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Wizard and Dragon #1
The Forging of the Dragon
And a new Powershaper awakes.
In Lamath, one of the fragments of the ancient land, Seagryn and Elaryl are due to be wed. The problems that beset the Land couldn’t have bothered them less.
Then suddenly, without warning, Seagryn’s world is turned upside down.
He has been transformed into a savage beast — a monstrous tugolith. His magical power is without bounds – and to be wizard, a magic user in Lamath, is akin to death.
Now, an outcast, Seagryn’s betrothal to Elaryl is forever forbidden.
But his power continues to grow…
Soon, Seagryn finds himself the sworn enemy of the most formidable wizard in the land, Sheth. And in the darkness, Sheth is plotting to create a monstrosity that will ravage the land for all time.
The Forging of the Dragon is a thrilling fantasy tale from master of High tradition, Robert Don Hughes. It is the first book in the Wizard and Dragon series.
“One of the greatest books I have ever read” Goodreads reviewer
“Great plot, great setting, great fictional kingdoms, well developed characters, and a thoroughly enjoyable read!” Amazon reviewer
Dr. Robert Don Hughes (born 1949), is an American educator and writer, author of both mainstream fantasy and science fiction and evangelical non-fiction. Born within a mile of the beach in California, he now teaches missions, evangelism, world religions and apologetics at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Kentucky. He spent two terms as a missionary in Africa, first in Zambia and then Nigeria. He regularly assists churches as interim pastor or revival leader. He’s better known on the Internet as the author of such fantasy and science fiction novels as The Prophet of Lamath and The Eternity Gene.
In Lamath, one of the fragments of the ancient land, Seagryn and Elaryl are due to be wed. The problems that beset the Land couldn’t have bothered them less.
Then suddenly, without warning, Seagryn’s world is turned upside down.
He has been transformed into a savage beast — a monstrous tugolith. His magical power is without bounds – and to be wizard, a magic user in Lamath, is akin to death.
Now, an outcast, Seagryn’s betrothal to Elaryl is forever forbidden.
But his power continues to grow…
Soon, Seagryn finds himself the sworn enemy of the most formidable wizard in the land, Sheth. And in the darkness, Sheth is plotting to create a monstrosity that will ravage the land for all time.
The Forging of the Dragon is a thrilling fantasy tale from master of High tradition, Robert Don Hughes. It is the first book in the Wizard and Dragon series.
“One of the greatest books I have ever read” Goodreads reviewer
“Great plot, great setting, great fictional kingdoms, well developed characters, and a thoroughly enjoyable read!” Amazon reviewer
Dr. Robert Don Hughes (born 1949), is an American educator and writer, author of both mainstream fantasy and science fiction and evangelical non-fiction. Born within a mile of the beach in California, he now teaches missions, evangelism, world religions and apologetics at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Kentucky. He spent two terms as a missionary in Africa, first in Zambia and then Nigeria. He regularly assists churches as interim pastor or revival leader. He’s better known on the Internet as the author of such fantasy and science fiction novels as The Prophet of Lamath and The Eternity Gene.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 28, 2016
19 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Robert Don Hughes
28 books21 followersDr. Robert Don Hughes (born 1949), is an American educator and writer, author of both mainstream fantasy and science fiction and evangelical non-fiction. Born within a mile of the beach in California, he now teaches missions, evangelism, world religions and apologetics at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Kentucky. He spent two terms as a missionary in Africa, first in Zambia and then Nigeria. He regularly assists churches as interim pastor or revival leader. He’s better known on the Internet as the author of such fantasy and science fiction novels as The Prophet of Lamath and The Eternity Gene.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 12, 2026
Well this book was definitely not what I expected it to be!
We enter with the character Seagryn, about to go off to be married to the love of his life, but he holds onto a terrible secret. He is a magic user, a powershaper, a wizard... in a land that abhors it. Enemies come and, to protect his bride, Seagryn transforms into his other shape, a tugolith (which to me sounds like a strange sort of rhino beast). The tugolith is out of the bag though, and Seagryn is banished, his wedding cancelled, and all look upon him as a foul beast.
He journeys though a land splintered; each believing what they want to believe. It was interesting to see how different nations interacted with one another. In one case, a battle between two nations has been going on for some time, but they are seldom definitive wins/losses. All because the people on both sides in charge of the armies realize that to let their nation win, would result in a far worse outcome.
Seagryn meets two supremely spoiled siblings (one who I love to hate), a female tugolith (best character), and a young man named Dark who knows the future (also best character), along with many others who stand out in their own ways.
This book is written a little tongue-in-cheek for its humor, and knows that it's not taking itself seriously a lot of the time. Am so glad I stumbled upon this.
Spoiler for the end however, read if you dare.
Overall, this book starts you off in the middle of things and assumes you can figure it out yourself - which ironically is what Seagryn is told by fellow shapechangers. There's more humor than I thought in Dark as he delivers some funny dry lines; things like "you're not going to like it" then "told ya." And many threads are left hanging for the following book to pick up.
We enter with the character Seagryn, about to go off to be married to the love of his life, but he holds onto a terrible secret. He is a magic user, a powershaper, a wizard... in a land that abhors it. Enemies come and, to protect his bride, Seagryn transforms into his other shape, a tugolith (which to me sounds like a strange sort of rhino beast). The tugolith is out of the bag though, and Seagryn is banished, his wedding cancelled, and all look upon him as a foul beast.
He journeys though a land splintered; each believing what they want to believe. It was interesting to see how different nations interacted with one another. In one case, a battle between two nations has been going on for some time, but they are seldom definitive wins/losses. All because the people on both sides in charge of the armies realize that to let their nation win, would result in a far worse outcome.
Seagryn meets two supremely spoiled siblings (one who I love to hate), a female tugolith (best character), and a young man named Dark who knows the future (also best character), along with many others who stand out in their own ways.
This book is written a little tongue-in-cheek for its humor, and knows that it's not taking itself seriously a lot of the time. Am so glad I stumbled upon this.
Spoiler for the end however, read if you dare.
Overall, this book starts you off in the middle of things and assumes you can figure it out yourself - which ironically is what Seagryn is told by fellow shapechangers. There's more humor than I thought in Dark as he delivers some funny dry lines; things like "you're not going to like it" then "told ya." And many threads are left hanging for the following book to pick up.
July 15, 2019
Prequels rarely have the “fun-factor” of the original, but just as the two-headed dragon (Vicia-Heinox) provided humor, problem, and opportunity for the powershaper (Hughes chose this word instead of “wizard” to reflect the idea that sometimes the shaper applies the power to accomplish what she or he wants and sometimes the power (Hughes’ name for the divine in his universe of faith and magic) shapes the shaper) to become The Prophet of Lamath and just as the talking castle provided both solution and insight in The Wizard in Waiting, so does the interplay between dogma and faith, loyalty and conviction/experience provide the “power” for The Forging of the Dragon. To me, Hughes allows his Christian faith to inform both the original trilogy and the two prequels in print, but he does so quite differently than C. S. Lewis’ more overt allegories of Narnia and, to some extent, Perelandra. Hughes allows the complexities of belief and disbelief to serve as the dramatic lighting for his stories without interfering with the cast of characters he is putting on stage.
I can write this with some confidence, having been the first one outside the immediate family to read The Prophet of Lamath (even before Lester and Judy Del Rey) and having known Bob as fellow-student, as gaming competitor, as my drama teacher, as student in the ethics class for which I was teaching assistant, as professor for whom I served as graduate fellow, as a colleague in ministry, and, most importantly, as friend. As a result, I was able to see a bit of Bob in Pelmen the Powershaper protagonist of the trilogy, but I see a LOT of Bob in Seagryn, the protagonist of the prequels. As Seagryn is ostracized from the “state” faith of Lamath because his experience with the power didn’t fit the narrow confines of the religion’s elders (who, mini-spoiler alert, prove to be hypocrites regarding some of these fundamentalist confines), so did Bob and I find ourselves marginalized (to some extent) by the fundamentalist elders who came to control the religious denomination in which we both grew up, by which we were educated as undergraduates and graduates, and through whom we were ordained to the ministry. Although I read this one in eBook form on my iPad while on the road, I can hardly wait to return home to my personal library where The Faithful Traitor sits waiting on the shelf.
Two lines in The Forging of the Dragon struck me as particularly profound. In one line, Seagryn is pondering the gift of prophecy demonstrated by the character named “Dark.” The comment in the novel seemed to reflect something true about any gift from God. “Dark’s gift certainly didn’t seem to benefit Dark that much. ‘Then again,’ Seagryn mumbled, ‘I guess these gifts are given for the sake of others and not for ourselves.’” (Location 4273)
At an earlier point in the story, I was reminded of Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy when Seagryn ruminates over his experience of awe. “Why did he always forget how quickly shame metamorphosed into elation? Awe seized his spirit by the throat and sought to throttle it, but warmth and acceptance and the sense of belonging quickly diluted that killing awe into love. He had tried all his life to express the nature of this moment, but had never found words potent enough to carry the images.” (Loc. 3984) As an individual prone to depression, as well as open to the numinous, I could really relate to this description.
The Forging of the Dragon is something rare in my experience, a prequel that is better than the original story. I don’t see how anyone who liked the trilogy could be disappointed in The Forging of the Dragon. Then again, I admitted I’m biased.
I can write this with some confidence, having been the first one outside the immediate family to read The Prophet of Lamath (even before Lester and Judy Del Rey) and having known Bob as fellow-student, as gaming competitor, as my drama teacher, as student in the ethics class for which I was teaching assistant, as professor for whom I served as graduate fellow, as a colleague in ministry, and, most importantly, as friend. As a result, I was able to see a bit of Bob in Pelmen the Powershaper protagonist of the trilogy, but I see a LOT of Bob in Seagryn, the protagonist of the prequels. As Seagryn is ostracized from the “state” faith of Lamath because his experience with the power didn’t fit the narrow confines of the religion’s elders (who, mini-spoiler alert, prove to be hypocrites regarding some of these fundamentalist confines), so did Bob and I find ourselves marginalized (to some extent) by the fundamentalist elders who came to control the religious denomination in which we both grew up, by which we were educated as undergraduates and graduates, and through whom we were ordained to the ministry. Although I read this one in eBook form on my iPad while on the road, I can hardly wait to return home to my personal library where The Faithful Traitor sits waiting on the shelf.
Two lines in The Forging of the Dragon struck me as particularly profound. In one line, Seagryn is pondering the gift of prophecy demonstrated by the character named “Dark.” The comment in the novel seemed to reflect something true about any gift from God. “Dark’s gift certainly didn’t seem to benefit Dark that much. ‘Then again,’ Seagryn mumbled, ‘I guess these gifts are given for the sake of others and not for ourselves.’” (Location 4273)
At an earlier point in the story, I was reminded of Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy when Seagryn ruminates over his experience of awe. “Why did he always forget how quickly shame metamorphosed into elation? Awe seized his spirit by the throat and sought to throttle it, but warmth and acceptance and the sense of belonging quickly diluted that killing awe into love. He had tried all his life to express the nature of this moment, but had never found words potent enough to carry the images.” (Loc. 3984) As an individual prone to depression, as well as open to the numinous, I could really relate to this description.
The Forging of the Dragon is something rare in my experience, a prequel that is better than the original story. I don’t see how anyone who liked the trilogy could be disappointed in The Forging of the Dragon. Then again, I admitted I’m biased.
June 15, 2014
I was pleasantly surprised with this first novel of Hughes's unfinished prequel trilogy to his _Pelmen the Powershaper_ trilogy. While his first three novels were fairly well-done fantasy with a slightly Christian spiritual touch, Hughes's talent has improved greatly in this work. Aside from a little drag toward the middle, the writing, characterization and plotting are all improved, and one part of the plot in particular is actually rather heartbreaking. Good workaday fantasy novel.
January 17, 2016
This is the first book in the "Wizard and Dragon" duology which is a prequel to the "Pelman the Powershaper" trilogy. I can never really decide if I like these books or not. Sometimes the narration is witty and humorous and the plot is fairly original and at other times the dialogue (inner and between characters) is very forced and the plot predictable and contrived.
March 16, 2016
I really enjoyed reading this book, I loved the fantasy world that was created and loved Dark the Prophet. I really felt bad for Seagryn at the beginning, and enjoyed watching him begin to enjoy his power. Overall I really enjoyed reading this and hope there is more in the series.
April 19, 2016
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
I found this to be a very entertaining light read.
The Fantasy world was well developed and the interaction between the characters was sharp.
Overall a very easy read.
I found this to be a very entertaining light read.
The Fantasy world was well developed and the interaction between the characters was sharp.
Overall a very easy read.
April 24, 2016
Fun fantasy
The is a great coming of age story with mystical creatures and magic. It also has some humor which always is appreciated. Nice and light and fun. Good read.
The is a great coming of age story with mystical creatures and magic. It also has some humor which always is appreciated. Nice and light and fun. Good read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews