Dragonforge continues the story started by James Maxey in Bitterwood that I reviewed previously. With the tyrant dragon king Albekizan dead his son takes his place and brings to fruition the start of a new age, one in which human and every type of dragon (there’s a few in this series) can live as equals in peace and harmony and all that. This doesn’t go down well with some of the human leaders and so starts so starts a new war, one in which a group of humans, avenging the failed genocide started by Albekizan, plan a genocide of their own with some of the characters from the first book getting right in the middle of it.
Maxey has a flare for action in his writing, and the scenes he writes, especially the one in which there is a huge battle between humans and dragon’s in the titular Dragonforge, are all excellently handled. I could fully visualize the blood and puke that is being described flying everywhere and body parts and various limbs all being chopped off left, right and center. Very well realized. What isn’t, though, is the emotion. There are a lot of characters in this novel and maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t feel as emotionally connected to them as I felt in the first book. Those characters that were suitably evil were boo and hiss as they should be but I didn’t truly despise them, maybe that’s because those evil characters, even when it’s talking about mass genocide, they all seem to have a point. It makes sense in a dark, deep part of the brain that even though you know it’s just so wrong you know it kind of makes sense. You can understand why they do it even if you would never consider doing it yourself. And the good characters, when I felt I was meant to rooting for them I just wasn’t really. I felt little sympathy for them, even in death. I don’t argue Maxey’s quality of writing but I do argue that there just isn’t enough emotion in his words to get me at least involved; and I’m one of the most emotionally involved guys you’ll ever know.
I recommend you read it as long as you’ve read the first one. It is a stand-alone title but you will understand a little more if you know the previous tale.
I await to read the next and apparently final book which is lying somewhere in my house.
