Song of the Dragon

The Annals of Drakis: Book One

By: Tracy Hickman

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Once Humans had a magical alliance with Dragons. Now they and the other races have been enslaved by the Rhonas Empire – the elves – and can’t even remember the world the way it used to be. But thanks to the intervention of one determined dwarf and the human slave warrior known as Drakis, all of that is about to change.

©2010 Tracy Hickman (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

overall a good story

it starts out a little slow, but turned out to be very enjoyable. i am going to get the next book i the series

Wonderful story and telling.

Loved it. I'm a fan of Tracy Hickman and he does not disappoint with Song of the Dragon.

Unique plot line and great read

I've already ordered book 2 - Audible will hopefully get it soon also. Get past the first few chapters and hang on for a wild ride!!! Toward the end I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

The Talented Reading Makes It Worthwhile

A mostly formulaic book, though a few fun surprises and laughs that were just as much attributable to the performance as the book itself.

Good execution on a flawed concept

There are definitely some unique and creative things going on in this book, not the least being Hickman's turning chimeras and manticores into humanoid races. A+ for creativity.

As usual, Phil Gigante gives us a fantastic performance. He has an impressive array of character voices, and his vocal inflections are as close to perfect as I could ever ask for. If he has a weakness, it's probably that he doesn't vary his tempo very much.

As always, Tracy Hickman's writing is of a more archaic style, but within that context it's very skillful. From the beginning, we got lots of little character building details that really make the characters come to life, though the world building is a little clunky at times.

There are some really awesome things going on throughout, and while I saw it coming a mile away, the first major climax was absolutely amazing!

That said, there are a few problems with the world Hickman has built here. I do appreciate the ways Hickman has subverted the usual fantasy tropes, but I have major problems with the depiction of elves being so superior to everyone else.

And, I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a major system the elves have in place that just doesn't work for me. It's much too selective and specific for believability.

They're isn't really enough information about the magic system in this book for me to form an opinion about it.

Now, the ending.

Honestly, it was rather anti climactic.
Nothing is really settled, nothing is really solved. We're basically just at a stopping point before moving on to the rest of the story.

In closing, if you're looking for another Dragonlance you won't find it here. There are some awesome elements and it's definitely worth your time though, as long as you're willing to commit to the whole trilogy without having an actual ending until the end of the trilogy.

Narrator is outstanding

Never have written a review before. Have been reading and listening to fantasy for many years. This narrator is the best I have ever listened to. Buy this book if nothing else then for the narrator. I will look for more books by this narrator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Difficult to understand.

Would you try another book from Tracy Hickman and/or Phil Gigante?

I have read a few books by Tracy Hickman and this was the hardest book to listen to that he has written. While I won't give up on Tracy, this one didn't work at all. The narration didn't help either.

Any additional comments?

This is one that I would like a refund for. I hate thinking that I've waisted a credit on something this bad.

Confusing....

There have not been many books I couldn't finish, but this is one. The first 6 chapters were fighting a war we knew nothing about, had no investment in the cause, and no idea what that cause was. I have made it over a quarter of the way thru part 2 and I still have no idea what the war is about. The character names are so foreign and similar that I can't keep up with the characters. The narrator is very good. He's the only reason I stuck it out this far. But I just have to give up. I'm used to books with a lot of different characters, like WOT. But this one, I just don't understand 'who's on first and what's on second'!

Exposition, exposition, character, exposition...

Way too much exposition. Admittedly there's a fine line between world building and excess exposition. This book put me to sleep with an incredible excess of useless information. I'm four hours into what should be the first 2 paragraphs of a short story.