# Darganau, by Cathbad Maponus



## Alexa (Jan 21, 2017)

I love stories with dragons and elves, so when I read the summary and the title, I knew I’ll be interested to read it.

We can find all kind of stories about dragons in fantasy novels, but believe me, you have never met someone like Darganau before. You really cannot read this novel and not fall in love with this little dragon. He had a very sad life. He was not even supposed to survive from his family slaughter. Saved by the wizard Laurel, one of his family killers, only to find out later that his only purpose was to kill all wizard’s enemies and stole a spellbook.

Darganau is a young dragon, playfull and funny. He is intelligent, learns from his mistakes, reads and plays chess. Dragons are born from magic. Apparently Laurel didn’t teach Darganau this, so after Laurel’s death, when he meets wizard Kalen, he asks him if he could be a wizard, too. This is how he learns to shape shift. He asks Kalen to teach him swordsmanship after he has to deal with guards during his raids. And this is how he meets John Nigh, his sword trainer, who later becomes his friend, too. He falls in love in his human form and my heart breaks with his when Dianna and her unborn child are killed by the Priestess Hephzibah. (Cathbad do me a favor and make her death as slow and painful as possible in your next novel ). With his new friends, Kalen and John, Draganau has other adventures, but you have to read the novel and find out by yourself.


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## Alexa (Jan 21, 2017)

Cathbad, Darganau has everything for a good super hero. I can easily see his story in a graphic novel. If you can find an illustrator who can give him a friendly look, once his story is well known, you can make nice toys for kids to sleep with. 

I found a mistake in my printed copy on page # 67 *I have never admitted this incident to *Laurel *– I frankly thought I’d been in a bad storm, and had been hallucinating as an effect of a lightning strike.* I think we should read Kalen, as Laurel is already dead. On the cover page, the title is *Darganau*. On the 2nd page I have *Darganau Autobiograpy of a Dragon*.

I’m not a writer or an aspiring one, so I will let the other Chronner members to give you a professional review. Nevertheless, I will comment on your printing option as a self-publisher. I don’t know if the printer gave you a default option, but it’s not in your favor.

1.      The body of the story has to be on individual document and all the other pages (front and backside), have to be in separate documents. My printed copy has numbers on pages where they are supposed to be empty. The size of the book is to big. If I were you, I’ll choose a smaller version and reduce the size of the police. This can give you volume to the novel (This comment is valid for the others go self-publish). 

2.      You have used justified option for the text and I think punctuation could use some additional work, too.

3.      As I reader, I want to know more about the person behind the story and not another fiction story. You can simply say when and where you were born, a little about your family and kids, your background studies and how you come to write fantasy stories. If you write this stories because of your children, say it. This kind of details touch the heart of suckers like me and make us go easier on whatever mistake you may make.

4.      Once you will have some nice reviews, I’ll add them on the first pages.

5.      I’ll also give details about the other novels and their chronology. I still don’t know if I have to read *Flight of the Elves* or *Stories of the Elves of Kali* first.

6.      I don’t know how it works for a re-printed option, but I’ll keep this in mind if you want to sell more books.


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## Cathbad (Jan 21, 2017)

@Alexa , thank you for the fine review and your input.  I can't believe I made the same mistake twice!  (I found another instance where I wrote Laurel instead of Kalen, and corrected it before publication.)



Alexa said:


> On the cover page, the title is *Darganau*. On the 2nd page I have *Darganau Autobiograpy of a Dragon*.



Believe me, I tried to fix this by using another cover set-up, but the others blocked the picture too much.  Since I have no artistic talent, I can't make my own covers.  I get a picture, then have to use the formats available on Createspace.  *Autobiography of a Dragon* is the sub-title.  I was rather forced to use a format that didn't include subtitles on the cover.



Alexa said:


> The size of the book is to big.



I'm going to have to admit I'm in the minority on this.  I like the larger (6x9) better - but I've seen the majority thinks differently, and I'm going to have to start using the smaller size.  



Alexa said:


> 3. As I reader, I want to know more about the person behind the story and not another fiction story. You can simply say when and where you were born, a little about your family and kids, your background studies and how you come to write fantasy stories.



Arrrrgh!  I've been avoiding this, but you're probably right.



Alexa said:


> I still don’t know if I have to read *Flight of the Elves* or *Stories of the Elves of Kali* first.



*Stories* jumps around in time, telling tales from different periods of times, in an effort to show what the elves are like.  But you'll probably enjoy *Stories* more if you read *Flight* first, simply because one or two of the stories involve characters from the novel.

I've used justified because not doing so makes some of the lines look extremely short.  Justified just looks... "cleaner" to me.

Thanks again!


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## Alexa (Jan 21, 2017)

You are welcome !


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## Alexa (Feb 12, 2017)

I'm really interested to know what others think about Darganau and a dragon writing his autobiography. Am I the only one who read this novel ?


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

delete​


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

Com'on ! What did you delete ? Put it back !


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

*CHECK OUT DARGANAU'S FACEBOOK PAGE*

Darganau:  Autobiography of a Dragon


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

Alexa said:


> Com'on ! What did you delete ? Put it back !



Trying tp link the Facebook page!  LOL

EDIT:  GOT IT!


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

Does this mean you are ready to give us the next Darganau novel, let's say by the end of April ?

I cannot finish reading the Flight of the Elves. I was hoping we could see Adriana again, this time with Darganau, but as I know she will die soon, I don't want to read more.


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

Alexa said:


> I cannot finish reading the Flight of the Elves. I was hoping we could see Adriana again, this time with Darganau, but as I know she will die soon, I don't want to read more.


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

Don't worry. I'll finish reading it one day.

Looks like Darganau had just ate a Trelloc.


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

Alexa said:


> Does this mean you are ready to give us the next Darganau novel, let's say by the end of April ?
> 
> I cannot finish reading the Flight of the Elves. I was hoping we could see Adriana again, this time with Darganau, but as I know she will die soon, I don't want to read more.



Same world, but different storylines.

But Adrianna was over 900 years old, and I have already included her in two additional short stories..


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

But 900 years old is still young for an elf, isn't it ?


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

The trend for my elves is to go to janasuné sometime after their 1,000th birthday.  Few last until their 2000th, though I have written a story (mainly about another dragon) that includes the discovery of an elf, long thought dead, who is over 3,000.


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

Michael J. Sullivan gave his elves a life span of 3,000. Those who lived less were considered half-bred.


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## Cathbad (Mar 19, 2017)

Alexa said:


> Michael J. Sullivan gave his elves a life span of 3,000. Those who lived less were considered half-bred.



My "Half-breeds" only live a few hundred years or so.  One of Adrianna's beefs with the mingling of elves an men was that it was weakening the race in favor of the more dominant human qualities - this included a much diminished life span.


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## Alexa (Mar 19, 2017)

In this case, you let them die earlier and have to invent another hero to continue the adventures.


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## vanye (Dec 30, 2017)

Time for me to do as I promised and add a few thoughts about the book. It has been some time since I read it, but so I procrastinated, so what!?

Over all, a good read. If it is not too much to ask from Cathbad, I would be up to reading more about Darganau's adventures. Right, no pressure, Cathbad ...

For me it worked best when the story allowed me to experince it, rather than having it told. The first part of the story just skims over the high points, so I felt there was too much telling and too little experiencing, if that makes sense? But then the story hit its stride and the book ended all too soon.

So, Cathbad, can we expect to hear more about Darganau soon? (OK, maybe some pressure. But ever so nicely applied.)


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## Cathbad (Dec 31, 2017)

vanye said:


> Over all, a good read. If it is not too much to ask from Cathbad, I would be up to reading more about Darganau's adventures. Right, no pressure, Cathbad ...



The 2nd book was 90% complete when my computer died.  The hard drive should be fine, but I can't access it.  I've been refusing to rewrite it all, and am still hoping to find a Samaritan to help me out.

Yes, I had a back-up, but when the cloud it was on raised their rates, I had to be off, and hadn't sent a copy to anywhere else.  Truth:  I had ordered a memory stick to put it (and others) on, from Walmart, but I took free shipping - which at the time meant about a week - and that was when the computer died - before it got to me.  Anyway, I thought my older (and suckier) computer had an older version on it , perhaps 50% done. but when I saved those files on the mem stick, it wasn't there.  Fortunately, my earlier stories were, including a novel I've went back to writing, but no Darganau.  



vanye said:


> For me it worked best when the story allowed me to experince it, rather than having it told. The first part of the story just skims over the high points, so I felt there was too much telling and too little experiencing, if that makes sense? But then the story hit its stride and the book ended all too soon.



I agree with you.  After I'd published, I saw tis was a fault in the early part, but I'm still not sure how I could improve it, without making it epic length - which I don't want  A lot of the book I used as a chance to show the world to the reader.  I'm perhaps overly-proud of the world, but I wanted to present the world, and let the reader get to know it.  Perhaps it wasn't the way to go.  Book 2 has less telling and more action.    And the beginning of book three, I _know_ you'll enjoy!  



vanye said:


> So, Cathbad, can we expect to hear more about Darganau soon?



For the novels, as I indicated, when I can recover the 2nd, nearly complete one.  Bad luck and lack of foresight on my part.  :-/

I do have an idea for a short on him that I was going to include in the 3rd (and final) biography book, but I think it would do well by itself!


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## REBerg (Dec 31, 2017)

Cathbad said:


> he 2nd book was 90% complete when my computer died. The hard drive should be fine, but I can't access it. I've been refusing to rewrite it all, and am still hoping to find a Samaritan to help me out.
> 
> Yes, I had a back-up, but when the cloud it was on raised their rates, I had to be off, and hadn't sent a copy to anywhere else. Truth: I had ordered a memory stick to put it (and others) on, from Walmart, but I took free shipping - which at the time meant about a week - and that was when the computer died - before it got to me. Anyway, I thought my older (and suckier) computer had an older version on it , perhaps 50% done. but when I saved those files on the mem stick, it wasn't there. Fortunately, my earlier stories were, including a novel I've went back to writing, but no Darganau.


If the computer that died was a desktop, you can remove the hard drive and install it in another desktop to (probably) gain access to the old drive. I'm less familiar with laptop drives, but it might be possible to put the drive in an external case and connect it to another computer via USB to recover the files.


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## Cathbad (Dec 31, 2017)

Unfortunately, it's a laptop - and I can't even open her up.


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## REBerg (Dec 31, 2017)

Cathbad said:


> Unfortunately, it's a laptop - and I can't even open her up.


Apple?


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## Cathbad (Dec 31, 2017)

HP.


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## Alexa (Dec 31, 2017)

I had a similar problem with my old computer. You can still get back your files, but you have to find someone who will not charge you to much.


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## Cathbad (Dec 31, 2017)

Alexa said:


> I had a similar problem with my old computer. You can still get back your files, but you have to find someone who will not charge you to much.



'zactly.


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## REBerg (Dec 31, 2017)

Suspected cause of computer death?


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## Cathbad (Jan 1, 2018)

Soda pop mishap.


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## REBerg (Jan 1, 2018)

Bummer. I handicapped a laptop with a beer. Damage appeared to be limited to the keyboard. I can still use it via an external keyboard.
I gather your damage penetrated the more vital organs of the computer. Must be a way into the corpse to free the hard drive.
What's the HP model number of the deceased?


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## LordOfWizards (Mar 21, 2018)

REBerg said:


> Bummer. I handicapped a laptop with a beer. Damage appeared to be limited to the keyboard. I can still use it via an external keyboard.
> I gather your damage penetrated the more vital organs of the computer. Must be a way into the corpse to free the hard drive.
> What's the HP model number of the deceased?



REBerg is correct. As long as the hard drive itself is intact, it isn't too difficult to rescue the data. (I used to repair PCs and Laptops for a living) you just need a parallel IDE to SATA usb adapter like this: Adapter.


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## BAYLOR (Mar 21, 2018)

Cathbad said:


> Soda pop mishap.



Which effectively fried the computer.


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