Dragon Precinct (Mass Market Paperback)

by Keith R. A. DeCandido (Author) "Gan Brightblade's last thoughts before his neck was broken were about how happy he was..." (more)
Key Phrases: Cliff's End, Gan Brightblade, Sir Rommett (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Harry Potter meets the 87th Precinct? Well, not quite. DeCandido's mix of fantasy and police procedural may be set in a world where magic thrives, but it's definitely not a children's book. Humans, trolls, elves, wizards, and various hybrid combinations behave like adults, not kids. Elfish detective Danthres and her partner, Torin, are already under pressure to catch a rapist who can walk through walls. Things go from bad to worse when high-profile guests staying at the Dog and Duck Inn draw the attention of a serial killer. Though it's always clear we aren't in Kansas anymore, the magical side of the setting is generally downplayed in favor of reasoning and criminal investigation. All in all, this is a fascinating excursion in genre-bending; it's worth a try even for readers who usually take either their procedurals or their fantasies unadulterated. Elliott Swanson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Humans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded city of Cliff's End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure -- or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff's End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.

Gan Brightblade is one of the world's greatest heroes and a personal friend of the Lord and Lady of Cliff's End. So when he's brutally murdered in grubby lodgings in Dragon Precinct, on the eve of a great quest, the Captain of the Guard puts his two best investigators on the case. The half-elf Danthres Tresyllione and ex-soldier Torin ban Wyvald soon discover that the crime scene is empty of any forensic evidence -- physical or magical. They have no clues, and the heat is on.

The Lord and Lady want their friend's murder solved -- now. The populace is mourning the loss of a great hero. The ever-unhelpful Brotherhood of Wizards could take over the case at any minute. And then another member of Brightblade's party turns up dead....

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star; 1st Printing edition (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743467701
• ISBN-13: 978-0743467704
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,164,039 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Up To His Usual Standards, October 3, 2004

By	Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hey, I like Keith R.A. DeCandido's genre work elsewhere. He's done some great stuff in the Trek universe, particularly with Klingons in the IKS Gorkon series. But here, in his first novel with original characters, he doesn't quite measure up to his previous efforts.

We are introduced to Danthres and Torin, two lieutenants in the City Guard of Cliff's End. She's a human/elf hybrid, and none too happy about that fact. He's from a family of civilized deep thinkers but wanted to see the world and bust some heads. Together, they make up...well, a couple of world-weary seen-it-all cops in a fairly generic fantasy setting.

On their current case, they're investigating the murder of a famous hero from a band of epic adventuring types. Said hero was minding his own business when he dropped dead in his room at an inn, his neck broken. The wizard detached to civic service says that there are no traces of magical involvement, so evidently the big galoot just...uh...had a bad neck. Or something. Needless to say, the investigators are a bit dubious about the "naturally spontaneously snapping neck" theory and they press on to find answers. And to collect overtime pay.

Meanwhile, we also follow several other cases, which are being pursued by the colleagues of Danthres and Torin. Their comrades include Old Grizzled Vet, Obnoxious Incompetent Newbie, Snarling One-Eyed Captain, Faux Rastafarian, and Generic Guy. Various leads are checked out and witnesses interrogated. And papers are filed and the brass downtown keeps getting in the way of hard-working guards.

So, yeah, it's pretty much a police procedural with a fantasy twist. Is it successful? Well...blandly so. The investigations and their resolutions aren't altogether compelling and the setting isn't really too well-drawn. Efforts at conveying street talk are mainly just embarrassing. And many characters frankly just seem like buffoons or legends in their own mind (although one of the leads gets to reveal the Dark Secret that has made them who they are). Largely, the book serves as the launchpad for a series that the author clearly hopes will follow, where we can see both the protagonists and their environment developed in greater detail.

It's not a bad foray into this type of thing. It's just not that great. I prefer Martin Scott's Thraxas series, but your mileage may vary. At any rate, at less than 300 pages, this novel at least won't suck up a lot of your precious time, so you make the call.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CSI: Camelot?!?!, April 4, 2007

By	Edward Lee "ncc1205" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Keith R.A. DeCandido never met an entertainment franchise that he didn't like. I've heard it rumored that he's pitched a series of novels focusing on that former fat-guy Jerod from all of those "Subway" commercials ... and that may end up being more entertaining fare than his fantasy-themed riff on CBS's juggernaut "CSI" franchise with "Dragon Precinct," a largely tepid but thankfully quick read.

Don't get me wrong: DeCandido (and others) has done a scholar's work in sinking the "Star Trek" franchise into the worst level of vanity publishing, but I was looking forward to his creative "stretch" here with an original novel, and, on some levels, it actually succeeds. There's a unique intrigue to the world of fantasy populated by elves, trolls, wizards, and common folk, and, had he stayed firmly grounded in the tongue-in-cheek humor that only occasionally pops up in this tale of exploring the "mystery in a box" theme, he may have hit a homerun. When he hits some farcical moments, the tale spins nicely; unfortunately, those moments are very, very, very few and far between.

Sadly, the procedural isn't that strong, and methinks KRAD could have spent more time reading those instead of the fantasy/science fiction realm he's so often dabbled in. The narrative within the chapters flips wildly from character to character, and, at times, it gets a bit difficult to follow. By the conclusion, I found myself caring less and less about the lead characters and more and more about simply seeing it all finished.

Hopefully, there will be no follow-up, though a few ends are dangled. Methinks he'd best stick to "Star Trek" where, at least, he's guaranteed an audience.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A day in the life of the Dragon precinct house? , March 4, 2005

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Keith R.A. DeCandido is best known for his Star Trek books, of which there are many. Now, however, he's decided to branch out into his own world, at least for a little while. Dragon Precinct is his first original novel, and here's hoping there are some more. Should he write more in this particular series? I'm not sure how many it can sustain, but I wouldn't mind seeing some of these characters again. Dragon Precinct takes a lot of fantasy conventions (elves, halflings, dwarves, and magic) and uses them for an interesting murder mystery. The solution comes a little out of left field, but that doesn't hurt the book too badly.

Gan Brightblade is one of the world's biggest heroes. He and his friends have defeated many a monster and evil wizard, including the ultra-evil wizard Chalmraik. They are in Cliff's End for an unknown reason, but Gan is destined to stay there: dead. Half-elven detective Danthres Tresyllione and her partner, Torin ban Wyvald, are tasked with finding out who murdered him and, more importantly, how. No magic of any kind can be detected and he has no visible wounds. Even worse, Gan was a friend of the Lord and Lady of Cliff's End, and they are putting great pressure on the detectives to solve the mystery quickly. What do Gan's friends know about this, and will any of them survive to tell? Is Chalmraik back from the dead? And can they solve the murder before Danthres herself kills somebody?

Dragon Precinct is a very quick read, but that's not a bad thing. DeCandido gives us some interesting characterization that bends the molds of the typical fantasy characters. Some of it is old-hat (both elves and humans hate half-elven offspring, elves are rather haughty people), but there are just enough differences that the book doesn't feel derivative. Danthres has a chip on her shoulder that would seem impossible to carry around with her, but she's still fun to read about. Her temper gets the best of her at times, even with her friends. We learn early that she didn't have the best childhood, being one of those rare half-elves that survive past birth, and given the worst facial features of both races. Unfortunately, we don't find out the reason why until the very end of the book, where she deigns to explain everything to her friends. This felt a little awkward, though unloading herself does finally give her some of the freedom she needs to be a better person.

Torin is also intriguing, with his ex-soldier background. He once served with the current commander of the police force in the army and he carries some of that baggage around with him. He has his own informants in various shady areas of town, is able to use some of his military skills in his job, and he makes a very good foil for Danthres. He's also occasionally her lover, though that doesn't seem to have affected their working relationship. It's a very casual relationship which jumps off the page. He's the only one who can talk sense into Danthres when she's willing to lose her job rather than apologize to somebody.

The rest of the characters are given interesting hooks and are fairly well-rounded, but the book isn't really about them. There are two other sets of partners who figure prominently in the book, perhaps too prominently. The inclusion of their cases gives the book almost a "day in the life" feel which doesn't really fit with the plot itself, almost as if there wasn't enough plot to fill even the 237 pages that there are in the book. They're interesting characters, but they seem a bit out of place other than to flesh out the precinct. Osric, the captain, plays the typical gruff captain's role, being there mainly to yell at his detectives or for them to report to.

The other problem with the book is that the solution seems to come from nowhere. A chance comment from the forensic wizard all of a sudden sparks a thought that ends up solving everything. Even worse, it's a comment that the wizard, if he wasn't so arrogant, would probably have made earlier, though of course it may not have meant anything to the detectives earlier. It's really the only fault of the mystery part of the story. As for the other detectives' cases, they are solved rather perfunctorily as well. Actually, even more so. While Torin and Danthres' case takes center stage, the other cases are in the book just enough to detract from it, making the book seem a bit disjointed.

Even with these problems, Dragon Precinct is an enjoyable read. DeCandido's prose is fairly solid and the dialogue is quite good as well. He seems to let loose with the swear words a little bit, as if he's felt inhibited doing too many Star Trek books, so if swearing is a problem for you, stay away from it. The good characters help save the fact that their cases are solved way too easily, making only the end of the book weaker than it really should be. If a lot of Danthres' background that's revealed in the last few pages had been sprinkled throughout the rest of the book, I don't think any part of the book would have dragged. If a police procedural in a magical fantasy world sounds like your cup of tea, you really can't go wrong with Dragon Precinct.

David Roy