Night Shift Dragons

Detroit Free Zone, Book 3

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

They say family always sticks together, but when you're your dad's only lifeline and the whole world - humans, dragons, and gods - wants you dead, "family bonding" takes on a whole new meaning.

My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I'm in way over my head. I thought getting rid of my dad's bad luck curse would put things back to normal. Instead, I'm stuck playing caretaker to the Great Dragon of Korea. That wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn't such a jerk, or if every dragon on the planet wasn't out to kill him, or if he was my only problem.

Turns out, things can always get worse in the DFZ. When a rival spirit attacks my god/boss with the aim of turning the famously safety-optional city into a literal death arena with Nik as his bloody champion, I'm thrust onto the front lines and way out of my comfort zone. When gods fight, mortals don't usually survive, but I'm not alone this time. Even proud old dragons can learn new tricks, and with everything I love falling to pieces, the father I've always run from might just be the only force in the universe stubborn enough to pull us back together

©2020 Rachel Aaron (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Full of Contrivances

Book 3 was a disappointment in many ways. Every third sentence had a "but': It should have been impossible, but it wasn't. I should have felt happy, but I didn't. I should have been able to help him, but I couldn't. Stop telling the reader what to expect, especially when we know that the opposite is about to happen. That pattern gets so obnoxious.

There is so much poorly delivered explanation of Opal's shamanistic abilities. An enemy will throw a fireball or shoot a gun at her, and then the book will launch into a page long monologue where Opal figures out a weird shaman-y way to counter the attack. In the split second before the projectile hits her. It doesn't make sense, it kills the pacing, and her powers seem totally random. The book constantly reminds us that she shouldn't be able to do things and her enemies are much stronger than her, and yet she seems to defeat them easily by making up a new use for her powers on the spot. Her shamanistic powers are very abstract and can seemingly be used for anything. I found the action really boring.

The events of the book feel contrived and artificial. Young needs to hide, so he somehow becomes temporarily invisible so he can follow Opal around. Except when he wants to take her to dinner and becomes corporal again for one scene. Except that dragons and spirits can see him. Except none of them actually see him when Opal encounters them. Young makes up with White Snake literally seconds before the Arena Master tries to get him to kill her. It wasn't terrible, but struggled to hold my attention.

Most satisfying conclusion to any fiction series

I don't say this lightly. I am a longtime and deeply committed Harry Potter fan. Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers and DFZ series have earned their place next to those beloved stories. Potter fans that have been looking for other stories to fill some of that niche in their need for fiction, with a content/character interaction maturity level a little higher (but nothing that wouldn't make it onto Prime Time network TV quite easily - which makes it easier to get time to listen when we are stuck in the house with kids compared to some other fiction options) will love these books. This isn't just an escape from the current real world traumas, it is a reframing of things we go through on the macro and micro social levels that can help give the emotional framing to make progress.

An Opal Problem

I really hate Opal. She is stupid, selfish and reckless. I disliked all the scenes with Opal in this book. Also listening to her ad nauseam thought processes is tedious.

A lot of info dumping

This wasn't as good as the previous book thanks to all the info dumping, but still an enjoyable listen. Will definitely be listening to other books from this combo!

Love, anger, pride, and acceptance!

Love, anger, pride, and acceptance. It's all rolled up into one book. Night Shift Dragons is the third installment of the DFZ trilogy. Our main character, Opal, is finally forced to make a real attempt at working on her relationships; like her new relationship with the DFZ, her shaky relationship with Nick , and the dreadful scraps of a father-daughter relationship.

Rachel Aaron does an EXCELLENT job with pacing the events in this book. Everything gets just enough page time. Issues aren't resolved in the snap of a finger, but also arent dragged out so that you stop caring. A perfect pace.

The dialogue between Opal and her father is just what I imagine a younger me would have had with my father in this situation.

There is a chapter in the book where I thought I knew what was coming. Because of that, I put the book down so I wouldnt get depressed about some sad ass scene. It turns out that I need to shut the hell up and just read the book 🤣 it went nothing like I assumed.

Every character changes by the end. Every character learns something about themselves and the others they are involved with in the series. Character Development and a good story arc. You can check that off the list.

Listen up folks. This is how you write a final fight scene. How many books build up and then leave you hanging. Though this isnt an action book, the final conflict is perfect for the tone of the story and characters traits. Gosh I love when writers give their all... these rare results are the reason I keep pushing through books until I find a gem.

I did have a few questions:
What happened to the sister? Should have had an epilogue about her. Did she still get what she wanted in the end? ... and why didnt Bob see any of this? Or did he??? That sneaky dragon 🤣

The narration by Emily Woo Zeller was perfect.

5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A-freakin-mazing Story! I laughed, I cried, I loved someone, I hated someone. I debate with myself how happy or sad this author has made me. I will talk to my boyfriend about what happened to the characters as if they are real people (and he will pretend to listen). The story telling is great and this book is one I'll return to in my time of need for something good to read.

nail-biting action-packed story.

The last book, Part-Time Gods, ended on a serious cliffhanger. I recommending listening to the series in order beginning with Minimum Wage Magic.

I dove straight into Night of the Dragons as soon as I finished Part-Time Gods. It’s been a while since I binged a series, but man was it worth it.

Opal makes a deal with the city and finds herself in training with the shaman. She and her father, the Great Dragon of Korea, are in hiding within the city. Magic, heartbreaking discoveries, and vegetables hooked me.

Forced together Opal and her father bicker and work out their issues while Opal learns to control her mage abilities and work to clean up the mess she created. Aaron has a wicked imagination and her inner workings of the city were fantastic. She brought the world to life in vivid 3D. Her descriptive words enabled me to visualise everything from dragon fire to spells.

Poor Nik, the lovesick fool. Gads, it’s hard not to fall for the guy even if he got himself in a pickle. Between deadly contracts and saving her Dad, Opal needs to sharpen her game and quickly.

The tale was clever, well paced and had me switching between grinning like a fool and biting my nails. While I think this wrapped up the series and threads wrapped up, I wouldn’t mind visiting this world and its characters again.

Emily Woo Zeller became the voice of these characters, and while the dragon’s voice didn’t make me warm and fuzzy, I have to admit she did it right. As the dragon softened, so did his voice. Clever. I will gladly listen to her again.

good story pull down

main store was good but drag down by voice acting of the character from the 1st series andstorie holes. the voice we very off and almost felt mock of character i come to love.vouce for the main people in the book were good. The story was good but seem it was made then the mechanics of the world were changed to suit the story.

Get rid of the foul language

It is well written good storyline good book I really enjoyed it except for one thing there was way too much foul language if you could get rid of some of the crap language it's an awesome bookIt.

up and down

good story. ran on too much in places and i had to stop and regroup.

Assuming much?

At first impression and rated solely as an escape from everyday life story, this final book has solid plot, good amount of action, characters have grown, our heroin finally behaves as an adult not as a teen (mostly) and the world the story is set in is really unique and fascinating. That this kind of mishmash of magic, sci-fi advanced technology and literally all kinds of paranormal beings and entities blend together perfectly is rarely seen and I really, really liked it. I still have a teeny tiny beaf with MC but there were some major redeeming points in this sequel. Although she finally grew up and there is plausible explanation for her previous bordering on juvenile behaviour, her inability to do magic without blowing herself and everything in her vicinity to smithereens and she is no longer constantly demsel in distress, the beaf is still there and she remains least likable character in this series. The fact that MC is the least likable character and I still like this series a great deal speaks a lot. Generally speaking MCs (and her father's) biggest lesson in life should be that assumption is the mother of all f...ups as one (wrong) assumption after another, lead to all her troubles. That said, this book solidly wraped-up the series with seemingly no lose treads. MCs won, family issues are on good path to be resolved, villain is slain. Well, kinda.
Spoiler alert- you can't actually kill a God so this could be a loose thread for the spinoff. Regardless, good conclusion to series. After some more serious reflection, I believe that author gave me, beside great retreat from everyday struggles, an insight on what it could be like and how could the world and human race function if certain extremes, like almost nonexistent laws or moral/social norms, were to be our reality. Narrator is great and I actually preferred listening to reading which is not my usual preference. So, all considered, rating could be more than solid 3 stars but those are reserved for books/series I plan to reread. This series are quite good but not something I would revisit therefore, solid 3 stars and honest recommendation. Give it a try, I believe it worth the time and money.

Satisfying ending to great series

Loved and devoured this series which, while short is well written, engaging and well narrated. Highly recommend - hope she does more

Fun!

I liked the book that came before better (this one was a bit darker then the others), but it was a very fun story. I could not stop listening because I really wanted to know what would happen next. I really hope the author writes more books in this series.

Great three book

When I bought the first book because I was curious and it sounded good I was not disappointed. I thought the second book was just as good and really liked the third book (this one) a lot. Great trilogy that I really got into. Loads of twists and turns and great characters and city setting. Seriously a surprisingly great set of books.