Dragon Blood

By: Patricia Briggs

Narrated by: Joe Manganiello

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

Wardwick of Hurog wishes to live in peace. Destiny has other plans. He is about to be arrested and imprisoned in the Asylum for Nobel Embarrassments and Inconveniences. Worse still, Ward has learned that the same man bent on his imprisonment, Jakoven Tallven, High King of the Five Kingdoms, is seeking Hurog blood to activate the supernatural equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction.

Once again Ward must play the fool to survive. Yet that will not suffice. Ward’s closest companions all must risk their lives and fortunes to keep Jakoven and his malevolent mage Jade Eyes from destroying their world.

Listen to the first book, Dragon Bones.

©2011 Buzzy Multimedia Publishing Corp. (P)2011 Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

Good gets even better

I'm a long time Patricia Briggs fan and a couple a months ago I bought the CD set of Dragon Blood because I wanted to see if Joe Manganiello could do it justice( Joe Manganiello plays the sexy werewolf Alcide on True Blood). Well he did. In fact he did it so well that when I see Ward I can only see his face even if he has dark hair and Ward is blond. I thought I would have to wait a whole year before Dragon Blood came out but here it is and this time I downloaded it so I could listen to it on my Kindle. Dragon Blood takes everything up a notch. More action, more twists and turns, bad guys get badder and there is even a bit of romantic action. I hope Patricia Briggs writes more in this series because I want to see what happens to Oreg and many of the other characters and when it comes to audio won't you please.please,please have Joe Manganiello do the reading.

6 people found this helpful

relistened to this book many times I love it

I was so happy when there was a sequel to dragon bones both are some of my favorite books. I've read and listened to them both many times.

2 people found this helpful

Surprising Twist From Patricia Briggs

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! While Patricia Briggs is best known for her Mercy Thompson and Wolf Pack stories, this first of a two book story was a truly surprisingly entertaining departure from her usual subjects.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The dragon boy...because he was so wise.

What does Joe Manganiello bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joe brings personality to the characters that might not convey through just reading the book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Can't think of one.

Any additional comments?

Just that I highly recommned the two books and wished she'd write more on this story line.

2 people found this helpful

Great narration and good story.

I loved the narration and couldn't stop listening to this book. I had to see who did the narrating and its done by the actor who plays Alcide in the true blood tv series. He did an awesome job and I was dissappointed that this book and the sequel were the only ones he has read. But I found this book quite entertaining.

2 people found this helpful

Really liked these two books!

I'm still new to the listening to books rather than reading them, but I found as I listened I was caught up in each character more easily and at times could almost feel what they felt as the story unfolded. I'm not able to read much any more and to have this method to enjoy a book, or series of books has been wonderfully escapist for me in my drive time or as I'm winding down after a crazy day. The voices of the narrator's as they tell the story reminds me of the times my Grandmother would read me to sleep...except that this narrator was a male. I really found I'll miss these characters and will keep these books in my library of friends to revisit. Thank you!

1 person found this helpful

Joe Manganiello was a huge surprise!

It has taken me 3 years for me to use my credits for the Herog series. I love Patricia Briggs, but I was really iffy on Joe Manganiello. To my surprise, I think I like this series better than the Alpha and Omega series. Because this was recorded in 2011, I dont thing Mrs. Briggs will add more to the series, but I loved it!

1 person found this helpful

more please

Can't get enough Briggs. Love the narrator. I have listened to this book repeatedly. Awesome story.

1 person found this helpful

Loved every second of it

What did you love best about Dragon Blood?

Wardwick and his relationships whit his friends, especialy the dragon.

Which character – as performed by Joe Manganiello – was your favorite?

Hard too say, usualy i have this 1 character i prefer in any given book, this is the first time I liked other characters as much as the Main Character

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

More then once (No Spoilers)

Any additional comments?

This was a great listen worth every penny. Only downside, and it is a minor one is that the ending is somewhat sudden, I prefer after the villain is slain we get a view of the Main character and how their lives would go on. Like Briggs did in the first book, but you don't get that here.

2 people found this helpful

Good story, great characters, narration flat

In which I derped and read book 2 of a duology thinking it was book one and did not notice until I wanted to get started on book 2.

So, to paraphrase a well known reviewer, this isn’t a review of what it’s like to read Dragon Blood as it was intended, this is a review of what it’s like to read it like a huge derp.

I’d written up this next part before the truth dawned on me, there’s some irony in there:

I picked the Hurog duology up for bingo final book in a series published more than 10 years ago without having a lot of faith in it. It’s just one of the squares I’ve been struggling with and said fine I’ll just read whatever and be done with it. The old school covers did nothing to increase my enthusiasm.

But now at the end of book one you can call me smitten.

I was pretty put off by the beginning, there’s a lot of torture to start and the narration is pretty flat. But soon enough I was grabbed by the story.

One of my favorite things about Dragon Bones (yeah cause I thought I was reading Dragon Bones at this point) is how well established the characters and the world are. It reminds me of a sort of condensed Game of Thrones, and in some ways of Tigana. There’s a lot of context. The main character is already a known hero due to his past victories, there are pre existing relationships between almost all the characters, a former rebellion gets mentioned often. It was a bit tough keeping track of who’s who at first, but afterwards I was impressed with the rich world. (should that have been a clue? Maybeee. .. but I powered through the confusion)

I also liked the magic, it started off looking as thought it would be low magic and then more layers kept being added. Magic that is believed to be a myth turning out to be real is one of my favorite tropes.

I wasn’t sold of Ward at first. Big buff dude with magic powers from the part of the kingdom generally considered barbarians, meh. But he really grew on me. He’s pretty sly underneath his gruff exterior.

Back to present, wiser Dia

Another thing I really liked was how the main relationship went. Whenever a man thinks to himself “I’m gonna pursue her but if she wants me to back off I will” I get very happy. I’m all for funding this. It’s not entirely that clear cut, she does object but it’s more “I’m not ready for a relationship yet, I’m not princessy enough for you”, and the reader can tell she’s got the hots for him.

Overall it kinda reminded me most of Conan, even the narration was a bit similar, and there are only so many books I’ve read about big strong barbarians, but I liked it so much more. Ward turns out to such a nicely rounded character, I just liked him so much by the end. There’s a lot of action and sort of similar mysterious and dangerous settings, a sense of a big world with unknown and powerful magic.

Of course I can’t speak for book 1, or how this would be if read as intended, but I do recommend this to people looking for a darker sword and sorcery with a lot of action and mystery. CW for torture and mentions of rape.

Really good story :D

4-4.5 stars

This was a really good story. I liked the characters and how Ward and his family and friends deal with the issues that life throws at them. Of course the issues in this story are much bigger than normal ones and the fate of many hangs on the results. Things turn out very well and there's even a bit of romance to give a happy ending. :D

* note - The narrator is Joe Manganiello (as in the actor that played many things including Alcide from True Blood). I was surprised but very happy about it as his voice fit Ward's character very well.

More like this please!

Outstanding! Fabulous duology (read Dragon Bones first) and fabulous reader. This was my third or fourth listen and I still love it.

I so wish Patricia Briggs's other fantasy novels were available on Audible, especially the Raven Duology and the Hob's Bargain.