The Renegade Dragon (Dragon Nimbus History, 3)

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing, but ultimately disappointing
Review: 'The Renegade Dragon' disappoints both as a novel and a story. Radford's writing is painfully stilted at points. A case in point 'We must not destroy this world called Kardia Hodos as my people destroyed Terra' (p. 3) I understand why Radford put that in, she's trying to relay information to the reader, but that's just awful. There are several other instances which lamentably I didn't jot down.

Radford's universe in one where the people on this planet are apparently descended from human settlers. Radford uses abbreviations for modern amenities. Electricity = 'tricity. Remotes = 'motes. Subsititute kardia for earth in every form (ie. kardiaquakes). It's not very imaginative.

Perhaps the book's most egregious error is in a machines=bad slant. Radford spends the entire book telling how humankind started a virulent plague which wipes out huge numbers of people, all because of technology. Now the kind people of Kardia Hodos must stay free of technology so they won't die as well. It's ridiculous. The only way the good people can stay free of the disease is from a tree called 'Tambootie'. It sounds like a word a 5-year-old could invent.

Couple this with cardboard characters (characters named Scarface, Hunchback, and Red Beetle are not surprisingly evil) and you've got the makings for a disappointing read.

Intriguingly, this is the second DAW book to come out in December that had a character named Scarface and used 'ley' to tap into magical powers.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: Irene Radford blends words and imagery together into this wonderfully delightful book. The third book of the Dragon Nimbus History is just as fascinating as the ones preceeding it. The use of different names for places fits in wonderfully with the plot, like for instance "Terra" referring to "Earth". I do wish that in the next book, Nimbulan will get his magic back.