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The Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham (view source)
Revision as of 10:06, 10 April 2011
, 10:06, 10 April 2011Created page with '{{infobox |title= The Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path |sort=Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path |author=Daniel Abraham |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Fantasy |summary=What seems…'
{{infobox
|title= The Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path
|sort=Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path
|author=Daniel Abraham
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=What seems like a routine fantasy epic is lifted head and
shoulders above the crowd by brilliant characterisation and dialogue
and some unexpected twists and turns. Massive recommendation!
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|paperback=1841498874
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=B004SBMJSI
|pages=576
|publisher=Orbit
|date=April 2011
|isbn=978-1841498874
|website=http://www.danielabraham.com/
|video=s3G1wbKmXrA
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498874</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1841498874</amazonus>
}}
A hero of renown, jaded by fighting and ready to leave the city before war breaks out. The only son of a noble house, taking more of an interest in books than swords. A court baron who strives to keep his king from being killed by traitors. And a young girl, left orphaned, disguised as a boy in a desperate attempt to smuggle the city's fortune to safety. Reading the cast list for the
first volume of Daniel Abraham's new fantasy epic, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd read very similar works before. You'd also be completely wrong.
Abraham takes some of the most played-out archetypes in all of fantasy
and breathes new life into them with a mixture of superb
characterisation, brilliant character development, and some of the
most enjoyable dialogue I've read in ages. It's a lengthy book which
absolutely demands to be galloped through, holding the reader glued to
the page as twists and turns in the plot come to light and the
characters develop in ways I'd never have expected but which make
perfect sense looking back. Geder, the young nobleman, and Cithrin,
the orphan girl, in particular stand out as characters who change
incredibly over the course of the novel. While the four main
characters are clearly the best thought-out, there's an enjoyable
supporting cast, especially the actors who the veteran Marcus employs
to pose as caravan guards to give him a legitimate reason to leave,
and Baron Dawson's wife Clara.
The world Abraham creates is a rather different one from the standard
fantasy setting as well – rather than dwarves, elves or orcs, we
instead get thirteen races created by the dragons who have long since left
the world. There's not an awful lot of emphasis on the different
races, to be honest, but this is probably a wise decision as packing
anything more into this weighty novel would have been more likely to
subtract from the overall storyline than add to it. There's certainly
the basis for further volumes in The Dagger and The Coin series to
tell us more about the world's history and the different races and I'd
definitely look forward to reading about it.
Overall, extremely high recommendation and I'm already licking my lips
at the thought of book two!
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Further reading suggestion: So much great high fantasy out there you're spoilt for choice; two particular favourites are the Moorhawke
trilogy – starting with the [[The Poison Throne (Moorehawke Trilogy) by Celine Kiernan|The Poison Throne]] – by Celine Kiernan and NK
Jemisin's books, the first of which is [[The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N K Jemisin|The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms]].
Abraham himself has clearly been influenced by George R R Martin's
[[A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin|Song of Ice and Fire series]], which he's adapting as a comic, and that's another one which you may be interested in trying.
{{amazontext|amazon=1841498874}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7441659}}
{{commenthead}}
|title= The Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path
|sort=Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path
|author=Daniel Abraham
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=What seems like a routine fantasy epic is lifted head and
shoulders above the crowd by brilliant characterisation and dialogue
and some unexpected twists and turns. Massive recommendation!
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|paperback=1841498874
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=B004SBMJSI
|pages=576
|publisher=Orbit
|date=April 2011
|isbn=978-1841498874
|website=http://www.danielabraham.com/
|video=s3G1wbKmXrA
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498874</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1841498874</amazonus>
}}
A hero of renown, jaded by fighting and ready to leave the city before war breaks out. The only son of a noble house, taking more of an interest in books than swords. A court baron who strives to keep his king from being killed by traitors. And a young girl, left orphaned, disguised as a boy in a desperate attempt to smuggle the city's fortune to safety. Reading the cast list for the
first volume of Daniel Abraham's new fantasy epic, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd read very similar works before. You'd also be completely wrong.
Abraham takes some of the most played-out archetypes in all of fantasy
and breathes new life into them with a mixture of superb
characterisation, brilliant character development, and some of the
most enjoyable dialogue I've read in ages. It's a lengthy book which
absolutely demands to be galloped through, holding the reader glued to
the page as twists and turns in the plot come to light and the
characters develop in ways I'd never have expected but which make
perfect sense looking back. Geder, the young nobleman, and Cithrin,
the orphan girl, in particular stand out as characters who change
incredibly over the course of the novel. While the four main
characters are clearly the best thought-out, there's an enjoyable
supporting cast, especially the actors who the veteran Marcus employs
to pose as caravan guards to give him a legitimate reason to leave,
and Baron Dawson's wife Clara.
The world Abraham creates is a rather different one from the standard
fantasy setting as well – rather than dwarves, elves or orcs, we
instead get thirteen races created by the dragons who have long since left
the world. There's not an awful lot of emphasis on the different
races, to be honest, but this is probably a wise decision as packing
anything more into this weighty novel would have been more likely to
subtract from the overall storyline than add to it. There's certainly
the basis for further volumes in The Dagger and The Coin series to
tell us more about the world's history and the different races and I'd
definitely look forward to reading about it.
Overall, extremely high recommendation and I'm already licking my lips
at the thought of book two!
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Further reading suggestion: So much great high fantasy out there you're spoilt for choice; two particular favourites are the Moorhawke
trilogy – starting with the [[The Poison Throne (Moorehawke Trilogy) by Celine Kiernan|The Poison Throne]] – by Celine Kiernan and NK
Jemisin's books, the first of which is [[The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N K Jemisin|The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms]].
Abraham himself has clearly been influenced by George R R Martin's
[[A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin|Song of Ice and Fire series]], which he's adapting as a comic, and that's another one which you may be interested in trying.
{{amazontext|amazon=1841498874}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=7441659}}
{{commenthead}}