Dragon Bones is a nice and comfortable epic fantasy story about an orphan-become-thief just trying to survive in the cruel streets of the emperor's city. Magic and dangers abound, but the most powerful magic is drawn from the bones of dragons now long extinct (or are they?). Our reluctant hero discovers he's not your ordinary young man, however, and embarks on a mission across the wastes where he learns even more about himself, and the Empire--information he's not sure he wants to believe.
The story moves along and there are some fun new-enough ideas to stir interest, but I personally had a hard time with the prose and dialogue, which felt stilted and repetitive to me throughout. That's just my opinion, though, stemming of course from my own (possibly dubious) tastes. I purposefully have not done any research on these SPFBO books prior to reading them because I want to read them fresh, without any prior knowledge or expectations. After reading, however, I like to get some background before writing my reviews. I come to find Mr. Holmberg has not only written A LOT of books, he is one of the most successful self-published authors on Amazon. So, who am I to judge or criticize, beyond what is necessary for this competition and based on my own opinion? Even though the book is not really to my taste, Dragon Bones, and many others by D.K., are obviously read and enjoyed by a whole lot of readers. You may like it too.
