Dragonslayer by Duncan M. Hamilton Pages: 304
Published by Tor Books on July 2, 2019
Series: Dragonslayer #1
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, New Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
Author of one of BuzzFeed 's Greatest Fantasy Books of 2013
In his magnificent, heroic, adventure fantasy, Dragonslayer, Duncan M. Hamilton debuts the first book in a fast-moving trilogy: a dangerous tale of lost magics, unlikely heroes, and reawakened dragons.
Once a member of the King's personal guard, Guillot dal Villevauvais spends most days drinking and mourning his wife and child. He’s astonished—and wary—when the Prince Bishop orders him to find and destroy a dragon. He and the Prince Bishop have never exactly been friends and Gill left the capital in disgrace five years ago. So why him? And, more importantly, how is there a dragon to fight when the beasts were hunted to extinction centuries ago by the ancient Chevaliers of the Silver Circle?
On the way to the capitol city, Gill rescues Solène, a young barmaid, who is about to be burned as a witch. He believes her innocent…but she soon proves that she has plenty of raw, untrained power, a problem in this land, where magic is forbidden. Yet the Prince Bishop believes magic will be the key to both destroying the dragon and replacingthe young, untried King he pretends to serve with a more pliable figurehead. Between Gill’s rusty swordsmanship and Solene’s unstable magic, what could go wrong?
Dragonslayer is the first book in the epic fantasy series of the same name by author Duncan Hamilton. I have been so into fantasies lately and I have always been intrigued by and love books that feature dragons, so I knew this was going to be right up my alley. The cover of this book drew me in immediately, and it kind of reminded me of the Eragon series. Though I will say, Dragonslayer is more adult and is more on the epic fantasy scale. I am super excited to read the next book in this series. The world was confusing for me at times, but that can sometimes be the case in Epic fantasy, and Duncan Hamilton does include a world map, which really helps when I am trying to place things for context.
Dragonslayer is the story of Guillot dal Villevauvais, also known as Gill. Once Gill rescues Solene, the story really started to take off for me. Solene was more interesting to me than Gill because of her magic, but I really did enjoy the dynamic between the two of them throughout the story. I didn’t dislike Gill per se, but I didn’t love him like I loved Solene and the drgaon. In fact, my favorite part of the story is that we did get to see things from the dragon’s point of view, which was completely awesome. Most of the time, I felt like I understood the dragon and motivations more than some of the other characters! Because we got to catch a glimpse, even more than a glimpse really, inside the Dragon’s mind, I was so firmly on his side, rather than the people who were hunting him’s side. (#teamdragon)
At times I was hoping for a bit more detail, both on the character building front and in the world building arena, but what the story did not lack was action. Dragonslayer is action packed, so if you are a fan of action filled adventure fantasies, this is going to be an awesome series for you to dive into. There are still many questions left unanswered by the end of Dragonslyer. I am hoping that we get many of those answers in the next book. Dragonslayer is set to be a trilogy, and it is one that I am interested in continuing.
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About Duncan M. Hamilton
Duncan M. Hamilton is the Amazon best selling writer of fantasy novels and short stories, including The Wolf of the North and the Society of the Sword trilogy. He has Master’s Degrees in History and Law, and practised as a barrister before writing full time. Duncan is particularly interested in the Medieval and Renaissance periods, from which he draws inspiration for his stories.
He lives in Ireland, near the sea, and when not writing he enjoys sailing, scuba diving, windsurfing, cycling, and skiing.
His debut novel, ‘The Tattered Banner (Society of the Sword Volume 1)’ was featured on Buzzfeed’s 12 Greatest Fantasy Books Of The Year, 2013.
Duncan is a member of The Society of Authors, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). He is represented by DongWon Song of Howard Morhaim Literary.
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