Book log: Daniel Fox: Dragon in Chains

[julesjones]

My friend moshui gifted me with an eARC of his new book, Dragon in Chains. It arrived late Christmas Eve; I finished it not half an hour since. I'll have more to say about it when I've had time to digest, but for now, there is this: I would really, really like you all to go and pre-order it as encouragement to the publisher, because it is the first segment of the story, and I very much want to read the rest. This is fantasy as I like it, dark, complex, firmly rooted in reality but with magic laid thereon. And with a fascinating array of characters...

Comments

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

I have it on order. This book is going to be one of THE high points of 2009. (I am green with envy that you've already read it, and I look forward to your opinions with great interest.)

[julesjones]

I have a not-final version, so it's probably not quite what will be on the shelves in Waterstones, but it is everything you would expect. And yes, I will be pre-ordering my dead tree copy once I'm home after New Year to receive parcels.

I'm still contemplating how to write the review so that I give an idea of why this is so good without spoilering it. There's a lot of wonderful layering in of clues that as you get to the reveal on various plot strands make you go, "Oh, of *course*".

[lakeaustin.livejournal.com]

I put it on pre-order from Amazon as well - sounds yummy. I was glad to see it is being released in the US as well as the UK. That's always a good sign for a book!

[julesjones]

I think (though I'll have to check) that this one is being published in the US, and then imported into the UK. That can be very good for a UK-based author, as although the exchange rate makes life uncertain, there's a much bigger market in the US.

I should warn you that it's the first part of a trilogy (he's just finishing off the manuscript of the second part now, I think), so you'll have to wait a while to see all of the story. But moshui has done an excellent job of giving enough reveals on various plot threads that I at least didn't feel as if it was all just one giant cliffhanger. I need to keep reading to see how things finish, but I've already had some rewards in this book without having to wait for the next.