Tears of a Dragon

Five Kingdoms #1

by Sulayman X

S. Mortimer Bookin is curious. It's what makes him such a good scholar. He's curious about the world around him, about his dead parents, about what it might be like to meet another Contrary man like himself. Then roguish and Contrary Kai warrior Prince Allender shows up on his doorstep, and Mortimer is entranced. The catch? Allender comes with baggage: a host of Contrary youths he wants to train in the ways of the Kai brotherhood... with Mortimer as their teacher.

Mortimer’s curiosity and growing fascination with Allender trump his love of routine, and he commits to a perilous journey to obtain the Kai Overlord’s blessing for the school. It’s a quest that will take him from home to the Zu-Kai Isle, on to the frozen north, and all the way to the mystical Dragon Isle. Mortimer and Allender grow closer with each mile, but when Allender is injured, it will fall to Mortimer to lead their ragtag brotherhood to procure the overlord’s price—the tears of a dragon.

Genres: M M Romance, Fantasy, Gay, Dragons, M M Fantasy, Romance

300 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Sulayman X is an American who converted to Islam in the early 1990s. He lives overseas for almost two decades and currently works as the editor for a small newspaper in Mississippi. His work frequently deals with the intersection between religion and sexuality. His first book, Bilal's Bread, is a Lambda Award nominee.

Published by DreamSpinner Press, his young adult books "Tears of a Dragon" and "King of Storms" are fantasy genre novels featuring young gay and lesbian characters.

Although no longer a Muslim, Sulayman X remains a spiritual seeker and the Buddhist influences in his work are evident. He also writes murder mysteries and screenplays.

Reviews

[Feliz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story in the style of a high-fantasy novel mixed elements in an interesting way. While the lore was mostly Western, the martial arts scenes and the philosophy of the Kai warriors showed strong Asian leanings. The opening scene appears as if it was an homage to Tolkien with Allender’s party arriving in dribs and drabs at Mortimer’s house and Mortimer scuttling to and fro to serve them and being ordered about for his efforts.
Overall, the worldbuilding was inherently consistent. The writing was a bit stilted at times, which might be suitable for the theme, but didn’t appeal to me much. I found the book very slow to begin, and some parts were quite long drawn-out. Ylnam’s teachings took much page time. They were mostly philosophical contemplations of gender roles, the nature of Contrariness, love, and so on, all interesting and very educational themes which nevertheless slowed the book down. Although this book isn’t prudish when it comes to nudity, all sorts of interactions of the more intimate kind are only hinted at. (For those who need to know, there is no on-page sex in this book.)
If a pigeon hole is required, I’d sort this among YA fantasy novel with LGBT content – in which regard it may work just fine for other readers, particularly for fans of that genre.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting tale with a slight difference. It is not a gripping adventure story (which is what I sort of expected), but several quirks in the way it's told and the idea of what the story is about held my attention.

The main character, Mortimer, is somewhat incompetent, very hesitant, and has lead a very safe and protected life. His one saving grace is his curiosity, and this is what, in the end, convinces him to go with Allender's motley crew. I loved the way he stands up to the challenges of a life that scares him. He grows a lot, and that was good to see.

Allender is everything a hero should be, or so I thought, until the very end when I was as disappointed in his duplicity as Mortimer. I can see that it was needed to make the story work, but, personally, I did not like it very much.

I have a feeling this is one of those series which will take a book or two to find its feet. I enjoyed reading this story, and will definitely give the second one a try as well. If you like your adventures to be gentle and with a focus on the inner development of its participants, you will probably enjoy this book.

[Sala Bim]

DNF. There was a vaguely pederastic feel here that just didn't work for me. And stuff like "Manly Gay" spelled backwards? "Ylnam the Yag"? Really?? Come on. Unimaginative. I liked Mortimer's character arch at first but I couldn't really get into Allender (nor the aspects of his sexuality, past or present...he pretty much slept with everybody in the book). It felt like this was originally written as erotica and then someone hastily went back and took out the sex scenes, but neglected to revise all the overt sexual overtones of the story, which I found to be a turn off. Especially in regards to the "boys". It was just a bit creepy to me. The basic premise of the story had a lot of promise though.

[Cotilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like Mortimer much. He is rather useless as a scholar. Also, the author repeats himself endlessly and needlessly; usually like: sentence A -> sentence B -> sentence A.

Other than that, the book was fine.

[Stasis Kadodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me a lot of The Hobbit. I loved the complexity of it. The layers and weaving of the story, from the first pages’ description of Mortimer’s activities to the fascinating curveball at the end, are so well crafted and executed that I had to put down the story to contemplate not only the book, but also my own thoughts, beliefs, and ideals. Honestly, this book will be one that makes my heart race for years to come in anticipation of reviewing the enlightenment of this first reading.

[Micha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mortimer is a very unlikable MC, and as a scholar, neither very scholarly nor intelligent. A verbose story, and with the writer describing a poem as purple prose and the author of a book in the story as a “wordy fellow”, it makes me wonder whether that’s due to a sense or irony or, instead, a lack of self-awareness.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

This story has a touch of everything - wonderful characters, a great plot, and more than a few lessons included in this wonderful story.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I liked the premise, and the basis of the story was interesting, I found the writing style a bit too much like "The Lord of the Rings": dry, telling rather than showing, and even though the action's interesting, the story just couldn't hold my attention.

Having said that, I did like the twist at the end.

Top2Bottom Review:

“Tears of a Dragon” is a Fantasy that follows S. Mortimer Bookin, a previously untested scholar on an adventure away from the familiar and known. Starting with a double-handful of young, lithe, naked youths playing on his front dock and in the water in front of his home. Being aimed at a Young Adult audience, there is no on-page sex and only a vague reference to anything sexual. I rather enjoyed that fact; the relationship between S. Mortimer Bookin and Prince Allender tends to stay secondary to the main adventure plot, weaving in and around the story instead of beating it over the head.

In the “About the Author” section, the author talks about “books that adhere to the longstanding rules of the genre … like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings”. The writing style of “Tears of a Dragon is very similar to these books, which, unfortunately meant I could not really get into to the book. I liked the premise, the general plot and characters were good, and the ending a nice twist. The author definitely knows how to build a world and characters. I thought the addition of Racalla was a nice touch and she, like the other characters, was realistic and fully developed.

If you liked “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” and are looking for a light adventure, or you enjoy coming-of-age stories, then this one might be for you. I tend to prefer my stories a little less dry, which is why it got a 2.5. Technically, it should be a 3, but I just can’t say I liked it.

[Cole Riann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended this book regarding it with love and hate. I enjoyed a lot of the little details of the worldbuilding, but the characters just baffled me so often. They did such strange things all in the name of the "greater good" which just caused no end of immediate problems, sort of like "suck it up and deal with it", but just really made me not like the principle characters very much. On top of that, I often though the things they said to each other were kinda mean and mean-spirited. Also no matter how much Moritmer's whining got on my nerves at first, I ended up thinking that I'd probably be whining too if I felt like such a pawn.

I also missed the progression of the romance. It seemed to just happen one day and I wondered if I had missed a few pages. Also, a lot of the interpersonal relationships between the mentors and boys were largely glossed over and I would have liked to see more about that.

All in all, on top of what I've already mentioned bothered me, there just seemed to be a lot of heavy handed writing. I felt like I was being clubbed over the head with conclusions about what everything "means" when I had it figured out from the beginning.

I'd take a change reading the sequel, just to sate my curiosity about what happens and if this series can get better and where Sulayman X might take it, but I'm not holding out for an unbelievably amazing story.

[Maria Longley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fantasy novel of the start of a brotherhood order (with token girl) of misfit youths and their teachers. My main reason for reading this is needing an "X" author to finish the alphabet challenge. The pastiche of The Hobbit was a little jarring and while there were a couple of interesting moments I found the style and story a little boring.

[ObsidianCub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up really liking this book despite the overly formal and difficult to connect with style of writing and talking. I would have liked more of the boys interactions and a bit more bonding of the group but I loved the underlying message with the Dragons and the though of a band of Contrary brothers. Now I would like a story about someone who joins once the palace is up and running a bit and get to know about the training and have someone fall in love a bit more rather than it being a bit by the by.

[Fadia Pierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems lately Ive been reading a lot of YA books. Really enjoyed this book with zen mentalilty. The end was sort of a dissapointment with the 360 that the prince did . But, I guess if you were reading you must accept reality.

[Kristy Maitz · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG was that book boring. From the start till the end I haven't found even one character to be interesting. Story is a fantasy and plot is written like you are reading encyclopedic. Nobody would miss much if he or she wouldn't read that book.

[Nightcolors · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The beginning was kinda slow, but the world building was well done. Once I got into the flow of the story, I found it interesting. This was a rather philosophical type of fantasy.