Storm of Wings (Dragonmaster Trilogy, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: First of the series
Review: I have to be honest, I am not one to read alot of books. I applaud Chris Bunch for such a great book. From the beginning of this book it grabbed my attention and I had to keep reading it just to find out what would happen next. The characters in this book just seemed to come alive while you were reading it. I truly can not wait for the rest of the series to come out and I do hope that they are just as good or better then this one cause they will be great.

Rating:
Summary: First of the series
Review: I have to be honest, I am not one to read alot of books. I applaud Chris Bunch for such a great book. From the beginning of this book it grabbed my attention and I had to keep reading it just to find out what would happen next. The characters in this book just seemed to come alive while you were reading it. I truly can not wait for the rest of the series to come out and I do hope that they are just as good or better then this one cause they will be great.

Rating:
Summary: You'll fall in love with this book
Review: The main reason I liked this book is that it's all substance. Some authors seem to like putting in filler material so they have enough plot to last multiple volumes. This book by it self qualifies as a saga.

Rating:
Summary: You'll fall in love with this book
Review: The main reason I liked this book is that it's all substance. Some authors seem to like putting in filler material so they have enough plot to last multiple volumes. This book by it self qualifies as a saga.

Rating:
Summary: Very good: We need a four-and-a-half-star rating.
Review: This is a much-better-than-usual story, and perhaps the best of Chris Bunch's (usually quite good) writing I've yet found.

The story of Storm Of Wings starts out fairly conventional; a lower-class child, of a not-long-ago-subjugated people, tangles with the spoiled child of the local lord, and takes it on the lam to avoid having consequences falling on either himself or his family. Adventures ensue; the child becomes a hero, and is vindicated.
Trite, yes?
No.

Hal Kailas starts his life adventures in a common manner, but the story does not stay common. All manner of clichés are avoided, or are turned on their heads: The run-away peasant-child doesn't discover the Terrible Secret that will free his people. He doesn't even try. The hero doesn't stumble into the hands of a renegade weapons master/mage/pirate/thief. He doesn't even connect with the dragons, about which the story revolves, save for the incident that chases him away from home, for quite a while. Instead, he becomes a wandering laborer, neither abused nor heroic, but merely surviving and traveling. So much for the standard clichés!

The next, drunken, encounter with a dragon also fails to produce a cliche, and Hal merely finds himself the subject a few hours amazement that he's alive and uninjured. Beyond that, he remains merely Hal, Vagabond. Things begin to change course as Hal finds himself enviously watching a barnstorming dragon-rider performing for coin outside of a random town. Again, the cliche is avoided; this is no knight-of-the-air, nor is the rider heir to some long and noble tradition. Instead, this man's a showman, and belongs to the first generation to successfully tame a dragon well enough to saddle it. It's all for the money.

Hal manages to convince the dragon-rider that he can use one more hand in the show, and joins the little troupe as they wander from village, to town, to fair, always in pursuit of coin. Again, the easy route is ignored, and Hal is *not* trained to ride the dragons, but instead becomes shill, advance man, and handler for the dragon troupe. But competition is springing up all over the place as more and more entertainers learn how to ride dragons, and war clouds are in gathering. Times are tough for the troupe, and everything they know will collapse in an instant...

Where is all this going, and why does Chris Bunch take so long to get you there? Well, I can't tell too much more without giving away the plot line in its entirety, and I won't do that. Chris has a plan, and he'll get you where he's going in good time, and entertain you along the way, to boot. Suffice to say that if you were to combine elements of World War One and World War Two, with some elements of the Cold War, and the birth of combat aviation, and substitute the fantasy element of swords, sorcery, and dragons, you'd create something similar to Storm Of Wings. The various elements are distinct, and easily picked out of the story, even as you read it. Oddly enough, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, but merely showed me the bones on which the flesh of the story grew.

This felt a lot like reading the memoirs of a WWI soldier: I knew the basics (once I identified the inspiration), but still found myself interested in the details from Hal's point of view. My only complaint, and it's minor one, is that I felt detached from the characters. I didn't really identify closely enough to greatly *care* about Hal, for all that I found his story intriguing. It felt like I was reading history. While I *like* history, I'd have been happier with the story if I'd been able to more closely identify with the hero. Anyway, as I said, it's a minor complaint, and this story has enough plot turns and twists to keep you turning the pages until well into the night, as it did me.

Read it!

Rating:
Summary: This is a MUST HAVE for all lovers of fantasy adventure!
Review: We have something really special here! Too early to say if STORM OF WINGS will go on to Tolkienish heights with the lovers of the genre but what a start! And in all honesty, I would re-read this over Fellowship Of The Ring without a moments hesitation.

Dragonmaster is beautifully written but more than that the story is all class. I felt an affinty with Hal during his early struggles as a boy then in the army. Then the journey with him as he becomes a dragon rider, with his own squadron eventually, is a pure pleasure to be a part of.

From the plight and perils of Deraine and Sagene to the evil Roche, Hal Kalias goes from peasant-child who must leave his home to finding a place on the front line. In time he becomes a Lord. Then a dragonmaster. And you will savour each page as you share the journey.

Battles atop the backs of dragons adds another dimension to the story. I was reminded of world war 1 biplane action as the factions take to the skies with bow, aiming for the 'meat' rather than the machine (or in this case, the dragons). You too will be whisked away to magical places that you want to learn more about -- nothing in this book is a chore to read.

Action comes thick and fast from the outset. Along the way the human condition is echoed through characters that battle the same vices and virtues as the rest of us. There's Hal's first crush; dealing with rivals; finding love; forging relationships with a select few; tolerating fools; fighting against hopelessness and keeping an even keel: it's just so well done. His battles are not just fought upon his mighty dragons but within, the battles of emotions, thoughts, and stuggles of the mind that must be conquered too.

Battle sequences are so well crafted there can be no doubt that Bunch's tactical mind creates visions that smack of real authenticity within fantasy -- none have coalesed these elements as convincingly before. You'll never feel he's tried to pull something off that doesn't seem plausible.

I will admit being a big fan of Bunch's work -- his writing style, enabling you to get inside the main character's head, makes for wonderful reading. He reminds us all of our frail humanity and the at times bizzare nature of our thinking as his unlikely heroes take centre stage.

Storm Of Wings looks set to soar to heights even the dragons contained within would struggle to reach. Classic stuff! Chris Bunch, you are up there with the best. Add some colour to grey and dream sweet dreams of another reality populated by believable characters and driven by awesome plotting.

Fantasy adventure simply doesn't get any better than this. I wish my own novel (Ruminations Of A Wayfarer Parts I & II) was in the same league: it's great stories by writers like Chris Bunch that keep me interested in fiction.

Put down that computer game! Take a week off work! Put the kids to bed early! Take a long train ride! Do whatever you need to do to get your mits on this novel and procure the time to read it.