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The Dragon's Path
(The Dagger and the Coin #1)
by
All paths lead to war...
Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.
Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gol ...more
Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.
Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gol ...more
Paperback, 555 pages
Published
April 7th 2011
by Orbit
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Start your review of The Dragon's Path (The Dagger and the Coin, #1)

UPDATE: $2.99 Kindle US 7/7/19

First off, I love this freaking cover!!
I loved this book better the second time around! Must have been my mood the first time or I have evolved! The narration was great!
Anyway, the book revolves around four characters, but my favorite is Cithrin and then Geder. They seemed the most interesting to me.
I really, really hope to like the rest of the series 😊
Mel ❤️ ...more

First off, I love this freaking cover!!
I loved this book better the second time around! Must have been my mood the first time or I have evolved! The narration was great!
Anyway, the book revolves around four characters, but my favorite is Cithrin and then Geder. They seemed the most interesting to me.
I really, really hope to like the rest of the series 😊
Mel ❤️ ...more

3.5/5 stars
There’s a charm in Abraham’s writing and the stories he tells that just keeps me coming back for more. And the same can be said for The Dragon’s Path.
Daniel Abraham is one of my most read authors. Not including novellas and short stories, I’ve read twelve novels by him; eight from The Expanse, and four from The Long Price Quartet. This makes The Dragon’s Path, the first book in The Dagger and the Coin series, the thirteenth novel of his that I read. Is he included in my list of favori ...more
There’s a charm in Abraham’s writing and the stories he tells that just keeps me coming back for more. And the same can be said for The Dragon’s Path.
Daniel Abraham is one of my most read authors. Not including novellas and short stories, I’ve read twelve novels by him; eight from The Expanse, and four from The Long Price Quartet. This makes The Dragon’s Path, the first book in The Dagger and the Coin series, the thirteenth novel of his that I read. Is he included in my list of favori ...more

The star rating system is vague and imperfect. My feelings on this one are somewhere between "liked it" and "really liked it," but I decided to give it four stars because if any author deserves an extra star, it is Daniel Abraham. His first published series, The Long Price Quartet, has been named among the best fantasy series of the last decade by just about everyone whose opinion I respect. As a reward for his efforts, he was dropped by his publisher.
You could argue that this is justified, sin ...more
You could argue that this is justified, sin ...more

Jun 05, 2014
carol.
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
fans of epic fantasy
Shelves:
fantasy,
epic-fantasy
Three and a half stars.
I cut my reading teeth on fantasy and science fiction. A regular at the local library, I had gone through their “SF/F” offerings by early teens (which is how I came to read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) and relied on my babysitting money and the local Waldenbooks for more current fare. The scarcity of material meant I re-read books I owned many, many times. As a result, when I encounter something that feels new in fantasy, that has a fresh take or inspired writing, I ...more
I cut my reading teeth on fantasy and science fiction. A regular at the local library, I had gone through their “SF/F” offerings by early teens (which is how I came to read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) and relied on my babysitting money and the local Waldenbooks for more current fare. The scarcity of material meant I re-read books I owned many, many times. As a result, when I encounter something that feels new in fantasy, that has a fresh take or inspired writing, I ...more

“There are two ways to meet the world. You go out with a blade in your hand or else with a purse.”
Here is the main thing: just because there is G.R.R. Martin on the cover, it doesn’t mean that this is a GOT book. Now, this is both bad and good news. Bad, if you wanted to read yet another GOT and good if you didn’t. What I mean to say is that: Dragon’s Path is different. Daniel Abraham is not your mediocre copycat writer who explores vampires when they are hot just to abandon them in favour of an ...more
Here is the main thing: just because there is G.R.R. Martin on the cover, it doesn’t mean that this is a GOT book. Now, this is both bad and good news. Bad, if you wanted to read yet another GOT and good if you didn’t. What I mean to say is that: Dragon’s Path is different. Daniel Abraham is not your mediocre copycat writer who explores vampires when they are hot just to abandon them in favour of an ...more

The Dragon's Path is the first book in a planned 5 book series. I found it very similar to ASOIAF in the complexity of it's characters and the scope of the political and military struggles. Abraham has worked with GRRM for many years and he's obviously learned a lot in his time getting coffee, helping kill off the Starks and fighting off angry fans who want to know when 'Winds of Winter' will be released.
This book is told using the same chapter/POV style as ASOIAF. After reading a lot of books ...more
This book is told using the same chapter/POV style as ASOIAF. After reading a lot of books ...more

The Dragon's Path is an intriguing and character-focused fantasy release that helped me get out of a reading and review slump that has lasted 3-months.
The first entry in The Dagger and the Coin series, The Dragon's Path mainly follows 4 point of view perspectives, 3 of which I really enjoyed reading. These main characters are Cithrin, an orphan bank ward, Marcus, a warrior of some renown, Geder, an upper-class intellect yet substandard soldier, and Dawson, a man of influence in one of the capit ...more
The first entry in The Dagger and the Coin series, The Dragon's Path mainly follows 4 point of view perspectives, 3 of which I really enjoyed reading. These main characters are Cithrin, an orphan bank ward, Marcus, a warrior of some renown, Geder, an upper-class intellect yet substandard soldier, and Dawson, a man of influence in one of the capit ...more

4 ☆
I'm certain this is a temporary rating, as I have full confidence that Abraham is just setting up something amazing in the books to come.
Full review: https://youtu.be/7pBTwUdejYk ...more
I'm certain this is a temporary rating, as I have full confidence that Abraham is just setting up something amazing in the books to come.
Full review: https://youtu.be/7pBTwUdejYk ...more

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com
While The Dragon’s Path was entertaining, I’m sad to say I didn’t like it nearly as much as the other two series I’ve read from this author (The Long Price Quartet & Leviathan).
Abraham has a talent for orchestrating multiple POVs. While it was especially brilliant in Leviathan and LPQ, it didn’t work as well for me here. I’ve been known to criticize authors who have more than two POVs because they run the risk that readers will have a hard time g ...more
While The Dragon’s Path was entertaining, I’m sad to say I didn’t like it nearly as much as the other two series I’ve read from this author (The Long Price Quartet & Leviathan).
Abraham has a talent for orchestrating multiple POVs. While it was especially brilliant in Leviathan and LPQ, it didn’t work as well for me here. I’ve been known to criticize authors who have more than two POVs because they run the risk that readers will have a hard time g ...more

I have to say that this book was such a breath of fresh air for me. Have you ever had that reading rut where you feel like every fantasy book that you read has essentially the same plotline, characters, tropes etc...? Well The Dragon's Path is an amazing story that thankfully takes familiar themes but somehow manages to make them seem fresh and original. Yes there are the usual quest and battle scenes that we have grown very accustomed to in the genre. But there are als interesting sideplots tha
...more

I've been a long time picking up this series..in the end I didn't pick it up at all- it picked ME up and charged through the story with me in tow!
'There are two ways to meet the world. You go out with a blade in your hand or else with a purse.”
And this was one of the things I loved about this book. It is an example of the fine balance between war and economics.
This is character led story telling at its best.: they change and evolve, grow and transform. The world building was fabulous. I would lo ...more
'There are two ways to meet the world. You go out with a blade in your hand or else with a purse.”
And this was one of the things I loved about this book. It is an example of the fine balance between war and economics.
This is character led story telling at its best.: they change and evolve, grow and transform. The world building was fabulous. I would lo ...more

OK, so this is a weird book.
The fact Martin, GRR is a buddy did not help. Because I could not escape the feeling of heavy influence on our present author.
It seems Daniel has heard of epic books and that, if you want praise from Martin, should contain dragons, puppet shows, nice clothes, a sense of noble melancholy and pending doom, characters that are gritty and confused and human, and such like.
Sounds good.
But the execution is, like I mentioned, weird. First, there are three or four main charac ...more
The fact Martin, GRR is a buddy did not help. Because I could not escape the feeling of heavy influence on our present author.
It seems Daniel has heard of epic books and that, if you want praise from Martin, should contain dragons, puppet shows, nice clothes, a sense of noble melancholy and pending doom, characters that are gritty and confused and human, and such like.
Sounds good.
But the execution is, like I mentioned, weird. First, there are three or four main charac ...more

I guess it's a good sign when you read the first few chapters of a book and start searching google for similar books. Man, this book was amazing. Less action, but more character development, realistic dialogue, unpredictable plot twists and just awesomeness.
Geder was my favorite character and i cant wait to see how his story unfolds. Vincen Coe was another favorite, a man of few words, usually lets his sword do the talking but his loyalty is what i love most about him.
The Dragon's Path has intr ...more
Geder was my favorite character and i cant wait to see how his story unfolds. Vincen Coe was another favorite, a man of few words, usually lets his sword do the talking but his loyalty is what i love most about him.
The Dragon's Path has intr ...more

11/4/2014: I didn’t go in to this book expecting to be disappointed (quite the opposite, in fact). It just worked out that way.
Firstly, The Dragon’s Path is the first in a five book epic fantasy series. It’s a multiple POV novel, in the style of GRRM, although with only four POV characters instead of who knows how many at this point. The four characters are Dawson Kalliam, a noble who gets embroiled in political intrigue of the court; Cithrin Belsarcour, a young orphan raised as a ward of a ban ...more
Firstly, The Dragon’s Path is the first in a five book epic fantasy series. It’s a multiple POV novel, in the style of GRRM, although with only four POV characters instead of who knows how many at this point. The four characters are Dawson Kalliam, a noble who gets embroiled in political intrigue of the court; Cithrin Belsarcour, a young orphan raised as a ward of a ban ...more

I finally finished listening to this one! The narrator is fantastic - he did a great job with the reading and the voices, which I think for an audio book is key! The story is also well done - it's an epic fantasy and has a great cast of characters and plot and I was drawn into the world. It didn't seem too heavy with the details, but there's lots going on and the pace is brisk. If you enjoyed The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, you'' like this one as well!
...more

I absolutely loved Daniel Abraham's fantastic Long Price Quartet when I read it a few years ago, so I'm quite surprised it's taken me so long to start his other major fantasy series, The Dagger and the Coin, of which this is the first volume.
I'm happy to say I enjoyed this every bit as much as I did the LPQ books... perhaps even a little more!
The world-building is superb; you really get a sense that this is a fully realised world and that there's so much more going on outside the parameters of t ...more
I'm happy to say I enjoyed this every bit as much as I did the LPQ books... perhaps even a little more!
The world-building is superb; you really get a sense that this is a fully realised world and that there's so much more going on outside the parameters of t ...more

First up, let's get something clear, this book doesn't have any actual Dragons in it, despite the name, and The Dragon's Path is actually a road which connects various places in this world which was once made by Dragons (back when they were in the world). I don't know if going into this book I should have known that there were no dragons, because I would say that the title is misleading, but unfortunately I didn't realise and therefore the distinct lack of Dragons was a source of constant disapp
...more

Executive Summary: An enjoyable start to a fantasy series that seems to focus more on politics and the economy than it does on battles and magic.
Audio book: I initially really struggled with the audio book. This wasn't Pete Bradbury's fault. Rather there is a lot sort of dumped on you at the beginning and it would have been nice to go back and reread which isn't always possible for me when I'm listening.
By the second day I had my bearings though, and will continue on with this series in audio mo ...more
Audio book: I initially really struggled with the audio book. This wasn't Pete Bradbury's fault. Rather there is a lot sort of dumped on you at the beginning and it would have been nice to go back and reread which isn't always possible for me when I'm listening.
By the second day I had my bearings though, and will continue on with this series in audio mo ...more

Probably the best new fantasy epic in 2011. I already read and liked The Long Price quartet, but Abraham has upped his game in this ambitious project. The influence of George R R Martin I think is clear in the grand scale of the world, the low but powerful magic that is more a dark threat than an active presence, and most of all in the careful development of the main characters and in the unexpected / brutal twist in the storyline. In the interview at the end of the book Abraham also mentions an
...more

Update: somehow the second time around made me enjoy this book so much more. While some characters did not pop for me (like Marcus), I found that Geder and Cithrin were the characters I could not get enough.
I loved how they are unique in some of their traits: Geder a loser and a soldier, having an awful reputation with the secret passion of essays. Cithrin is more typically falling in the category of coming of age but with the bank twist and I could not stop reading.
This book, in fact, has a m ...more

I really enjoyed this multiple POV low fantasy story. This was the first Daniel Abraham I've read, although I've enjoyed his work in the writing duo James S.A. Corey.
The characters are diverse and although it's seldom the case in multiple POV books, I found myself invested in all of them. I usually have favourites and not-this-one-again's fairly early in a series of this sort, but that didn't happen this time. I found each of the main characters engaging and interesting enough that I was always ...more
The characters are diverse and although it's seldom the case in multiple POV books, I found myself invested in all of them. I usually have favourites and not-this-one-again's fairly early in a series of this sort, but that didn't happen this time. I found each of the main characters engaging and interesting enough that I was always ...more

Very well written first installment of series. I enjoyed the story arc of all the characters but especially Geder who definitely took a different path than I thought at the start. Two of the main story lines only touched briefly a couple of times so I'll be interested to see how they affect each other.
...more

A great start to a series !
Really enjoyed this book.
Will write a review when I finish the series.
A very good book...and 3 more to go, can't wait ! ...more
Really enjoyed this book.
Will write a review when I finish the series.
A very good book...and 3 more to go, can't wait ! ...more

4.5 Stars
When it comes to writing modern fantasy it appears that authors need to do one of two things. They need to write something unique or edgy, something or a treatment not seen before. A prime example being how J.R.R Tolkien took Norse mythology and turned it into his own mythology of the world or how Brandon Sanderson took the idea of the physics' based magic system and made it his own. The second thing authors can do is to write very, very well: the best examples being E.R.R Eddison or Me ...more

I'd heard great things about this author in the corners of the internet I frequent, so trying out his new book seemed like a good idea. The beginning didn't grab me, but in the first chapter we meet an acting troupe putting on a play that so cleverly mocks epic fantasy--"despite the actor's warnings [that anything could happen], the good triumphed, the evil were vanquished"--that I was intrigued enough to continue. And so I did, even though as of about halfway through the book I found myself dis
...more

Oct 05, 2020
Marc *Dark Reader of the Woods*
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fantasy,
high-fantasy
Who wants to get on their medieval banking drama, yo?
A high quality, modern, straightforward fantasy from a reliable author with established bonafides. It reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie's First Law books in its approach to characters and plot progression, but despite a comparable quantity of deaths overall, it lacks the nihilism needed to classify it as grimdark.
I liked most of the characters with the exception of Dawson, the rigid nobleman maneuvering to make his vision for the kingship ...more
A high quality, modern, straightforward fantasy from a reliable author with established bonafides. It reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie's First Law books in its approach to characters and plot progression, but despite a comparable quantity of deaths overall, it lacks the nihilism needed to classify it as grimdark.
I liked most of the characters with the exception of Dawson, the rigid nobleman maneuvering to make his vision for the kingship ...more

Oct 12, 2014
Jenna Kathleen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
buddy-reads,
fantasy
Where are my dragons?!
Despite the lack of dragons, this book was great. I wasn't expecting much when I started, but I am now excited to see how the rest of the series will unfold.
Dawson was an incredibly boring character and it took awhile before Geder grew on me, but he had wonderful character development and I am sure it is only the beginning for him. I loved Marcus and Cithrin. The setting with the bank made the world very unique and well-developed. ...more
Despite the lack of dragons, this book was great. I wasn't expecting much when I started, but I am now excited to see how the rest of the series will unfold.
Dawson was an incredibly boring character and it took awhile before Geder grew on me, but he had wonderful character development and I am sure it is only the beginning for him. I loved Marcus and Cithrin. The setting with the bank made the world very unique and well-developed. ...more

Excellent series debut and while a partly introductory book, there are a lot of goodies, a great ending at a perfect stopping point and potential for this to become of my top series of all time.
I will add more as the release date gets closer and of course I will add the full FBC review later in the year but for now if you want a reasonable comparison, i would say that this reads like a much better Way of Kings without all the unnecessary verbiage that was such a drag there - traditional fantasy ...more
I will add more as the release date gets closer and of course I will add the full FBC review later in the year but for now if you want a reasonable comparison, i would say that this reads like a much better Way of Kings without all the unnecessary verbiage that was such a drag there - traditional fantasy ...more

DNF at hell knows how many % since it's hard to tell, since my ebook of "The Dragon's Path" had addition book at the end.
Verdict for this book:
Plain Jane.

You can smell G.R.R Martin everywhere (well, he even left his name on the cover - in my edition there was his quote that you should totally read this). And it's a fantasy that is easy to understand (go to Fifty Shades of Grey universe, you evil The Black Company) and despite continuous plot and stuff happening, somewhere you find yourself not ...more
Verdict for this book:
Plain Jane.

You can smell G.R.R Martin everywhere (well, he even left his name on the cover - in my edition there was his quote that you should totally read this). And it's a fantasy that is easy to understand (go to Fifty Shades of Grey universe, you evil The Black Company) and despite continuous plot and stuff happening, somewhere you find yourself not ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Beyond Reality: The Dragon’s Path (9/21)—Finished Reading *Spoilers OK* | 10 | 19 | Dec 14, 2021 07:37PM | |
SciFi and Fantasy...: "The Dragon's Path" First Impressions *No Spoilers* | 42 | 430 | Dec 02, 2021 08:07AM | |
Play Book Tag: The Dragon's Path 4 stars (POLLS) | 1 | 6 | Oct 10, 2020 11:26AM | |
Fantasy Buddy Reads: Dragon's Path [Oct 15, 2018] | 105 | 46 | Nov 22, 2018 05:01AM | |
Buy the Ducatus coin for a future in investment | 1 | 2 | Sep 10, 2018 10:37PM | |
Dragons & Jetpacks: The Dragon's Path - Overall Discussion - ***SPOILERS*** | 27 | 51 | Oct 07, 2017 05:25AM |
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Daniel James Abraham, pen names M.L.N. Hanover and James S.A. Corey, is an American novelist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of
The Long Price Quartet
and
The Dagger and the Coin
fantasy series, and with Ty Franck, as the co-author of
The Expanse
series of science fiction novels, written under the joint pseudonym James S.A. Co
...more
Other books in the series
The Dagger and the Coin
(5 books)
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