I love the Simon Strong and Tristan Montague books; in fact, I immediately re-purchased those I lost when I sold my business. (You can read about that here.) Possibly that’s why I was disappointed in Book 6, Dragons and Demigods.
The interaction between Simon and Monty is the heart of the story and the source of the series’ charm; the first several books and some of the short stories show this interaction – their trust, liking, appreciation, complementary styles and strengths – growing over time as they deepen their friendship. Yet here, in this novel, and to some extent in the book just prior, Homecoming, Simon acts more like a tag-along than an equal.
Monty needs to face TK Tush in magical combat, as payback for his temerity in anchoring a magical bridge to her in a life and death situation. Of course Simon goes with Monty, yet he shows almost no curiosity before the fight, how it will work, what his role is as Monty’s second, whether Monty even expects to survive. Remember, Monty is Simon’s best friend and business partner; would you not have a zillion questions beforehand in a similar situation? Instead Simon trails along, does what he’s told.
The other problem with this book is the secondary helping characters are weak. In prior novels we had fantastic side kicks, but Dragons and Demigods once more drags in TK and LD Tush. TK is so full of herself, so convinced that everyone should fall down in awestruck wonder at her awesome powers, that she cannot accept Monty “using” her. How dare he! Thus we wasted the first half in a duel.
Overall the plot is decent, fast moving and has some of the same fun quirkiness as the rest of the series. Castor and Pollux making their first appearance since The Warden, and they are seriously bad news. I look forward to seeing more of them as they play both helper and opponent roles.
Reading Dragons and Demigods left a bad taste; I felt like author Sanchez zigged left, taking Simon down a dozen notches, when I wanted him to zag right, leaving Simon as Monty’s equal and formidable and growing. I purchased this from Kindle and think I’ll use the Kindle Unlimited borrowing for the next ones.
3+ Stars
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