Dréoteth [Kindle Edition]

I really enjoyed this story. I liked Dreoteth's curiosity about humanity, his envy of the creative process, and his bafflement over his own actions sometimes.

While I like the cover art, if the title had not said to my brain "this may be about a dragon", I would not have known from the cover.
--
Kindle edition comment: When I first downloaded this to my Kindle, there were some formatting issues, I contacted Ms. Bourdon, and she has since corrected them. The story was MORE than good enough to keep me engaged even with the formatting issues.

----
Edit to add... Since I purchased this book, the cover has been changed to reflect the inside story more. I did like the lone tree look though.

'Dréoteth', a Danielle Bourdon book, is a striking blend of familiar lore, obscure legend. Her blending of those elements and her imagination has brought an entirely new creature to me, out of shadows I had not seen. And she doesn't play with mere conflicts of good and evil to do it. We instantly learn, from her characters own lips; this is about predator and prey.

Humans have been prey to so many literary ghouls; it would seem a daunting task to weave a different thread into our nightmares. Danielle does it, without effort, by twisting the legends we have heard about dragons, and adding new facts to the lore. She tells us how they were made, and how they make themselves. I was left speechless at her imagination. When Saint George slew his dragon, we thought he slew a mindless beast. We, and he, have only been half right.

This isn't a sudden creation by this author; she has nurtured this character. He's watched from her shadows for many years. Danielle writes beautifully, bringing him to life for us. She can take you instantly where she wants you to be. Yet, it's hardly anywhere safe at all. Not in this world, not next to Dréoteth. He is her creation, but she simply unleashed him and he seems to do only as he pleases. Ruin...destruction; those would please him. There is no moral in the story, there is only need - and choice. That latter characteristic is his key to haunting us.

There is no timeframe to place this tale; pick a favorite century. That lends to the distractions and the beauty. This could be anytime, anywhere, as a clever author, Danielle has removed the hints that might guide us. It also seems there is little one can do to make a dragon romantic, however romanticized they have been in earlier fiction. Danielle is able to do it, without placing a single thought of love within him, and he is still as genteel as he is deadly. Ms. Bourdon balances those opposites with tremendous grace, and Dréoteth surprises me in every way possible.

Dreoteth is one of the more unique books I've read in a long time. Dreoteth is a dragon who, just like all other dragons, can take shape of a human. Over the centuries he has become fixated on humans and their cultures, arts and societies, even though his nature as a dragon is to hunt and kill them. The story follows his growing relationship with a small town member by the name of Meyer Lyon. We follow Dreoteth as he finds himself fighting his dragon nature more readily and his friendship with Meyer growing. I don't want to get into too much detail because I don't like giving away spoilers.

I have to admit that I am very conflicted over this book. There is a part of me that doesn't want to actually review this story but as a rule, if I paid for the book and I read it completely through then it get's one. Having said that, I loved the book and I hated the book. Let me explain.

The 'loved' first. The story is very unique. Most of it is written from the dragon Dreoteth's point of view and you get insights into this creature's nature and thoughts. The impression was that you were in the head of a serial killer who was trying to rehabilitate himself from killing as much as he usually did because he was becoming interested on a personal level with his prey. Unique! Loved this concept. Mrs. Bourdon has done a good job of writing a well descriptive story with believable characters. She brings insight into the mind of a dragon and I even at times root for Dreoteth on some level.

Before I get into the 'hated' part I need to preface what I'm about to say with this. I'm an author and as such I realize stories are very subjective. They differ from reader to reader so what I may not have liked about this book could be what someone else will love.

OK now for the 'hated' part. Not enough story. The interaction with the characters and the building of their relationships was great and integral to what was the main theme of the story, I get that. What I didn't get was why it took 300 pages to make this point. Maybe it's because I'm a guy and I like more actual events happening but I didn't need a whole chapter on how Dreoteth deals with being at a dance. Again, this may be exactly what someone reading this review loves a story to be like. This is the story for you just not my cup of tea as it were.

Let me also say that there are probably several people who love stories that revolve around character interactions and not so much into plots. This is the story for you and I can honestly say you will love it. On the other hand if you like a story that has a plot and likes it to unfold as the story progresses then you will hate this story.

As a fantasy genre book goes, this is not a typical book. I don't see many people who like traditional fantasy liking this book. There are very few confrontations, only one really good dragon fight and not a whole lot of mystery to it.

There were some technical aspects to the writing style I found to be a little distracting. For instance there are parts at the beginning of the story where Myer Lyon is the point of view in the chapter however he refers to Dreoteth in his mind as Dreoteth even though he knew the dragon as Nehemiah Trimble. This was a little thing but when several scenes went from one point of view to another I found it hard to connect with a specific characters and never knew which one was being focused on. Toward the middle to end, this point of view seemed to have cleared up but it really would have been nice to of gone back and made those changes prior to publication.

As for the ending of the story I need to make a mention of it. I like it when a movie or book ends differently than a typical Hollywood stereotype. Without giving anything away, the ending was abrupt and for me unsatisfying.

I'll be honest I'm not sure how to even rate this story. Danielle Bourdon is going to be a great author one day but she needs some more seasoning. I have to give this book an ALRIGHT with moments of an ENJOYED.

Blessings,
Daniel L Carter
Author of The Unwanted Trilogy
(Ratings are MUST READ, ENJOYED, ALRIGHT & WASTE OF TIME.)