The Dragons Path, Daniel Abraham ?

[tonphil1960]

Has anyone read The Dragons path by Daniel Abraham ? I receieved it on my Kindle apparantly for free with Leviathan Wakes. I have read 4 chapters so far, character intro's mostly. Seems good, but I am not really a Fantasy reader so dont know what to expect.

Tony

 

[williamjm]

I have read it. I think it's a reasonably good book and the series does have potential, but I thought it was a bit disappointing compared to Abrahams' other works - I'd say Abrahams' earlier fantasy series, The Long Price Quartet was one of the best fantasy works of the last decade. I didn't find I really cared about what happened to most of the characters and for much of the book the plot was a bit unexciting and the world-building wasn't as interesting or imaginative as in Abrahams' previous series. I think I'll still read the second book (out later this year, I think), because I think the plot does have a lot of potential to improve and the Long Price books improved as they went on as well, but out of the two sequels by Abrahams that are out this year, I'm looking forward to the Leviathan Wakes sequel more.

 

[Grunkins]

The Dragons Path was a good but forgettable read. I will read the next in the series on the strength of the first one. It read well enough as a standalone and also seemed to set up some pretty large scale happenings for the future books. I thought Leviathan Wakes was significantly better and more fun though.
http://videarn.com/video.php?id=186366&fav=186366

 

[tonphil1960]

Thanks, I am about one third through it now. Its OK but its the first fantasy book I've ever read so I dont have anything to compare it to.

T

 

[Brian G Turner]

Am trying to read this now - feels somehow rushed. There's some attention to historical research, which is good - but it feels like it's used as filler in the absence of character experience.

For example, second chapter, a knight sits down and combs his hair and is pleasantly surprised there is no lice - which is left without any comment. Why is he surprised? Has he been itching? Is he normally infested with lice? Nothing more is said, leaving it to feel like like a pointless statement, intended to show Some Research Was Done.

On the next page he is the subject of a joke which results in him dumped into a swampy latrine pit. The author describes it being full of turds and piss, but the character has no reaction, other than to reply "Very funny" to his jokers. No revulsion, no feeling sick, no feeling of being hurt or victimised or concern about his clothes being spoiled, his need for a bath, the loss of face or honour. It's almost as if being submersed in **** is an everyday occurrence for him. And yet - he wasn't even a specific target of this joke, and he is not being victimised, and the others with him think nothing of getting peasant poo on their lordly clothes and armour. Huh?

There seems to be an absence of character experience in general - people do experience some physical symptoms of being tired or scared, but that's about as much as we get so far. There is no sense of internal conflict at all, which feels very marked as I've just read Hunger Games, where it is inherent to the story.

It's a plus there is historical detail in there, it's just I'm not feeling very enthusiastic for the story so far.

 

[Nerds_feather]

The Dragons Path was a good but forgettable read. I will read the next in the series on the strength of the first one. It read well enough as a standalone and also seemed to set up some pretty large scale happenings for the future books. I thought Leviathan Wakes was significantly better and more fun though.
http://videarn.com/video.php?id=186366&fav=186366

I had the opposite reaction. I found the characters in Leviathan Wakes to be deeply problematic (stock characters, really), whereas the characterization in The Dragon's Path was excellent. While it's not perfect (the landscape, for example, is oddly featureless), I think it's a fun and engaging book. I was less enthused about The King's Blood, but still thought it was better than Leviathan Wakes.

 

[Grunkins]

I had the opposite reaction. I found the characters in Leviathan Wakes to be deeply problematic (stock characters, really), whereas the characterization in The Dragon's Path was excellent. While it's not perfect (the landscape, for example, is oddly featureless), I think it's a fun and engaging book. I was less enthused about The King's Blood, but still thought it was better than Leviathan Wakes.

In retrospect Leviathan Wakes has lost some of its luster. It was possibly the first space opera I had ever read, and I think it was more the genre and the ... space ... that turned me on. Having now read quite a bit in the genre, the book has fallen down the list, and the sequel didn't affect me nearly as much.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Am trying to read this now - feels somehow rushed. There's some attention to historical research, which is good - but it feels like it's used as filler in the absence of character experience.

I think Abraham is writing too fast. I mean, at the moment he's got an epic fantasy series, a co-written space opera series and an urban fantasy series--and he's producing a full volume of each every year. He's a very talented writer, but something has to give.

 

[Werthead]

I found The Dragon's Path to be underwhelming, but The King's Blood was a huge improvement, with a much more focused storyline and more detailed characterisation. I thought it was a big step up.

Neither are as good as The Long Price Quartet, however.