The Dragon's Den by Graeme RodaughanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was like "Welcome back, good to see you, sit down, we're all out of starters, we only have 24 ounce steaks for main courses and here it is, waiting for you, get stuck in."
That is to say, after the first handful of pages it was relentless in its action. The reader is guided towards where they think the showdown is going to happen, and then realises the whole damn thing is a showdown. Pure, frenetic, ramp-coruscating action.
With that in mind, the set-pieces need to work, and while you're left mesmerised and wondering just how far the Morovar team can push their skills, they go and push it some more. It's frankly miraculous they get as far as they do, especially with grenades aiming their way as they cling to the top of a moving vehicle. Batted away like baseballs.
And the set-pieces do work. The obstacles they meet on their path are realistic (for this world), with the right amount of insurmountability to be surmounted. It is satisfying to read how they navigate their way from mini-battle to mini-battle, within the framework of the grander scale. The POV seems tighter than the previous two books, with clarity between characters when we switch. Individual character motivation is also more obvious, though sometimes questionable, but that's characters for you!
My only negative really is the run-on sentences; ironically it works well during action sequences, as the pace is kept racing. It doesn't work so well when we do get down time, and seems to be just how the writing style is. Seems picky, but I know it would be a bigger issue for me if this wasn't an action-oritiented series.
I enjoyed the ending too - the little teasers of further intrigue and misdirection and guilt and new character motivation. Leading straight to the next one! I wonder if it'll last longer than a few in-story hours!
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Great review, Adam. I've read the book and I agree with all your points.
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