Dragon Heart

by Peter Higgins

For readers of Cormac McCarthy and Justin Cronin, this is the story of one family's battle for survival in a world where evil has already won.

As they fight their way across a dying land, Shay and Cass will do anything to keep their daughter, Hope, alive. The family faces unimaginable dangers as they try to stay together, and stay alive, long enough to reach safety. But when the heart of a dragon starts to beat in Hope's chest, they fear they'll lose her to a battle they can't possibly help her win . . .

Critically acclaimed author Peter Higgins has written a richly evocative post-apocalyptic fantasy novel about how, even in the darkest of times, we have so much to lose.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons

416 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2020

About the author

Peter Higgins is a British author. Wolfhound Century and Truth and Fear are published by Gollancz in the UK and Orbit in the US.

Peter's short fiction has appeared in Fantasy: Best of the Year 2007 and Best New Fantasy 2, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, Zahir and Revelation, and in Russian translation in Esli.

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having very much enjoyed the Wolfhound Century Trilogy I was excited to dive into Dragon Heart, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. This post-apocalyptic world is built magnificently, and the attempts residents made to get away from the dark force intent on following them are frightening. The characters are well drawn and relatable; I wouldn't want to be in their position. The fear and tension were palpable throughout, but Higgins isn't just a master of suspense he manages to make you feel for the characters too and there are a few scenes that I found profoundly emotive.

I appreciated that the author decided to include relatively few characters; I find that some writers tend to go overboard thinking there needs to be a certain number of people, but, here, the focus on the small cast means they are richly imagined, vivid and three-dimensional. Told from the points-of-view of Shay and Cass, we get to know them well; their motivations, their hopes; their grief. As with all books in the Grimdark sub-genre, there is lots of death, fear and absolute terror, and the reader feels every single bit a part of the plot rather than looking in as an outsider. It does start off quite slowly so the reader can immerse themselves in the world, but it soon picks up speed and carries on that way right up to the conclusion.

Many thanks to Gollancz for an ARC.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little dissapointed. I had enjoyed Higgins previous trilogy so was excited about this. This was more along a dark fantasy style. Mother father child dark fantasy adventure. The unborn daughter has the heart of a dragon and maybe the "one" dragon. I felt like the chatacters here were flat, the plot non existent until the last 1/3 of the novel and the pacing way too slow. I think the writing style (a little too overwitten) contributed to the pacing issues.

[Ioanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The world is changing. Dark forces are invading from the north, making their way everywhere. Destruction and death is all that remains wherever the evil creatures have gone. A portal from another world has opened, and the world seems doomed.

Among the chaos and the constant threat of death, there is a couple that will do anything to protect their newborn daughter. Shay, a woman with magical abilities, and Cass, her ex fighter husband, are running across the country in a desperate attempt to flee and keep their newborn daughter safe. But there are simply some things you can't hide from, no matter how fast you run. When the heart of a dragon starts beating in their baby girl, they will realise this is where real danger begins.

Dragon Heart is a fantasy novel with a promising concept. Higgins' style of writing draws the reader in, and the beginning is intriguing enough to make the reader very hopeful of what will follow. Unfortunately, there were elements that pushed me away instead of drawing me in.

The book is written in extreme details. Unfortunately, this isn't only true about parts that needed this level of details; the author kept describing things that actually added nothing to the story (simple example: the number of times we read about Cass building a fire for his wife and daughter, or the constant walking). There are times when details enrich a story and times when they just tire the reader out, and this book followed majorly the second instance.

Due to ,basically, the author's focus on details, it took an exceedingly long time to get to the point of the story. I, as a reader, kept going through the pages, hoping I will -any moment now- get to the essence of the plot. Unfortunately, it took a very long time to get there. I understand that every story needs a basis, but the basis of Dragon Heart was too wide, and the plot came very late in the book.

Moreover, I found great influences from other epic fantasy books (mainly, The Lord of the Rings and Eragon). Now, in its essence, this isn't a bad thing. After all, there's no parthenogenesis, and all writers borrow inspirations from others. However, the influence in Dragon Heart was way too strong for my liking, to the point that I felt the author's own original voice getting sometimes a little "lost" in the story.

Still, I believe Dragon Heart is a good read for people who don't mind - or even enjoy - large, detailed descriptions and aren't disheartened by slow and steady plot progress. Thank you to Orion Publishing for the ARC.

[Madelaine Marko · Rating 2 out of 5]

good premise but basically a walking simulator that goes nowhere.

[Lara Vehar · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had this one on my bookshelf for a while now. I remember picking it up because it has an interesting premise and an interesting cover -I love this cover so much - it's black and white with a tiny speck of color and an epic dragon - and the story sounded interesting.

But if you go into this book expecting epic dragons and fantasy... you will be deeply mistaken. I started reading this book after New year and it took me until now to finish it. Those 400 pages felt like 4000.

I love it when the author describes the world and uses a lot of detail - most of the time - but this one was just bloated with the deatails that added nothing to the story, like someone pointed out them making fire, them just walking and nothing happening, them staying at a cottage and nothing really happening, them finding food and eating it - this book felt like it wanted to do a lot but nothing is really happening through like 80% of it and what does happen happens at the end of the book - and it's an open ended book that really needs a sequel because the premise is well set up - you have a dying world, a witch that just gave birth and her husband - they run away before the darkness and dying and they have to keep themselves and the child alive, even when said witch loses her powers. The child is special and has the heart of the dragon inside of her now meaning that she will in time turn into a full dragon and be imortal after touching the corpse of the last dragon there was before her. It's an interesting premise but it's seemingly glossed over and nothing really happens aside from her to choose to live in the dying world when she has a chance to go to a different world that is still safe and full of immortal beings.

I love Higgin's attention to detail but because this book was so bloated I doubt that I will read another one of his books any time soon.

[Helen French · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hole between the worlds is destroying the land that Shay and Castrel live in. Terrible forces leak out of it, infecting the land and killing everyone in its stead. It comes like a shadow approaching, slow but inevitable and impossible to hide from.

Castrel is pregnant and desperate to protect her child. Together with Shay, they begin a long walk down the side of the road trying to reach some form of safety. They stumble upon the giant corpse of a powerful dead dragon and in doing so their daughter becomes ‘infected’ with the heart of a dragon. She will be more than human now.

Still they run for safety. Evil riders chase them. A ‘friend’ of sorts from another world emerges - a non-human visitor who cannot solve the problem either. But by and large they are alone, always walking forward, always hoping to find a better place for their daughter.

This is a long, bleak, hard read. It is essentially one long journey of despair. The author really captures a parent’s desperate need to protect their child, and of course their love. The writing very effectively portrays the grim world they live in. But I have to admit to liking rather more ‘hope’ in my fiction (it’s in quote marks as their daughter is called Hope - and naturally she’s in it rather a lot).

I liked the ideas behind the world building and all the way through I was hoping Shay and Cass could make it to a better place. That they would have the chance to make some decisions in their life other than merely forging on. That they wouldn’t spend almost the whole book near death. It was just a little much for me! But perhaps that is a failure of me as a reader more than that of the book.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragon heart is an interesting take on the chosen one with powers trope, in that it is told by the parents of one such being, as they travel through a fantasy apocalypse. I appreciated the way their struggles with what their child was becoming were explored and the theme of parental love. However, the dialogue and characters felt quite simple and it was therefore difficult to care about their struggles. And they just kept walking. And walking. The travelling was drawn out to an extreme, with minimal things of note happening during these large potions of the book.

The general vibe of the story worked really well though, a sort of melancholic acknowledgement of change and general sadness at a crumbling world brightened by the people in your life.

All in, it might have worked better as a short story with less lengthy travel sequences in which nothing much happens. But I did still enjoy :)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book with no expectations and was thoroughly surprised!

This is probably the best apocalyptic, world ending book I’ve ever read.

I’m in awe at the amount or world building that was achieved in just 400 pages.

My only gripe would be that the very end felt slightly rushed and I would have liked an epilogue to show a little of the future of the characters.

[Lydia Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the writing and world building was certainly intriguing - nothing much really happens in the book. Others have enjoyed this and I see why but it is not to my taste - there was little to no character development and no real tension was developed, despite the apocalyptic setting. However, if he wrote a sequel I would probably give it a read.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and entertaining, what more could you ask of a book😈

Thoroughly enjoyable read, I have been a fan of Peter Higgins prior works and this continues the to keep me enraptured

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a miserable book.

[Ravenclaw Library Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world building is strong and immersive and the characters were well-rounded. I did wish slightly more had happened in the plot, though. I would read a sequel because I want to know what will happen to Hope.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and Peter Higgins for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.