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Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book One

By Nora Roberts

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There is no doubt that Nora Roberts can write a good book. I’ve had a few excellent adventures with Nora’s stories. I was pretty excited when I saw that she was starting a new fantasy series.

The Awakening looked like it would tick off all of my boxes: fantastical realms, sword-wielding warriors, a down on her luck hero, dragons. Roberts’ new series has all of that and more. The story was enjoyable and well done; it was just missing a certain something.

From my personal point of view Star Wars: A New Hope is the yardstick by which all other series are measured. It’s a pretty high bar to cross. It must be able to stand on its own two feet, it must have characters that I connect with immediately, a villain that personifies evil and an Oh! My! God! moment. This is the winning formula that will make me come clamoring back for more. I found these elements lacking in The Awakening.

As I was reading through The Awakening, I felt that Nora was ticking off a checklist of the elements required in a fantasy book, doing what the readers expect from the genre. Don’t get me wrong, she did a good job of that; it just felt too formulaic to me. While the scenario was good, the characters interesting and the writing spot on, I wanted more: more creativity, a more sinister villain, a more shocking moment. The Awakening did not leave me with desire to keep going with The Dragon Heart Legacy Series. Would I read more Nora Roberts? Hell yeah! But not more of this series.

*4 Stars