OF CINDER AND BONE is Ron Howard’s Ransom meets Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park! After centuries of being the most dangerous predators on the planet, dragons were hunted to extinction. That is, until Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali cracked the code to bring them back. Through their research at MIT, they resurrected the first dragon anyone has seen alive since the 15th century. … century. There’s just one problem.
Someone stole it.
Caught between two ruthless yakuza clans who want to clone the dragon, Jack and Kamala brave the dangerous streets of Tokyo to steal their dragon back in a race against time before the world is taken over by mutated, bloodthirsty monsters that will raze it to ashes.
Of Cinder and Bone is an all-new sci-fi thriller from the author of the Amazon bestselling Black Parade novels. Don’t miss out on this explosive first-in-series! Fans of Westworld, I Robot, Pacific Rim, and Reign of Fire will fall in love with this mashup novel that opens up a whole new world of possibilities into what we know and love about dragons.
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Read for 2021 SPSFC
Overall Thoughts
Oh my goodness, the voice in this book. That was what originally drew me in, and kept me going through the whole thing. I got only a few chapters in and there is a tense will he/she won’t he/she relationship between three characters with enough bisexual energy to stun a dragon. Speaking of which, I also love the world this is in, which is just like ours, except dragons, an offshoot of dinosaurs, were alive and well until the 1400s. But the dragons are not the stars of the show. Leave that up to Jack and Kam, two scientists decide to bring one back to live, like their very own high fantasy Jurassic Park. I’ll go into my thoughts in much more detail below, but I’ll leave you with the one reason this book isn’t even higher on this list. There weren’t enough dragons in the book…
Plot
So, our two main characters are busy bringing a dragon back to life, while trading barbs filled with sexual tension between themselves and their friend Faye, who might like both of them, yes in that way. Except very soon the newly hatched dragon is stolen, which leads to a wild chase through the streets of Tokyo, Japan, Yakuza thugs, disaffected scientists, dirty cops, and one very angry dragon.
Now, I will say I thought the plot thread with Japan went on a little too long, as did, if I’m honest, the book as a whole. I felt like there was a really good end point about 80% of the way through, but there were a few more plot points after that. This is the first of a series (which I will definitely be checking out) so I feel the last part of the book probably could have been the beginning of book 2 instead, and not really lost anything. In addition, the genre of the book changes more to thriller or suspense, with the dragon as a McGuffin, rather than the focus being on the dragon, as I was expecting from the first few chapters.
Setting
Another thing that really drew me into this world is that it appears to be exactly the same as ours, except many species of dragons persisted through the middle ages, when they were finally wiped out by dragon hunters. Makes those fairy tales and knights and dragons make a lot more sense, right? But that said, I actually wanted more dragons. There are little tidbits through the book, and a bit more at the end, but I wanted more scenes with the dragon and more talking about how they functioned in society. I felt it got lost against the Japanese backdrop.
This brings me to my second point. A good half of the book takes place in Japan, and as such there are people speaking Japanese. I have a rudimentary understanding (thanks college anime and Duolingo) but I felt a bit more, especially in the long phrases, could have been translated. There is, in fact, one footnote to translate a phrase in maybe Hindi or Tamil, but none for the Japanese. Crime organizations also played a big part, and while they are connected to the story, I feel it sort of buries the lede of Cool Big Dragon coming back to life. That said, I’m hoping for a lot more dragon action in the next books of the series.
Character
This is the big one for this book. The characters here make the story. Jack and Kam are absolutely adorable together, and Faye is an amazing foil to both of them. There are some other characters later on (one in particular) who are an absolute joy to read. The writing style here is such that I would read just about anything by this author, simply to enjoy the character interactions. Also, there’s a big plus for me in adding a bi character, even if she doesn’t end up having a huge part.
This is why I’m less annoyed by the lack of dragons than I otherwise might be. The character arcs here are deep, bringing in the characters’ pasts, and how they affect them as individuals, while not slowing down the action sequences. They build and inform the action sequences, and the many snarky responses more than once made me snort in laughter. Jack and Kam (and several others in the book) are so real I feel I’ve known them for a long time. I’m sure I’ll get to know them more in the next books in the series. You should too! Go check this one out.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
A page-turning dragon heist through Japan with snarky and loveable character, even if there isn’t quite enough dragon for my taste. 8/10
A new author for me. thought I was going to read a dragon tale—so much more! love the writing style, the wit and the drama . I will definitely look for the author – when I see this name – I know I will enjoy the book. give it a read .