Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Trystan is an unchosen angel—shunned by society, bullied, and without a future. In a hidden well, Trystan discovers a carving of a dragon, who were once the commanders of demons and now believed extinct. But Trystan learns the carving doesn’t depict an ordinary dragon. Stories tell that millennia ago, the great dragon Asagoroth and his demon army nearly conquered the three realms but was killed by the five elders. The powerful angels combined their life forces to cast a spell, sacrificing their lives.
But history is full of falsehoods. The five elders only managed to imprison the dragon, and Asagoroth had cast his own spell—one of releasement. It only needs the blood of an angel to liberate him from his cage….
Asagoroth, enemy of angels, conqueror of realms, is free. But even as the angels prepare for war, the great dragon surprises them with an ultimatum: hand over the angel who awakened him or face annihilation.
Okay, so I had several issues with this book. The general plot idea sounds good and I love dragons and demons and angels (as long as they aren’t sent by God or something), so it definitely had the potential to be great. Unfortunately, “On Wings of Thunder” mostly fell flat.
The beginning felt a little unrealistic to me. Trystan falls into an old well and discovers a gorgeous carving of a dragon at the bottom. He realizes that the blood from his cut hand does strange things with the carving. Instead of being scared or at least a little cautious, he’s fascinated and makes the cut worse to get more blood on the carving. And didn’t for a second think about the consequences. He lives in a world full of magic and doesn’t worry that blood magic and an ancient carving of an evil dragon might be a bad idea? That’s extremely naïve.
When Asagoroth is finally awakened, he essentially blackmails Trystan into joining him. He’s all, “Come with me, my love, or I will kill every last angel, destroy your entire realm and take you by force afterwards.” (Not his exact words, but the gist of them) And yet again, Trystan isn’t scared or worried at all. He seems to think that’s incredibly romantic. I was kind of uncomfortable with that premise. It didn’t feel like a very good start for a consensual relationship.
Once Trystan and Asagoroth are finally joined, self-doubt ensues on Trystan’s part. So much self-doubt it soon had me rolling my eyes. I do get that he’d be unsure about Asagoroth’s love for him, given his life as an Unchosen, but it was just too much.
One of my biggest issues was the sex scenes. With phrases along the lines of, “Trystan shuddered at the violation of his secret entrance”, it almost read like rape wrapped up in purple prose.
There wasn’t all that much plot overall. Around the 80% mark I was still looking for things to really get going. There is a big showdown at the end, but even that left me a little bored.
Essentially, “On Wings of Thunder” very much wasn’t for me. It felt a little silly and I was kind of bored for the most time. I’m sure there are people who will enjoy this, but I’m not one of them.
The cover by sin shows Trystan and Asagoroth. Just like the story itself, it isn’t really to my tastes.
Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon
Book details:
ebook, 144 pages
Expected publication: July 20th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634774094 (ISBN13: 9781634774093)
Edition LanguageEnglish
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TITLE: Evasive Maneuvers
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