Book Reviews and More: Twin Fury - Arthur Slade

Monday, 6 January 2025

Twin Fury - Arthur Slade - Dragon Assassin Book 1

Twin Fury

Dragon Assassin Novels Book 1

Arthur Slade
Dava Enterprises

ISBN 9781989252185

eISBN 9781443182225

ASIN B082XRWRD5

I read the three novellas contained in this novel a while ago. I loved the whole Dragon Assassin World. I decided to reread the whole series in these new editions. But I am getting ahead of myself a bit. When I first read these stories back in 2018-2022 and Art had planned to release a shorter story each month for a year, however that did not quite happen. There was however 12 novellas released in this format. Later he rereleased them in Omnibus edition, and then recently I discovered there were only available as novels. The original novellas were:

Twin Fury

Shadow Hunter

Dark Wings

Bitterwaters

Elder Magic

Royal Blood

Hidden Powers

Burning Empire

Old Enemies

Downfall

The Golden Spear

Deathwings

The Novel (omnibus editions break down like this:

Twin Fury

Twin Fury

Shadow Hunter

Dark Wings

Royal Blood

Bitterwaters

Elder Magic

Royal Blood

Burning Empire

Hidden Powers

Burning Empire

Downfall

Old Enemies

Downfall

Deathwings

The Golden Spear

Deathwings

Still later in their evolution Scholastic Canada released some of them in Canada in print format. But back to the volume at hand. The description of this book states:

“She's the only dragonrider in the world of Ellos. The empire wants her dead. But her dragon's snarky sense of humor might kill her first.

Carmen is an assassin.

She’d love to say she just graduated with honours, but that’s not how it worked out. First, the empire declared war on assassins. Next, there was a horrible betrayal at assassin school.

Then a snarky, dangerous dragon came into her life: Brax.

He loves books, goats and fighting against mortals and dragons alike. He’s also an outcast prince with his own dark secrets. And there's no way he'll submit to having a rider.

A deal is struck that changes their lives forever.

An assassin riding a dragon should be safe, but the emperor is hot on their heels. As the free realms fall, Carmen and Brax are on the run, desperately searching for a way to stop this war. And to get revenge.”

The story is tightly written in a first-person narrative. And readers will come to love and root for Carmen, even with her hard and at times crusty exterior. The pace is excellent. The setting and characters are masterfully done. The story ends on a cliff hanger with a lot of options for where it will go. I cannot help but keep thinking on or imagining Carmen and Brax’s flight into the night, and adventures to come.

The story reminds me of Zelanzy’s Amber books and also a bit like The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli fans of both will appreciate this new story. This is an excellent fantasy story, by a wonderful writer. Fans of fantasy will really appreciate the craft in the telling of this tale. It is an excellent book and I recommend you pick it up and give it a read! I have already read these stories a few times. A great read in a wonderful series.