In NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST, Julius' mother is fed up with
his lack of
dragonish traits. He's not ambitious. He doesn't try to
take things over.
He's not sneaky and conniving. She bemoans that it's like
Julius was born
with no draconic instinct whatsoever, hiding in his room as
soon as his
dragon training sessions are finished. Julius's entire life
strategy is: Stay
out of the way of bigger dragons. His mother is the leader
of the
Heartstriker clan. Finally, in exasperation, his
mother seals Julius so he
can't access his dragon powers and dumps him in the Detroit
Free Zone,
where dragons are killed on sight.
Having only one month to prove he is of value to
Heartstriker before he
loses his dragon powers forever, Julius meets with his
brother Ian, who
gets a job for him capturing Katya, the youngest dragon from
another clan
who is trying to escape her family. Julius doesn't want to
capture her, but
feels he has no choice. Julius is partially aided in his
quest by his crazy
older brother Bob, a Seer. Bob gives Julius his advice for
the day: You
must be a GENTLEMAN above all else, and a gentleman never
refuses to
help a desperate lady.
Leaving the meeting with his brother Ian, Julius meets
Marci, who is
running for her life from a thug who killed her father and
is now after her to
reclaim an ancient Mage tool. Marci is clearly desperate,
and so Julius
follows his brother Bob's advice and agrees to hire Marci as
a mage. Marci
and Ian set off to find Katya, stumbling into all sorts of
magical and
dragonish adventures along the way. There's high intrigue,
some of it from
places you'd never expect, and lots of double crossing too.
I especially
enjoyed the wonderful snarky humor that imbues NICE DRAGONS
FINISH LAST with such vigor.
As the quest proceeds, Julius charmingly grows up and
matures into
himself. He fights magical creatures, unravels a sinister
plot between
dragon clans, and saves a new friend. He discovers he is
valorous and
honorable, definitely unusual characteristics for a dragon,
and things that
make the reader root hard for him.
NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST is a strong opening for Aaron's
new series, and I can't wait for book two in this fantastic
new series! Rachel
Aaron also writes under the pen name Rachel Bach, and
recently authored
the fabulous Paradox books that have swept the sci fi
scene. My love of
Fortune's Pawn and its companion books led me to read NICE
DRAGONS FINISH LAST, and now I'm hooked on this new series
of hers as well.
As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius
survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don’t cause trouble,
and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek
behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical
predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has
finally reached the end of her patience.
Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ--a
vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old
Detroit--Julius has one month to prove that he can be a
ruthless dragon or kiss his true shape goodbye forever. But
in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons
are considered monsters to be exterminated, he’s going to
need some serious help to survive this test.
He only hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons...
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