The Hidden Dragon: The Stargods #1 [Paperback]

Irene Radford (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Star Gods | Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Acclaimed author Irene Radford returns to her beloved Dragon Nibmus universe with book one of The Stargods. Here is the tale of the first Terrans, gifted with both psi powers and technology, who discover a world where dragons are real...and are worshiped as gods.

"A mesmerizing storyteller." (Romantic Times)

"High fantasy...rousing adventure." (Library Journal)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: DAW (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756400511
• ISBN-13: 978-0756400514
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,263,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good material, but there's just something missing here, May 14, 2005

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hidden Dragon: The Stargods #1 (Paperback)

Irene Radford has written a number of dragon-related novels, but The Hidden Dragon, Book one of The Stargods series, is basically serving as my introduction to her work - so I can't compare this to her earlier Dragon Nimbus series entries. This particular novel is entertaining and features a couple of fascinating magical creatures, but several things marred my enjoyment of the story.

The three O'Hara brothers (Loki, Konner, and Kim) are running one final smuggling mission for their Mum when authorities descend upon their spaceship. In desperation, the Brothers make an uncoordinated hyperspace jump, winding up in the vicinity of an unclassified planet that appears green with vegetative life. In their own world, nature is largely a thing of the past, and the brothers know that their own private planet full of naturally grown food could net them a fortune in the domed, bio-controlled world they come from. They basically have no real choice about landing, as their narrow escape from authorities resulted in significant damage to their ship. Setting foot on the lush planet, the brothers find a world that had been partially terraformed at some point in the past. It is populated by a society of primitive men and women led by a bloodthirsty high priest, Hanassa, who demands blood sacrifices for the dragon god Simurgh. The head-strong brothers destroy the hateful altar of sacrifice, decry Hanassa's lust for blood and power, and soon split the population into opposing tribes. Hanassa sees many of his villagers leave to follow these new Stargods who arrived on a white dragon - including Hestiia, the young lady he covets for himself. None of this makes this evil fellow very happy.

This world is a magical place. The brothers confront the impossible when they meet up with a dragon and a flying cat that seem to communicate with one another. Stranded on the planet for at least several months, the brothers take it upon themselves to help their new followers survive and prosper - initially out of self-interest on their part. Of course, they form a bond with the people as time goes on - and they have to defend their villagers from the constant challenges of Hanassa and his stalwart magical powers. The brothers find magic of their own with which to meet the challenge, as their natural psi abilities are magnified greatly in this alien environment. The bulk of the story revolves around the brothers' conflicted emotions over their prior commitments to their distant mother and their new commitments to these primitive villagers who look upon them as gods.

Radford's plot is a little repetitive: the brothers are attacked by Hanassa's warriors, they seemingly kill the dangerous high priest, and then a short while later the whole thing just repeats itself. The brothers themselves also aren't fully-developed characters in my mind. I oftentimes had trouble distinguishing one from another, and there were many occasions when one said something I would have expected another one to say. Their motivations are also somewhat suspect - even though Radford goes on and on about the brothers' obligations to their Mum back home. They seemed to have the same conversation on a regular basis, and the moralizing that goes on every time they have Hanassa in their clutches but refuse to take a human life grows old (and foolish) after their first couple of violent encounters. There isn't much of a sense of closure as the novel ends, either, giving the reader the impression that this tiresome pattern is only going to be repeated anew in the next volume of the series. Additionally, the dragon plays less of a role here than you might reasonably expect, the flying cat all but disappears midway through the story, and none of the other characters (apart from Hestiia) are all that interesting. Radford's attempts to introduce humor into the story, especially in the brothers' dialogue, also don't come across all that effectively.

Reading this novel, I just felt as if some important dimension was missing. The story retained my interests, and I basically liked the characters, but I never felt connected with this world or its inhabitants. There is definitely enough material here for a successful series, but I think the author just needs to sit back and let the story tell itself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I have to agree with MitchDennis, September 2, 2003

By 

Jewell Brannigan "brannigj" (FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hidden Dragon: The Stargods #1 (Paperback)

Although the imagery was colorful, the writing was weak. It grew so tiresome to read on about their struggles to almost kill their nemesis. Every time they could have finished the job, there were objections about how wrong it is to kill any living thing (even those bent on your own destruction). And the mentions of how the most civilized of us have eschewed meat as a source of food. Over and over again these themes were vocalized as major plot points and character values. I for one get sick of being bludgeoned with someone's personal opinions when I'm trying to read a book for fun. I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Generally weak, but vaguely entertaining, March 18, 2002

By 

Michael L. Dennis "mitchdennis" (West Des Moines, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hidden Dragon: The Stargods #1 (Paperback)

"The Hidden Dragon" (Volume 1 of The Stargods) is a mixture of science fiction and fantasy and somewhat fails in both genres.

Three brothers with latent psychic abilities are attacked in their spaceship by the authorities. They manage to escape and limp to the nearest planet with an acceptable atmosphere, hoping to find the resources they need to repair their ship. When they arrive, they find a primitive society, apparently the descendants of a lost colony.

To their amazement, the O'Hara brothers find that the planet supports dragons, a mystical race of powerful beings who have, for the most part, remained aloof from the humans. Until now. In the past, one of their own acquired the taste for human flesh and had to be destroyed. Another outcast wants to control the human race.

Although the O'Hara brothers just want to collect the elements they need and leave, they become caught up in the fate of this world.

The characterization is rather weak. The three brothers are almost indistinguishable from one other and all have similar names which just adds to the confusion. Radford doesn't supply any firm motivations for their actions; this became irritating at times. The motivation of the villain is particularly flat. Why does he want to kill everyone? He seems to be interested in acquiring and using power; if he kills everyone, who is left to worship him? The few potentially interesting individuals (the fiery Hestiia and the mysterious flywacket Gentian) are discarded or muted about halfway through the book.

Also, Radford doesn't pretend to be subtle in her storytelling. She continually "hints" at things until you want to scream "Ok, Ok, I get it now!!"

But, for those of us who enjoy a bit of diverting adventure, the book does fulfill that requirement.

Readers of Radford's other series, "The Dragon Nimbus" and "The Dragon Nimbus History" will thrill to find familiar names and places: Simurgh, Hanassa, Yaakke, the Stargods, and the genesis of the nation of Coronnin.

Expect a cliffhanger...after all it is only volume one.