Dragonslayer Book Review

Dragonslayer
by Duncan M. Hamilton
Published by TOR Books
Publication Date: 2019
Number of pages: 301

Trigger warnings: murder and alcohol.

Synopsis:
Guillot dal Villevauvais used to be a member of the King's personal guard. He now spends his time drinking and mourning the death of his wife and child.

The Prince asks Guillot to kill a dragon out of the blue. Especially because dragons went extinct... didn't they?

On the way to the capitol city, Gill rescues Solène, a young barmaid, who is about to be burned as a witch. He believes her innocent…but she soon proves that she has plenty of raw, untrained power, a problem in this land, where magic is forbidden. Yet the Prince Bishop believes magic will be the key to both destroying the dragon and replacing the young, untried King he pretends to serve with a more pliable figurehead.

Between Gill’s rusty swordsmanship and Solene’s unstable magic, what could go wrong?

Story:

Dragonslayer had an interesting premise, a man looking for a dragon, A DRAGON. At first you think that this is going to be super cool, would the dragon escape or would they become friends? This context was great to see, a medieval setting with dragons and magic, that is something that I would love to see more of. Unfortunately the writing let this book down for me. I just couldn't immerse myself in the story. One of the most exciting parts for me was actually the cliffhanger at the end of the book! Most of the book seemed to be telling and not showing. The description was lacking in parts and it was more like following a monologue. 

Characters:

The main character, Gill had an emotional story. This was actually darker than I expected it to be. Another character we meet is Solène, a woman with magic in a place much like Salem. It was nice to see magic in this story. However, these characters never felt fully developed and three-dimensional to me. There were elements to the characters' backstories that were not used as often as they could have been. 

Overall, the concept was intriguing, I liked that it featured magic and dragons. However, this book just didn't meet my expectations.


*This book was kindly sent to me to review, however, all opinions are my own.