Starred review from July 25, 2016
Hollins's seat-of-the-pants fantasy comedy snowballs wildly into a glorious disaster of fire, magic, multiple threats to people's intestines, and funâfor the reader, if not the characters. Will Fallows's only ambition is to hold on to the farm he inherited from his parents, an unlikely goal considering the high taxes demanded by Mattrax the dragon. Mattrax's soldiers kick Will out and he ends up in the company of mercenary Lette; her partner, the eight-foot-tall barbarian lizard man Balur; the dragon-specializing scholar Quirk, who is trying to leave behind her magic heritage; and Will's former farmhand, the delusional Firkin. Among them they hatch a plan to get rich and take revenge by robbing dragon gold. Their mishap-ridden accidental successes, advertised by Firkin's ranting about a dragon-killing "prophet," spark religious fervor and a war with the surviving dragons. Will and his motley companions might have a slim chance of living another day through if they throw themselves into the fray headfirstâand don't kill one another. Their constant stumbles and suffering will be a dragon's hoard for any fan of comic fantasy. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary.
July 1, 2016
In a valley ruled by avaricious dragons, five unlikely alliesWill, an outlaw farmer; Lette, a deadly mercenary; Balur, her lizard-man partner; Quirk, a reformed magic-user intent on studying dragons; and the deranged town drunk, Firkindevelop a sketchy plan to steal a fortune from the local dragon overlord. After a series of mishaps causes events to spiral increasingly out of control, the group finds itself leading thousands of people desperate for rescue from the Dragon Consortium. Hollins (a pseudonym) gives the reader time with each major character's perspective, building sympathy for his misfits even as they become embroiled in ever more ludicrous and gory encounters. Billed as the first in a trilogy, this novel is ideal for fans of humorous capers and heist storiessuch as Ocean's 11, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard Sequence series, and Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Sagawho don't mind a liberal dose of profanity with their implausible heroes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)