Dragon (Smallville, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Grant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Smallville (Warner) | Publication Date: November 1, 2002

Based on the hit WB series, this all-new original novel finds Clark losing his powers--and his memory of even having them--just days before Lex Luthor's big party for the high school. At the same time, paroled killer Ray Dansk returns to Smallville where meterorite-contaminated water gives him the strength of a dragon. Unless Clark's memory and abilities return, Lex's mansion will become a house of slaughter. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The second Smallville novel opens with convicted murderer Ray Dansk's release from prison. Dansk heads to Smallville, his hometown, and with nowhere else to go, winds up in a Kryptonite-filled cave outside of town. The Kryptonite changes him, and soon he is obsessed with killing the witnesses to the killing that landed him in jail. He has the power to do it, too. The Kryptonite has given him dragon-like strength--and appearance. His first victim is a teacher, whom he tears to shreds. Clark Kent and his friends are dismayed by the murder and puzzled by the absence of the victim's head. But Clark is distracted by Lana Lang, who, much to everyone's surprise, breaks up with her boyfriend and makes her interest in Clark known. Clark's parents are pleased to see him so happy but quickly become concerned when Clark loses his powers and doesn't even remember that he ever had them. Grant has the tone down just right, making this as exciting as an episode of the young-Superman TV show. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446612146
• ISBN-13: 978-0446612142
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "Dragon" a disappointment after "Stranger Visitors", October 29, 2002

By 

Tara OShea "Tara O'Shea" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dragon (Smallville, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Having adored the first adult novel in this series, "Strange Visitor" by Roger Stern, I was really looking forward to Grant's "Dragon." I was, unfortunately, very disappointed.

"Dragon" is rife with continuity errors that should have been caught during the editorial process, such as Whitney "Ellsworth" showing up a few times (though he was correctly referred to as Fordman for most of the novel), and a number of British-isms that should have been excised long before the book hit shelves (At one point Nell tells everyone to go to the "lounge" rather than "living room", Chloe says "Blast!", etc.). Plot-wise, the A-plot of the novel is a redux of the first season episode "Hourglass". Lana's aunt Nell and two others were in the hit list this time, as they had testified against the Freak of the Week years earlier.

There is a Lex B-plot, as Mary Sue Ex-Girlfriend shows up on Lionel's payroll, just because Lionel wants to mess with Lex's head--literally, the explanation of why Lionel is paying this sleazy girl to try and trick Lex into giving her [one] million dollars? "Why not?" Unfortunately, the Lex subplot is just... boring. Renata is a lackluster original character, and her relationship with Lex is a sad rehash of Victoria Hardwick, with none of the spark of Carrie Castle.

The Clark/Lana subplot fares even worse, as a sweet little old lady (shades of Cassandra) is using kryptonite-laced mint tea to hypnotise Lana into dumping Whitney and going for Clark, and Clark into believing he's a normal, non-superpowered teen which leads to a pointless re-hash of Clark's anger and confusion regarding his alien heritage which was much better handled in the "Smallville" pilot. As far as the supporting characters are concerned, Chloe and Pete are there as cannon fodder for the final showdown with the Smallville dragon (both end up in the hospital, and the tension of "Will Pete live?" is of course non-existent, as we know he will.).

Fan fave Chloe Sullivan has a brief nice little bit of characterisation, regarding her favourite teacher who is killed (which unfortunately seems to simply rehash a first season Buffy episode "Teacher's Pet") and that's about it. Much of the exposition in the novel is inserted clumsily, and Chloe's inner thoughts regarding Clark--and Clark's regarding her--are clumsy and at times ludicrous (the author uses Clark's inner voice to tell the audience that Chloe has a crush on him--which makes no sense, given that Clark on the show never suspected prior to "Ryan") not to mention Pete's crush on Chloe is handled way badly. And Chloe's snark? Not in her "voice" at all.

And Whitney? That was the biggest sticking point for me--it was as if he was based entirely on the pilot, and as such, was the least consistent characterisation of them all. And it stuck out like a sore thumb. This sort of sloppy characterisation makes the reader wonder if Alan Grant or the editors had ever seen the show, past the pilot episode, or reading the script of the pilot. For a media tie-in, this is simply unacceptable, not to mention a foolish business decision, since the readers of the novel are almost guaranteed to be fans of the show, and will spot continuity and characterisation errors a mile off.

There's a smidge of good Jonathan and Martha stuff, and some lovely Nell, but not enough to justify buying the book. If you're a fan of the series, not only does this not work as a good "Smallville" novel, the disjointed weaving from A plot to B plot to C plot with little to tie the threads together makes it not a particularly satisfying novel either, in terms of structure and pacing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a Good Tie In, December 21, 2004

By 

Megan Kerrigan "Book and Film Reviewer" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon (Smallville, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Smallville fans will buy this book because there isn't enough books on Smallville. However, you will be disappointed because there are tons of errors, misspellings, flawed characterizations. Lana screaming pathetically? For example, Lana's no superhero like Clark, but she has never been a wimp. The scenes of the freak Dragon killing off his victims are beyond family fare unlike the television series. Who is this author writing for? Not anyone who watches Smallville.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dragon, June 21, 2004

By 

"freeze17" (Kuna, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon (Smallville, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading the Strange Visitors this was an up-lifting experience. This book moved much more quickly than the first and would have made an excellent episode. Another excellent job by the author in keeping the Lex Luthor character true to form. My only complaints would be the ages of the characters did not seem to match the television series nor the content of the book. I would have also liked to see a much more mature Clark Kent. Once again, probably too much history but if you are not familiar with the show then you might need it.

I envisioned the characters to be more like the TV show when reading and it created a great reading experience. A very good read for the Smallville fan.