Official Review: Dragon's Heir by Glenn Parris

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Kendra M Parker
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Official Review: Dragon's Heir by Glenn Parris

Post by Kendra M Parker »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Dragon's Heir" by Glenn Parris.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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According to modern paleontology, dinosaurs disappeared from earth roughly sixty-five million years ago. Most scientists attribute their loss to an external catastrophic event, such as a large meteor strike. Glenn Paris offers a speculative alternative in his book, Dragon’s Heir.

In Dragon’s Heir, the dinosaurs are really an advanced society known as Efilu. Together, the Efilu chose to leave to colonize space when their actions created an inhospitable environment on earth. Sixty-five million years later, the Efilu face a conflict that drives a secret mission back to Earth to locate an untainted food source. When they return, the Efilu discover that one of the species of nuisance has gained sentience and now controls the planet.

It took me a little while to get into this novel at first because of the detailed world building Paris put into his novel. Efilu characters use terms and language without necessarily explaining them to a reader. After a chapter or two, I found myself truly appreciating how well Paris built his world. Paris trusts his readers to be intelligent and figure things out with context clues. As the book progresses, Paris reveals more details and masterfully draws the plot and setting together. At the end of the novel, Paris includes a glossary of Efilu terms that can be helpful to understanding the alien races, customs, and terms. That said, this still might not appeal to readers that dislike the feeling of being dropped into the deep end and forced to sink or swim.

One of my favorite features of this book is the way that Paris never introduces a detail without using it later. Small details, such as the oils on the coat of one of the characters or the fact that certain species always hunt in pairs, may seem insignificant in one scene and become critical in another. I thoroughly enjoyed Paris’s well-planned story and attention to detail throughout the novel.

With Paris’s attention to detail and clever story-telling, I give Dragon’s Heir 3 out of 4 stars. While the book seems to be generally well-edited, there were just enough errors scattered throughout the book to force me to remove a star. I recommend this book to readers that love detailed worlds and epic stories of science-fiction survival.

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Dragon's Heir
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gen_g
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Post by gen_g »

I'm always a huge fan of authors who have an eye for detail, and I'm definitely interested, as the premise is fascinating. Thanks for the review!
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Post by Debjani Ghosh »

This book has a unique premise and with the author's eye to detail and a fully fleshed out world, this will surely make for an engaging read. Thanks for the review!
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Post by fredrick otieno »

This is a great science fiction. I live stories of Dinosaurs and i am willing to grab this even with the errors you have highlighted. Thanks for the god review.
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Post by Mary WhiteFace »

I wonder which was the "species of nuisance"...lol

I find the premise interesting: Dinosaurs are not extinct. They just migrated to space, and they send scouts to evaluate the feasibility of returning to earth.

Intelligent dinosaurs would be pretty scary. I think I'll check it out. Thanks for the insightful review. 💕
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Post by JHuschle519 »

It can sometimes be hard for an author to balance world building and storytelling. I don't mind a lot of a lot of world building, but I can see how it would put some people off. Thanks for the great review.
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

gen_g wrote: 26 Oct 2018, 23:55 I'm always a huge fan of authors who have an eye for detail, and I'm definitely interested, as the premise is fascinating. Thanks for the review!
If you enjoy reading detailed books where the details make a difference, then I think you’ll enjoy this one!
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Kendra M Parker
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

Debjani Ghosh wrote: 27 Oct 2018, 00:29 This book has a unique premise and with the author's eye to detail and a fully fleshed out world, this will surely make for an engaging read. Thanks for the review!
I’m sure you’ll really enjoy this one, then. Let me know what you think if you read it!
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Kendra M Parker
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

fredrick otieno wrote: 27 Oct 2018, 07:00 This is a great science fiction. I live stories of Dinosaurs and i am willing to grab this even with the errors you have highlighted. Thanks for the god review.
I think the errors I caught were because I was reading a review copy instead of the final draft. I suspect the published version will have caught and removed the last few that I found.
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Kendra M Parker
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

Tiny_Turtle wrote: 27 Oct 2018, 14:22 I wonder which was the "species of nuisance"...lol

I find the premise interesting: Dinosaurs are not extinct. They just migrated to space, and they send scouts to evaluate the feasibility of returning to earth.

Intelligent dinosaurs would be pretty scary. I think I'll check it out. Thanks for the insightful review. 💕
Oh, yes, humans are definitely a nuisance! It was great to see the majority of this adventure from the dinosaurs’ perspective. I think the author did a fantastic job of making this an interesting story.
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Kendra M Parker
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Post by Kendra M Parker »

JHuschle519 wrote: 28 Oct 2018, 05:06 It can sometimes be hard for an author to balance world building and storytelling. I don't mind a lot of a lot of world building, but I can see how it would put some people off. Thanks for the great review.
You are absolutely right. I think in this case, Paris succeeded because he trusted his readers to be intelligent and figure out the world as they went along.
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Post by JHuschle519 »

Kendra M Parker wrote: 28 Oct 2018, 16:38
JHuschle519 wrote: 28 Oct 2018, 05:06 It can sometimes be hard for an author to balance world building and storytelling. I don't mind a lot of a lot of world building, but I can see how it would put some people off. Thanks for the great review.
You are absolutely right. I think in this case, Paris succeeded because he trusted his readers to be intelligent and figure out the world as they went along.
That's really good to hear. I think I will go ahead and add this one to my reading list. Thanks!
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Post by kandscreeley »

Interesting. I don't know that I've seen a story about dinosaurs such as this one. The complex details don't bother me as much; many science fiction stories such as this do the same thing. This sounds right up my alley. I'll put this one on my list. Thanks for a good review.
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great review.I will add this to my shelf.
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Post by Connie Otwani »

The premise is quite unique. I'm intrigued about the species of nuisance, and the dinosaur's food! Great review!
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