliosanctum team is taking a closer look at our potential finalists. We are busy reading the six books left on our original list of thirty and then each of us will review two of them. Stay tuned for our follow-up discussion on all of our picks to see who we choose to go on to the next round!

The Dragon’s Blade: The Reborn King by  Michael R. Miller

Reviewer: Tiara

Genre: Epic Fantasy, Dragons

Publisher: Acorn Independent Press (November 10, 2015)

Length: 407 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

In this debut novel by Michael R. Miller, dragons no longer rule the skies, but have become more humanoid in appearance and walk the lands. Four races roam the land–humans, dragons, demons, and fairies. However, the demons are a thorn in the side of the other races and seem almost unstoppable in nature. Prince Darnuir, the reborn dragon king, knows that the only hope of survival for his people and the other races is to form a unified front against the demons. But how does one accomplish such a huge goal when all the odds seem against you and you’re beginning life anew?

To be honest, when I first started this book, I didn’t know if I was going to like it much. It wasn’t that I hated it, but it took a few–quite a few–pages to really stroke my interest from more than a intrigued, raised eyebrow. When the story did hit it’s stride, though, I found myself invested in the story of these people and their conflict. There are so many threads that this story follows that can keep a reader enthralled by this story. This story is very character-driven. There’s plenty of well-paced action to be found in these pages, but the heart of this story lies in Darnuir and the various people pulled into this journey.

Despite the page count, this is a fast, fun story that doesn’t spend too much dawdling. You follow various characters both “good” and “bad” as they try to navigate the circumstances they find themselves in. The world and its lore is very detailed and did an excellent job of satisfying that part of me that enjoys when a world truly feels like it fits the characters and the tone of the novel. When an author is thoughtful about a world and its mythos, I can’t help but get lost in it. This novel is no exception.

With that being said, this might come off a little tedious to some readers, and if you’re like me and can get a bit impatient with romance in fantasy novels, you may not care much for the romantic interludes in this book. (However, I will say that I didn’t feel like the romance diminished the story in any capacity, but your mileage may vary.) There are parts of this book that can be a little predictable at points, but that doesn’t take away from this being a mostly fun read.

This story is the beginning of a series, and Miller certainly does an excellent job in baiting readers with just enough of the story to keep them hanging on for the next book.