Storm Dragon: The Draconic Prophecies, Book 1 (Hardcover)

by James Wyatt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
An ancient prophecy that could remake the political and magical landscape of the Five Nations provides the foundation for Wyatt's Dungeon and Dragons-based fantasy adventure set in the Eberron game world. The half-elf seer Gaven, whose dire and cryptic predictions earned him a cell in the dwarven prison Dreadhold, suddenly finds himself freed by a man he doesn't trust. Haldren ir'Brassek, formerly a nobleman, was imprisoned himself in Dreadhold for war crimes committed during his own search for power. Now Haldren needs Gaven's knowledge of the prophecy about the mighty Storm Dragon in order to help the dragon Vaskar gain power. Gaven, who bears the Mark of Storm, signifying great magical talent, does his best to foil Haldren, first by lying and then by escaping to seek his own answers to the prophecy he can't seem to escape. The key to everything seems to be the Eye of Siberys, a magical artifact Haldren and Vaskar will do anything to possess. While the setting may be rather confusing for readers unfamiliar with the Eberron milieu, Wyatt (In the Claws of the Tiger) effectively mixes political intrigue with action. This high-stakes adventure, full of violence, magic and suspense, should entertain gamers and epic fantasy fans.
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Product Description
An epic tale of madness and magic!

A war hero, his mind broken by the wonders he witnessed on his last mission for his nation, has spent years in the deepest, darkest prison in all the world. Wallowing in despair and ever on the verge of madness, he is caught by surprise when a band of strangers breaks him out. But his rescuers don't exactly have his best interests at heart. The magic relic that broke his once-brilliant mind may be the key to stopping worldwide destruction--and whether he lives or dies really doesn't concern them. Thus begins an adventure that will shake the fragile peace of the Five Nations and once again stoke the fires of war across the world of Eberron.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786947101
• ISBN-13: 978-0786947102
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #529,475 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good start to a promising trilogy, September 4, 2007

By	Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Storm Dragon by James Wyatt is the first book in a new trilogy called Draconic Prophecies. An interesting note about this novel, it is the first hard cover book set in the Eberron. Mr. Wyatt's first book in the Eberron world was titled In the Claws of the Tiger: War-Torn, Book 3 (War-Torn)and was part of the War-Torn series of stand alone novels. Based on the first novel by Mr. Wyatt, I had high hopes for this book as well. I am very pleased to say, I was not disappointed in the least. If this novel marks the quality of the rest of the trilogy then this has the makings of a superb series of novels.

The plot of this book is multi-faceted even in the simplest of terms. The main plot revolves around a prison escape of two convicts and the plans of each one of them. Being the title of the trilogy there is also much discussion and development of the Draconic Prophecy. Mr. Wyatt does a fantastic job when dealing with the prophecy. He never reveals more than a few lines of the jumbled prophecy at any one time, it is a very interesting, effective, way to deal with a prophecy in a novel. The two convicts that break out of Eberron's most secure prison are separate storylines in and of themselves as well. Gaven is the keeper of the prophecy due to events in the past that the reader learns about during the last quarter of the book. What having that prophecy in his head has done to him, and will do to him in the future, is an entirely different matter. Haldren, the mastermind behind the escape, has his own plans and motivation as well. Since the duo escaped from the super prison, there are many people hunting them, including four Dragon marked houses. There are still plot points I haven't discussed, but I will let you find those on your own. Suffice it to say that this novel is packed with plot, but it is never so packed that it drags the story down. It was obviously well thought out and I am curious to see where it takes us in the next two books.

The characters of this book, and there are many, are all well written and have their own voices. What I mean by that is; when one character talks it's evident who it is. The dialog is well written, it helps the characters become their own unique entities. The is truly a plethora of characters in this book, once I realized just how many there were, I was a little worried that some lesser characters would be lost in the shuffle. However, that was not the case in this novel, at no time did I feel like I didn't' know where a character was or what they were doing. I think that speaks volumes of how well Mr. Wyatt planned this novel out.

The one criticism I have about this novel is there are about three or four places where there are, what I can only call, time-jumps with little to no explanation. These jumps kind of take the reader by surprise as one minute the character is talking about doing something or going somewhere and the next paragraph they have accomplished everything they were just talking about. I am not sure if this was intentional, a victim of editing, or just what the case was, but it was something I noticed.

As with most, if not all, books that start a series or trilogy, this book is forced to provide a lot of information to the reader in a very short time. However, Mr. Wyatt does this in a way that it does not feel like an information dump. Rather he makes it feel as though the reader already knows these characters, and he is simply reminding us of what we already knew. When in fact, to my knowledge, this is the first time these characters have seen print. That is a major plus for this novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. Fans of the Eberron world will surely find the small pieces of information and background interesting. Fans of the fantasy genre should also enjoy this novel as there seems to be elements that will please everyone. With this novel, Mr. Wyatt has proven he will no doubt make a name for himself as a fantasy author. I, for one, hope his career is long and storied as his books are a joy to read. I can easily see myself recommending this novel to many, many people.

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, December 17, 2008

By	Randall Nagel (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to start by saying i have a very small attention span and i hardly ever read, but this book caught my eye so i thought i would give it a try. I absolutely loved this book, it has an incredible storyline that has you wanting more and more, i simply could not put the book down. I was actually upset when i finished the book because i did not want to stop reading the story lol. I highly highly recommend this book and the 2nd book Dragon Forge.

4.0 out of 5 stars Read what you will and make your opinion., September 29, 2008

By	Warren A. Wilson III (SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storm Dragon: The Draconic Prophecies, Book 1 (Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

At first off I thought that I might have to fight to get through a couple of chapters... I was right...

BUT! I was rewarded with a thrilling story that I did not want to put down. I can understand comments made by other posts, but what they have said can't take away the rush from some parts of the story that I enjoyed.

I have read many books from this setting and I have enjoyed all of them to especially include this one.