StanleyWheeler

From one of Benjamin Franklin's lesser known writings:

"Are there twenty Men in Europe at this Day, the happier, or even the easier, for any Knowledge they have pick’d out of Aristotle? What Comfort can the Vortices of Descartes give to a Man who has Whirlwinds in his Bowels! The Knowledge of Newton’s mutual Attraction of the Particles of Matter, can it afford Ease to him who is rack’d by their mutual Repulsion, and the cruel Distensions it occasions?"
Ben Franklin's proposal for a special study

The last book finished in August:
Requiem: Dawn of Dragons: Book 1: Requiem's Song:

General Thoughts: Arenson has superior writing talent. He excels at writing combat scenes. His style is easy to follow and quite exciting. I wish more fantasy writers possessed his skill. I enjoyed the first half of this book. The second half was a drudgery, trudging from one fight scene to another with one of the many characters struggling with some hardship in between. It was rather like Conrad's Heart of Darkness with combat scenes--the combat scenes came so frequently, so fast and furious, that I actually dreaded them; I had grown so fatigued with the battle sequences that by the time the story arrived at the great climactic battles, I didn't care; I just wanted it to be over.

Story in a nutshell: Some people can turn into dragons. Other people, including a king (the most horrible husband and father, an exceptionally bad son, and all-around bad person), and another really repulsive caveman riding a roc, and some others object to the weredragon concept and want to slay and burn all of the weredragons. They have a great deal of success in their chosen vocation. Unhappy with the fact that his success has not been complete and total, horrible king summons demons to do his killing for him. More horrible things ensue. There are great battles for the weredragon sanctuary and for the king's demon-destroyed city.

Do I recommend it? No. I enjoyed the early part of the book before it became tedious and repulsive. The exact moment that the story turned for me was when the really bad dad, septic son, horrible husband, and execrable king summoned the demons. This seemed completely out of place. The story went down hill from there. My interest in the characters, even the very sympathetic Laira, plummeted like a dragon with its wings torn off. I won't read any other books in this series. I may try other works by the author. I rate this book: A Carnival Ride Too Far--it was fun at first but eventually I just wanted off.