Dragon Heat
a book by Allyson James
Author’s Site | Amazon
Overall Rating: 6/10
Meets Expectations: +0
Apparent Rating: 6/10
Dragon Heat is the first book in the series. I had previously read The Black Dragon and found it rather repulsive due to an emphasis on baby-making being the goal of romance. I had very low expectations for Dragon Heat and the book met those expectations. There is a lot less characterization and the plot is a lot less complex than in the second book. But the characters we do see are interesting and it is the kind of book which would have gotten me to search out the sequel if I had read them in order. The author certainly improved as a writer with more experience.
There were a few things that bothered me in this when I did not have an entire sequel’s explanations in mind. There is an all-powerful Silver dragon in this book, but there is no explanation as to why those kinds of dragons are more powerful. There is a Black dragon in this book (who stars in the next book, if the male lead in a romance can be considered starring) and we’re told he is inherently evil because all Black dragons are calculating and therefore cruel— but he suddenly switches sides for no clear reason. We’re told that witches are weak and evil bitches who vampirize dragons for their power and leave them weak and dying— but they all want the witches to help them. We’re told that witches who enjoy sex are immoral, but dragons who kill their mates (like female insects sometimes do) are doing the right thing, and dragons in man-shape who like sex are to be lauded by their lucky women— so women who like sex are bad if we don’t like them and good if they’re the heroine.
The book is set in San Francisco, and the main character is Asian. The second book is also set in San Francisco and the main character is Asian. The dragons are generally portrayed as American idealized men. None of this is a problem except that the books are written from the main character’s point-of-view most of the time and “I” do not have an issue with my racial identity and over-controlling parents with bizarre (and unexplained) expectations.
On the whole, I considered the book much better plotted and written than is generally found in a romance genre. The sex in the book is not erotica with lots of detail. If there had been a point other than hooking the leading characters up, this could have been a fantasy novel. Romances sell better, I’m sure, but it is actually written like writing matters to the author. It was worth picking up at the library to me.
