Dragonforge

Bitterwood Series, Book 2

By: James Maxey

Narrated by: Eric Joseph Chancy

Following the events of the novel Bitterwood, a new and untested dragon-king now rules the land. The firebrand prophet, Ragnar, has raised an army of men to overthrow the dragons, and their first target is the town of Dragon Forge, home to the foundries that supply weapons and armor for the king's soldiers. Against this back-drop of war, the legendary dragon-slayer, Bant Bitterwood, finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a sun-dragon named Hex as they race to halt the genocidal schemes of the most dangerous creature alive: Blasphet, the Murder God.

©2008 James Maxey (P)2018 James Maxey

A good dragon story

I have not read/listened to Bitterwood but this a good stand alone book. I was not lost due to the backstory that was given. If you like twists and turns as well as action then this is the book for you. AT times it was even humorous. I intend to go back and read Bitterwood and then this one again. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes dragons and their interaction with humans. I love it. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Builds on Bitterwood but Can Be Enjoyed by Itself

Disclaimer: I was given a free promo code for this book in exchange for an honest review.


Dragonforge is the sequel to James Maxey's Bitterwood.

It is the rarest of second installations in a trilogy, in that each character has their own self contained arc and the book can be enjoyed as a self contained volume. Orson Scott Card read this book first and enjoyed it so much he went back and thoroughly enjoyed the first volume as well.

If you did successfully read Bitterwood first know that the characters you know and love that survived the first book (and even a few that seemingly didn't!) are back and we get to expand the scope of the world, delve into back stories, learn starting revelations but more importantly see them grow and change in satisfying and sometimes hair-pulling ways. New characters, settings and revelations are put into action and Maxey throws things at you from out of the blue that have been carefully telegraphed from the first book.


Dragonforge contains actions, interesting and even genre bending twists and turns, philosophical musings, wry humor and more than once had me yelling at the book in excitement.


This stands as a strong second part of one of my favorite trilogies and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a genre fan that wants to try something new, different and entertaining.


The narrator from the first book and this was for the better. The new narrator made more of an effort to differentiate voices.

Not perfect, but good.

I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, yes, there's a lot of gore. If that's not your thing, don't read this book. But if you don't mind, I think you'll enjoy the continuation of this dragon hunter story. I know I did!

Loved the story, Did not love the narrator

If you could sum up Dragonforge in three words, what would they be?

Excellent story line

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Matched the pace but ran too much together and voices could have been better

Interesting twist on dragon stories...

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. As I began to listen to this book, it dawned on me that this is the second book in the series, and I hadn't read the first! At first, I thought I'd be lost, but luckily enough back story was given that I did not feel as if I missed a lot (although I'm sure I have). This book worked well on its own. I enjoyed the fresh look at dragons and their interactions with men...for better or worse. I also enjoyed the dragon intrigue. The writing was solid, and I enjoyed the story. That said, the narrator almost ruined the book for me a few times. I didn't like his character voices and his reading was not of the professional level I am used to. Is he horrible? No, but you can judge for yourself. I recommend this book for lovers of fantasy and dragons.

Engaging Story, Terrible Narrator

I confess this was a hard listen. Not because the story isnt good, but because the narrator is simply awful. I enjoyed the first book greatly and I pushed through this one because I still am into the story line. I like the characters and I am invested in what is happening to them. I wanted to know where Jandras brother had gone. And Hex?!! Wow that was a shocker! What saddens me and the reason for only 4 stars you ask? The utterly horrible narration! Mispronounced names are the worst and really inexcusable, especially if that characters names is said often and poor Pet he called him Peter and then switched it up later. Jandra sounded like she had a lisp and half the dragons talked through cotton and I swear he used a Darth Vader dub on one of them! The goddess was the only one that sounded right. I image that is exactly what a 1000 year old smoker might sound like. I will push through the next book too but I do wish Audible would train/screen their narrators better.

Intense

What did you like best about this story?

The relationship between Jandra and Hex

What does Eric Joseph Chancy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Book one's narrator took some getting use to. Book two's narrator did bring more life to the story especially male voices, but the female voices kinda made you cringe a little. All in all I felt he brought a lot of the characters personality.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

most likely

Any additional comments?

Bitterwood and Dragonforge are a good start to a new series. I am looking forward to future audio releases.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Great Sequel

Great Sequel if you like the first book, Bitterwood. The story is an amazing blend of Sci-fi and fantasy. James Maxey has done a wonderful job with character development along with incorporating twists and turns that are difficult to predict. The only complaint I have is there was a different narrator that gave Diandra a lisp that was distracting. If you can get over the character voice, then the story is most compelling.

Too much gore

In the first book I gave you the benefit of the doubt but in this book even though I requested it I cannot lie. This book is filled with gore. Every chapter was over the top descriptive. The author use terminology from this century instead of the timeframe that he made the book in. The narrative is terrible. I’m sorry to say not only was the book full of graphic scenes but the narrator made so many of the characters sound the same it was confusing. NOT recommended for ya nor anyone who loves dragon tales of dragons that act like dragons and not humans. Too often the dragons had just too many human characteristics. From tapestry fill castles, to carrying a bag. Writing it just was to non dragon for me. And I love dragon stories. 👎🏻

wasn't my cup of tea

I really wanted to like this book as it was a dragon based story, but I couldn't I had a hard time figuring out what the story really was. There were some dragon fights and various people doing various things, but I couldn't tell why they did or why I really cared. My mind kept wandering and I lost track and had to listen to several parts again.

Part of what put me off was some of the voice characterizations. They didn't make me think of dragons and were very distracting.

I requested this copy of the audiobook and have voluntarily left this review