Dragon Assassin, Royal Blood
Dragon Assassin, Royal Blood
“You’re as swift as ever, my simple friend. Your thoughts are wingless.”
This was apparently an insult in dragon culture. Because at these words, the white dragon expanded his chest and displayed the talons on his front paws.
“For that I’ll only bring back the shreds of you,” the white dragon said.
“Or, it is I who will tear your liver from your insides and feed it to the ravens.”
“You are too weak.” Bur Darius had inched back.
“No. No, I’m not,” Brax said. And he shook his body and made a movement that somehow made all his skin warm at once and the snow and ice fall off. He was revealed in stark black. He rose. “I suggest, Darius, son of Davnex, keeper of lies and sower of untruths and prince of cowards, who is renowned for avarice across the nesting grounds, that you back away and return to your lair, or I will tear you in two.” Brax was now at his full height – though smaller than Darius, something about his bearing made him seem larger and more powerful.
Arthur Slade’s Royal Blood picks up where Dragon Assassin finished. Assassin Carmen accompanies Brax to his homeland to fulfill her promise made in exchange for his assistance in the first book. In the first installment of their story, Carmen promised to serve Brax for a year, which included killing someone, if he helped her get revenge on her brother. Nothing is straightforward when one is dealing with dragons.
A few things quickly become clear in this sequel. First, Carmen and the reader are going to learn a lot about dragons and their culture during their adventures in Drachia, the dragons’ homeland. Second, Carmen’s relationship with Brax has deepened in some unexpected ways. Finally, there are going to be more books in this series.
The journey to Drachia is dangerous, but their unique circumstance makes their trek even more perilous. Dragons regard humans as either food or slaves, and Brax was previously exiled on pain of death. By returning to Drachia, both he and Carmen live under a constant threat of death. This fact provides the motivation for most of the action in the novel; Carmen is constantly threatened by the dragons as she repeatedly tries to rescue Brax from imminent death. An added distraction for Carmen is that her friends that she had left behind are still fighting the war that began in the opening book.
Like the first novel, there is a lot going on in Royal Blood. As previously mentioned, the reader gets a crash course in Dragons 101 while following the betrayals, double-crosses and deadly battles that fill the pages of Carmen’s and Brax’s epic adventure. Although the constant action is entertaining, the number of details, foreshadowing, and reminders that there is another story developing in the wings, takes away from the quieter parts of the story, including Carmen’s character development and the growing relationship between human and dragon. In fact, the intention of the characters and purpose of the action become muddy. At times, the action seems to be the purpose of the plot instead of supporting the forward movement of the narrative. The secondary characters also lack development, which is unfortunate because a few of them have intriguing potential that was never realized.
In the end, Royal Blood does what many sequels do; it provides a bridge to set up action in the third book.
Jonine Bergen is a teacher-librarian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.