Dragoncharm

The Ultimate Dragon Saga #1

by Graham Edwards

Before man, there was magic. And where there was magic, there were dragons.

The world is turning. The faeries are dying. Fortune, a humble dragon of the new, natural order, joins his fire-breathing friend Cumber on an epic quest to challenge the force that is drawing enchantment out of the world. As the tyrant Wraith attacks the ancient stronghold of Covamere, Fortune's growing band seeks to bring together the divided races of natural and charmed, for only if dragons are united can the world be made to turn true.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels

504 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 1996

About the author

Graham Edwards is the critically acclaimed author of multiple novels and short stories. His recent fantasy novel, "The Dragons of Bloodrock," revisits the mythical prehistory he created in his first novel, "Dragoncharm," evoking a bygone age before man walked the Earth, when dragons ruled the skies. Meanwhile "Stone & Sky" transports its Victorian hero Jonah Lightfoot to the precarious slopes of a world-sized wall where strange creatures roam and the memories of all humanity are stored.

If it’s crime you prefer, try the interdimensional thriller "String City," which follows the adventures of a down-at-heel gumshoe as he embarks on a cosmos-shaking quest in a strange city perched on the edge of the cosmos. Or travel back to ancient times to meet wandering bard Talus, the world’s first detective, in the neolithic murder mystery "Talus and the Frozen King."

Graham has ghostwritten other novels under various pseudonyms. Formerly senior staff writer at Cinefex magazine, is also a reasearch journalist specialising in behind-the-scenes articles on film and television productions.

"Dragoncharm" and its two sequels were each nominated for Best Novel in the British Fantasy Awards. Short fiction by Graham Edwards has appeared in magazines and anthologies. His novelette "Girl in Pieces" made the longlist for the Nebula Awards.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite book. This is the kind of book that you either love or hate. I can't explain it exactly, but there's a ageless feeling I get whenever I read it.

[Paysan]

Fortune is a Natural dragon who dreams of going on adventures. After meeting Cumber, a Charmed dragon, his whole life is turned upside down, and Fortune now has to go with his new friend on a journey that will test their courage and determination, meeting new friends and foes along the way.

I loved the characters and how they all came together in this story. Some of them I hated, some of them I felt sorry for, some of them I desperately wanted to survive, and some of them will stay rent free in my head for quite sometime (looking at you Wood). Shatter is probably the most insane dragon villain I've ever read about. The way he sees the world and everyone in it is actually terrifying.

The biggest highlight of Dragoncharm for me are the descriptions. They are absolutely beautiful and successfully immerse the reader into the story and the vibe of this book. I can't stress enough how much the flow of every detail and worldbuiling drew me in in a way that descriptions in other books have not succeeded, usually finding myself relying instead on dialogue and character interactions to keep me engaged.

One thing I didn't really like in Dragoncharm however is that characters often know exactly where to go, what to do, how to do it, but never why. They just know. It comes to them out of nowhere, like a signal in their heart or a sudden feeling of clarity. The story needs them to do this completely random thing, and so they do it, despite not knowing why themselves. Almost like there's a greater force at work influencing the characters. And only after they did the thing do they and the reader realize why this decision or action was important.

Overall, I really liked this book. It's far from perfect, but I had a great time with it. I definitely plan on reading it again in the future. For those of you who don't know, Dragoncharm was first published in the mid-90s. To my knowledge, it's one of the oldest dragon PoV stories out there (even older than Spyro). I would recommend checking it out, even if just for that reason.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and atypical fantasy book told from the perspectives of a dragon society. Very imaginative storytelling that is well-told enough that you can relate to the dragon protagonist.

[Deanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

my all time favourite book! Loved it, could read it over and over again.

[Ira Nayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Dragoncharm, Special Edition
Author: Graham Edwards
Ebook: 484 pages
Publisher: Graham Edwards (June 12, 2016)
Language: English
Kindle: $3.99

Writing about non-human creatures is a problem for speculative fiction.

On the one hand, anything truly alien, truly foreign to human experience will be all but incomprehensible to a human reader. (I can remember reading one or two short stories which portrayed an alien experience from the point of view of the alien; not only was there nothing in the experience that I could identify with, but, in one case in particular, there was nothing I could recognize.)

According to Protagoras, “man is the measure of all things.” I used to think that this was the height of arrogance, to think that all things must be measured by our limited yardstick. Now, I suspect it may be the only practical approach to understanding, in however limited a way, the universe, since it is the only yardstick that human beings are fully capable of reading.

On the other hand, writers often anthropomorphize alien creatures, giving them human characteristics and emotional makeups. The danger with this approach, however, is that if your alien creatures are too human, you will have lost the purpose of making them alien in the first place – you may as well have been writing about human characters from the get go.

There needs to be a sweet spot where there is just enough of the alien creature that is truly alien to human experience to make using the device of the alien worthwhile, but enough that is human so that readers will be able to follow a story and, perhaps, empathize with the characters. One common way of achieving this is to mix alien creatures with human beings, allowing each to comment on the strangeness of the ways of the other. When a work only involves alien creatures, the balance is a lot trickier.

Dragoncharm, by Graham Edwards, is an engaging novel, but it errs, perhaps, on the side of anthropomorphism.

In a world before humans existed, dragons are divided into two camps: charmed (who have the ability to wield magic) and natural (who do not). Long ago, there were only charmed dragons, but they have slowly been supplanted by natural dragons. Charmed dragons live in caves built out of mountains; natural dragons live in communities out in the open.

Oh, and charmed dragons seem to be going insane.

Dragoncharm is epic in scope, not just because a vast battle between factions of dragons seems inevitable. While all of this is going on, some characters are warned to prepare for the “turning,” something that could not only potentially change the world of the dragons, but remake the entire universe.

The world of Dragoncharm is very well conceived, focused on the different natures of the two sets of dragons. Charmed dragons, for example, use their magic to fly, so their wings tend to be stumpy appendages rather than the large, muscular wings that the natural dragons rely on. Used to moving through the wide open skies, natural dragons find the corridors and caves of the charmed dragons claustrophobic.

Building on this foundation, Edwards weaves a credible story in which the two sets of dragons, having become isolated from each other, have come to fear each other. Rumours of the destructive nature of the insanity plaguing the powerful charmed dragons give the natural dragons cause to fear for their safety. For their part, the charmed dragons know that their numbers are dwindling, and have reason to believe that if they do not act, they will become extinct.

Edwards’ masterstroke is showing how both sides succumb to charismatic, demagogic leaders who set them down the path to war. The charmed are led by a dragon whose lust for power over others is palpable, while the natural are led by a dragon whose sanity is questionable and whose main motivation seems to be, in the immortal words of The Batman’s Alfred, “watching the world burn.” Dragoncharm is at its most insightful when it portrays the ways such leaders play upon the ignorance and fear of the populations they lead.

There were minor problems with Dragoncharm. At one point, for instance, a dragon is said to land on its feet, but the expression doesn’t work for an animal that doesn’t have feet. Moreover, in discussing the theme of the novel in his introduction to the reissued volume, Edwards kind of gives away where the story has to go, which I thought was ill-advised.

My main problem with the novel as epic fantasy, though, is that the dragons aren’t, well, dragony enough. Relationships, whether between children or parents, male and female (I didn’t get a sense that there were any gay dragons, although there may have been subtle hints that I just missed) or friends (and, I suppose, enemies) were all clearly recognizable as human. There is no reason to believe, however, that dragons would develop emotional connection to each other in the same way that human beings do.

There are occasional glimpses into a specifically dragon way of life. When dragons are relieved to see the objects of their affections appear, for example, they literally jump them and roll around on the ground with them to express their joy. To use another example: young dragons have a game/competition to see who can fly to a given point fast enough. More details like that would have been appreciated.

On the other hand, it is possible to read Dragoncharm not as fantasy (in his forward to the Special Edition, Edwards states quite specifically that he does not consider it fantasy), but as a fable. Fables often use animals as thinly disguised stand-ins for human beings. What this does is distance the reader from the action of the story, making the author's moral easier to accept.

If read as a fable rather than a work of epic fantasy, Dragoncharm succeeds brilliantly.

Originally published on the Amazing Stories Web site (http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2016/08/...) on August 22, 2016.

[Pierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an original and imaginative story and world with dragon pov, the first in this genre I know of so far.
Though the characters exhibit some anthropomorphic traits, it does not spoil the read and contributes to make them easily endearing. Their affections may seem to build a bit rapidly, however the events thet're living through together are quite momentous [note : this is quite obvious in the original edition, the special edition has improved this significantly, as well as made the whole book leaner].
It is quite an epic, with a magic well developped and not merely a plot help. The underlying fabric of the world and magic, as well as this prehistory approach, are well imagined.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great world building as I really do enjoy when a fantasy offers the myths, legends, and history as it does add to the immersion into the story but sometimes there is to much as the characters feel kind of flat as if they are just reacting or just there. It feels like the story is more interested in telling the background info of the world then actually letting the characters be part of it. But the story is interesting as we have sort of a culture clash between two different types of dragons and the heroes are just trying to find safety from this growing war between the two races. I do like this idea but it really needed to focus more on the characters.

[River · Rating 2 out of 5]

As others have mentioned already, this book has a lot of issues with pacing. When the action is present and good, you fly through the words and can't wait to find out what happens. However, as soon as it flops, man, does it turn into a slog.

The characters, while interesting, are strangely written. Everyone is very rigid and formal, except when they're not and giggling at things that aren't funny. I get that the mains are meant to be young, so write them young... not strangely old and mature who then suddenly break down into giggles and zoomies randomly.

Lastly, I found that too many ideas were being dropped every chapter and too many characters being introduced - which seems crazy to say since I generally love high fantasy large-page count reads.

For example. Imagine if you were reading a book and they spend chapter one telling you about the characters in and all about the magic system of Harry Potter. Then chapter two comes along and they introduce all of LOTR's cast. Chapter three introduces all of GoT cast and their entire history. Now repeat this consistently off and on for 500 pages, swapping pov's all over the place. I honestly lost track of how many devices to move the plot along were in action, and don't ask me how many characters there are! Phew!

In the end, I can see how this book would be fun for younger people a few years ago; it tries to do a lot of what WoT does. The cover art for the 2nd and 3rd book are very unique and appealing, so props to the artist for that. Will I continue this series? Maybe, but for now it's shelved.

[K. R. Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about dragons as told by dragons.

It was interesting to read a book about non-human characters. However, I expected there to be more of a feel of the otherness throughout. For the most part, the book is relatable because the characters feel human just with dragon form. They smile, shrug, wink, just the same as a human might. I expected more dragon formed emotions (there was a little near the end, namely "lewd" tail movements) but for the most part you could replace the dragon with a human in your head and read the story just fine.

I also found the characters to be a little lacking. They instantly like each other. Sometimes instantly fall in love. There is little to no misunderstanding between them, ever. The antagonists ... well that is when the book tends to try a bit too hard. It over-dramatizes them.

All that said, I did really like some of the worldbuilding and the ending. There are layers and layers of worldbuilding that does not appear right at the beginning. Sometimes what you think is a random detail turns out to be a hint at greater happenings in the world.

[Tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very original book, however it was so up and down for me. At times I was so involved with the characters that I couldn't put it down and at other times it was boring, slow moving and I was uninterested. Maybe that says more about me then the book, so dont take this to heart. The world building is exactly what i would imagine for a world inhabited by dragons and did provoke great visual imagery. Some of the politics and in fighting between different dragon fractions was where the book lost interest for me, it seemed that most of the dragons didn't know( and hence i didnt) why they were fighting each other and resulted in a at times confusing plot. But all told it was good story and not what i was expecting when i picked up the novel and i will probably in time read the other to books in the series.

[Rogue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ooooohhhh boy. Trying to be a bit Eye of the World but with dragons and a lot of things happening. Also new "twists" being introduced and then immediately used (basilisk? Seed? End of the world? Magical dead parents?! Check) . Stuff just kept happening and more characters kept getting introduced but I never really cared that much? Also, the female dragons just... immediately fell in love with the Main Characters. Uhhhh.....

[The Book Wyvern]

Although out of print, this book is a great read for those who love dragons. Dragons are the protagonists and antagonists of this series. Despite the novel slowing down through the middle of the novel, it does pick up to a great climax at the end. I would definitely recommend for dragon lovers to get their hands on it.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best dragon fantasy novel of all time!!

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

liked it more than i thought it would

[Dion Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the easiest read but worth the effort.

[Lone Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Dragoncharm’ and its two sequels, ‘Dragonstorm’ and ‘Dragonflame’, tell the story of young dragon Fortune and his companions as they struggle to cope with a cataclysmic event called the Turning of the World. The plot is complex and interesting with rarely a dull moment, keeping you gripped all the way through, and I enjoyed the fact that the story does not revolve around human characters interacting with dragons – it is all told from the dragons’ point of view. However, the dragons are very anthropomorphic, thinking and behaving like people rather than animals (they have such concepts as murder, government and war), when I would personally have preferred them to have a more original “dragonish” culture.

Some of the events of the plot do feel somewhat contrived, and there are a couple of cases of insta-love that were a little annoying. There are also some noticeable continuity errors – for example, a wingless dragon described as “throwing out his wing”, or a character who is explicitly stated not to know another’s name later using that name. I was also bothered by the fact that, as any cryptozoologist will tell you, the author’s “natural dragons”, having only two legs, are in fact not dragons but wyverns!

[Lynette Chambers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the story idea - and was drawn in rather quickly. However, as the story dragged on, and more and more "dragon" characters were introduced, I found that it was difficult to keep up with the direction the tale was going. I wound up jumping ahead and scanning pages just to get to the end and see how it wrapped up.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the way tension is controlled in this novel and the way the final scenes play out. I find the descriptions of character emotions a little cliche, but it didn't matter because the plot was so enjoyable.