By John Wiswell
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
This is what happens when an author looks at this three-headed dragon meme and thinks “I could write their story”
I never got around to reading Wiswell’s award winning novel Someone you can build a Nest In so when I had the opportunity to read his next novel I grabbed it, hoping it would carry some of the magically writing that the book darlings raved about.
This book is a delight from start to finish. The premise is deceptively simple. Garrodigh is a three headed dragon with three distinct personalities that don’t quite see life on the same level. They are a proud dragon of the wild, unlike those weak tamed dragons in their floating city with those ridiculous humans and their destructive war. But, they are grievously injured and the future looks bleak, so they come up with a cunning plan to pretend they are one of these tame dragons, get rescued by those stupid useless humans and recover enough health to conquer humanity for good and glory of all dragonkind.
Except things don’t go exactly as planned. Sure, they are rescued, healed and rehabilitated, but the humans keep being, well, human. They are complicated creatures and make Garrodigh feel things he didn’t expect. Not all humans are alike, for one thing. And the tame dragons are not what they seem. And it’s nice to have your own human.
This is a romance – but not for our main character (or characters, if you see each head as a separate personality). Garrodigh becomes emotionally invested in his human’s well-being, including her unrequited love of her childhood friend. There is also conflict with a neighbouring dictatorship that seems to want to end the lives and freedom of the humans who live in the floating city.
This simple, almost silly novel about a three headed dragon who spends a lot of time arguing among itself is actually a much bigger story, about acceptance and forgiveness on a number of levels. But if a reader just wants to read a cute, delightful and funny story about the three headed dragon meme, with a love story tied in it as well then that is exactly what a reader will get.
