The Dragon's Path

The Dagger and the Coin, Book 1

By: Daniel Abraham

Narrated by: Pete Bradbury

Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

The dragons are gone, the powerful magics that broke the world diluted to little more than parlour tricks, but the kingdoms of men remain, and the great game of thrones goes on. Lords deploy armies and merchant caravans as their weapons, manoeuvring for wealth and influence. But a darker power is rising - an unlikely leader with an ancient ally threatens to unleash again the madness that destroyed the world once already. 

Only one man knows the truth and, from the shadows, must champion humanity. The world's fate stands on the edge of a dagger, its future on the toss of a coin....

©2011 Daniel Abraham (P)2018 Hachette Audio

As good as GoT.

Deep characters, immersive descriptions and a gripping narrative. Abraham has build a unique and fascinating world where fantasy is part of the texture but doesnt get in the way of the story.

Great start to a promising series

An interesting and engaging book, definitely worth a listen, though as the first of a series, it so far lacks a unified thread. As a 'first book' it resolves into what are effectively two separate stories within a shared world, where events from one half feel distant from the other. Though some events do impact both stories, it will be interesting to see them tied together more directly in the future. On its own, this divide doesn't really make the book feel too disjointed, and transitions from the world of courtly politics to the world of mercantile banking complement each other, especially as the latter helps ground the world. Basically, a good book that gives me confidence the series as a whole has the potential to be great, and does come to a decent conclusion on its own, but might be even better as part of the series. Narrating was good quality and characters definitely have their own voices, but it was not a standout in the way it can be for some audiobooks.

Highly recommended

Loved the machinations and plots, but the moments I had to think (what!) when a amiable likeable character kills ten thousand people by setting fire to their city, that does linger in the memory. Great gritty narration by Pete Bradbury