Once There Were Heroes: A Time of Dragons, Book 1
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 1,808 ratings
Price: 52.49
Last update: 07-26-2024
Top reviews from the United States
Linda Acito5.0 out of 5 stars
What a great story. Can't wait for the second book to come out.
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
This is a great story. There are dragons, wizards, magic, worriers, solders and other characters. I recommend this book to everyone who reads this kind of story. The book is so good I couldn't put it down. I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next. The characters are well written, and you get to know them. You like the hero's and hate the bad guys. My wife is an author of children's books, so I am a little critical of how books are written, and this book is written well. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
C.V. Vobh5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just a “good read,” but a “should read”
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2023
This is, on the whole, the best epic fantasy I’ve read so far this year.
Occasionally in literature, there’s a moment where the plot “takes over”: a world-altering series of events begins, and its tragic inevitability is felt, and the characters present are suddenly felt to be mere parts of something vaster. This doesn’t happen too often in fantasy books. But when it does, it’s unforgettable and affects how one thinks about fantasy going forward: say, the Red Wedding; or when Rand Al’Thor duels Ba’alzamon in the sky; or the grim deja vu at the end of the First Law trilogy that transformed “grimdark” from a gibe to a worldview.
This book includes one of those moments. It’s one of the most memorable combat scenes I’ve read. You’ll know it when you see it. That scene alone would’ve made this book worthwhile for me.
Fortunately, there’s a lot more that kept me reading—as evidenced by the fact that I’m reviewing this enormous book less than a week after its release. I won’t try to summarize it all here. It’d take too long, and you could be doing better things with that time. Such as reading the book.
To begin with, this is a book that does a great deal that’s inventive and new. But that’s not because it avoids existing tropes.
For example, my favorite character in the book is one Daijen Saeth—a warrior who masterfully wields two blades, including a scimitar, and fights with the aid of a powerful pet. He comes from a race viewed by humans as evil—which genuinely does have some cruel leaders and cruel individuals—and which has skin of an unusual shade and is excluded from human society on that basis. His race has a natural lifespan vastly exceeding humans, and tends more toward the delicate and artistic than humans do. His people’s society is organized around familial houses, consisting of large extended families. Giant spiders play a significant role in his society and its way of warfare. His role in the story begins with his time at a harsh academy where he is trained as a warrior.
Longtime fantasy readers will recognize these tropes. What makes them fascinating and new here is how the author plays on them—which, to be clear, is transformative and new. Daijen Saeth is an Andaren. In many ways, they're reminiscent of the drow; but they're also uncannily white. They’re not subterranean cave-dwellers who make derogatory remarks about surface-dwellers; they just live in a different land from humans.
Humans steer away from Andarens and their pointy ears, and Andarens likewise are averse to humans. Most characters on both sides seem to recognize that these bad relations stem from the centuries-long war they’re engaged in, as opposed to some inborn racial animus (with limited exceptions). There are hints that humans and Andarens share a more common history than they realize. Common origins? Unclear at this point.
Perhaps the key point is, it becomes clear very early that we don’t have a “most drow are bad and most humans are good with some exceptions”-type situation. Here, humans and Andarens are all individuals with free wills, morally speaking. To be sure, far too many people on both sides serve evil ends. But that’s mostly because, either unwittingly or half-wittingly, they’ve been coopted into the dark designs of a few powerful people who really do have ill intentions. And even *they* are motivated more by a belief in the righteousness of their cause than unabashed selfishness and vice.
So, Andarens and humans are alike in the important ways. But they’re also different in others.
Start with the magic system. Andarens use alchemy—including not only the usual healing potions and such, but flat-out mutation-by-exposure. And it’s cool enough that Peter Parker would be jealous and Leonardo would salute with his katana. Humans, in contrast, use magic in two different ways—either wizard-style, which requires a special metal alloy to help focus the energies, or dragon-rider-style, which requires a bond with a dragon. This is new and inventive stuff, and it’s cool.
I mentioned dragons. They’re the giant, sparkling, magical forces of nature we know and love. Interestingly, dragon riders are virtually all human. In contrast, certain of the Andarens ride Aegres, which essentially are huge mutated eagles. Aegres probably aren’t individually as powerful as dragons, but they can fly higher and are terribly good at coordinating with their riders to take down dragons. Together, riders of Aegres and dragons play a similar role to ace fighter jet squads in Top Gun: almost all the key military action centers on that handful of aces, despite the fact that each side has an enormous army that’s theoretically out there doing Important Things.
Of course, there are other races: dwarves, who are dwarven in the traditional ways; Nimeans, who are a sort of beautiful aquatic-but-human-looking race that suffer a bit from “I can do anything you humans can do but better”-syndrome; and others. But it’s clear the author’s heart lies much more in the human-vs.-Andaren dichotomy, at least in this book. That’s the aspect that you’ll remember for years afterward, the one that will make a mark on how you think about fantasy.
Assuming you read this, which you should. I myself was unfamiliar with Mr. Quaintrell’s work before now. What a delight to learn there’s much more beyond this, and that it’s set in the same world I so enjoyed discovering here. Very highly recommended.
Occasionally in literature, there’s a moment where the plot “takes over”: a world-altering series of events begins, and its tragic inevitability is felt, and the characters present are suddenly felt to be mere parts of something vaster. This doesn’t happen too often in fantasy books. But when it does, it’s unforgettable and affects how one thinks about fantasy going forward: say, the Red Wedding; or when Rand Al’Thor duels Ba’alzamon in the sky; or the grim deja vu at the end of the First Law trilogy that transformed “grimdark” from a gibe to a worldview.
This book includes one of those moments. It’s one of the most memorable combat scenes I’ve read. You’ll know it when you see it. That scene alone would’ve made this book worthwhile for me.
Fortunately, there’s a lot more that kept me reading—as evidenced by the fact that I’m reviewing this enormous book less than a week after its release. I won’t try to summarize it all here. It’d take too long, and you could be doing better things with that time. Such as reading the book.
To begin with, this is a book that does a great deal that’s inventive and new. But that’s not because it avoids existing tropes.
For example, my favorite character in the book is one Daijen Saeth—a warrior who masterfully wields two blades, including a scimitar, and fights with the aid of a powerful pet. He comes from a race viewed by humans as evil—which genuinely does have some cruel leaders and cruel individuals—and which has skin of an unusual shade and is excluded from human society on that basis. His race has a natural lifespan vastly exceeding humans, and tends more toward the delicate and artistic than humans do. His people’s society is organized around familial houses, consisting of large extended families. Giant spiders play a significant role in his society and its way of warfare. His role in the story begins with his time at a harsh academy where he is trained as a warrior.
Longtime fantasy readers will recognize these tropes. What makes them fascinating and new here is how the author plays on them—which, to be clear, is transformative and new. Daijen Saeth is an Andaren. In many ways, they're reminiscent of the drow; but they're also uncannily white. They’re not subterranean cave-dwellers who make derogatory remarks about surface-dwellers; they just live in a different land from humans.
Humans steer away from Andarens and their pointy ears, and Andarens likewise are averse to humans. Most characters on both sides seem to recognize that these bad relations stem from the centuries-long war they’re engaged in, as opposed to some inborn racial animus (with limited exceptions). There are hints that humans and Andarens share a more common history than they realize. Common origins? Unclear at this point.
Perhaps the key point is, it becomes clear very early that we don’t have a “most drow are bad and most humans are good with some exceptions”-type situation. Here, humans and Andarens are all individuals with free wills, morally speaking. To be sure, far too many people on both sides serve evil ends. But that’s mostly because, either unwittingly or half-wittingly, they’ve been coopted into the dark designs of a few powerful people who really do have ill intentions. And even *they* are motivated more by a belief in the righteousness of their cause than unabashed selfishness and vice.
So, Andarens and humans are alike in the important ways. But they’re also different in others.
Start with the magic system. Andarens use alchemy—including not only the usual healing potions and such, but flat-out mutation-by-exposure. And it’s cool enough that Peter Parker would be jealous and Leonardo would salute with his katana. Humans, in contrast, use magic in two different ways—either wizard-style, which requires a special metal alloy to help focus the energies, or dragon-rider-style, which requires a bond with a dragon. This is new and inventive stuff, and it’s cool.
I mentioned dragons. They’re the giant, sparkling, magical forces of nature we know and love. Interestingly, dragon riders are virtually all human. In contrast, certain of the Andarens ride Aegres, which essentially are huge mutated eagles. Aegres probably aren’t individually as powerful as dragons, but they can fly higher and are terribly good at coordinating with their riders to take down dragons. Together, riders of Aegres and dragons play a similar role to ace fighter jet squads in Top Gun: almost all the key military action centers on that handful of aces, despite the fact that each side has an enormous army that’s theoretically out there doing Important Things.
Of course, there are other races: dwarves, who are dwarven in the traditional ways; Nimeans, who are a sort of beautiful aquatic-but-human-looking race that suffer a bit from “I can do anything you humans can do but better”-syndrome; and others. But it’s clear the author’s heart lies much more in the human-vs.-Andaren dichotomy, at least in this book. That’s the aspect that you’ll remember for years afterward, the one that will make a mark on how you think about fantasy.
Assuming you read this, which you should. I myself was unfamiliar with Mr. Quaintrell’s work before now. What a delight to learn there’s much more beyond this, and that it’s set in the same world I so enjoyed discovering here. Very highly recommended.
"chorcery"4.0 out of 5 stars
A Five-Star, but…
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
This is a well-written book. The characters are interesting. The plot is excellently executed. I’ll read those that follow.
Two things to note: a few typographical errors, and an annoying approach of presentation. What kept getting me lost was the authors approach of going back and forth from present and past.
There must be a better way of handling historically relevant parts of the past without resorting to the approach he took. He did it so often, I created a kind of cognitive rubber-necking that detracted from what was otherwise a really interesting story.
I look forward to what comes next. Hopefully the author abandons the past-present approach he used in this book
Two things to note: a few typographical errors, and an annoying approach of presentation. What kept getting me lost was the authors approach of going back and forth from present and past.
There must be a better way of handling historically relevant parts of the past without resorting to the approach he took. He did it so often, I created a kind of cognitive rubber-necking that detracted from what was otherwise a really interesting story.
I look forward to what comes next. Hopefully the author abandons the past-present approach he used in this book
Richard Fitzsimmons5.0 out of 5 stars
Time of Dragons
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
Well written fantasy adventure with lots of action and suspense to keep the reader glued to the book!
BlueSmoke5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic Fantasy Required Reading
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2023
Self pub/Indie Gold
This is my first PCQ book and was an impulse buy triggered while scrolling X (Twitter). The synopsis put the work in my sweet spot and it had many high rankings. I didn't read any reviews. What the heck, why not? The BUY NOW button called out to me. No buyer’s remorse at all, at all.
For plot line details go read another review. This is “epic fantasy” that should be on your reading list. I'll share a couple of things that impressed the heck out of me.
PCQ enlist what could be considered a crowded cast of prominent characters. Each of them having their own thread in the tale. At times a thread may be woven with that of another or then perhaps left on its own to fulfill it’s purpose as the story advances. With the skill of master craftsman Quaintrell tugs, braids and weaves these threads into a wonderful tapestry. Not once was I disappointed to leave one for another. Seeing them come together was dopamine inducing.
Another device utilized successfully is the flash back. I thought them to be well executed and an integral part in both character dev and world building. Again, I was not disappointed to leave one story track for another when taken to a previous time or back to the present.
Quaintrell's characters are varied, engaging, loveable, awe inspiring and tragic. The lore and magic system capture the imagination.
His prose style is fluid and pleasurable making it difficult to put the book down.
I do not exaggerate when I say this author easily stands with and may exceed some of the more renowned trad published authors of this genre. If you like Weber, Abercrombie, Weeks, Sanderson, et al. you will love Quaintrell.
BSFReads
This is my first PCQ book and was an impulse buy triggered while scrolling X (Twitter). The synopsis put the work in my sweet spot and it had many high rankings. I didn't read any reviews. What the heck, why not? The BUY NOW button called out to me. No buyer’s remorse at all, at all.
For plot line details go read another review. This is “epic fantasy” that should be on your reading list. I'll share a couple of things that impressed the heck out of me.
PCQ enlist what could be considered a crowded cast of prominent characters. Each of them having their own thread in the tale. At times a thread may be woven with that of another or then perhaps left on its own to fulfill it’s purpose as the story advances. With the skill of master craftsman Quaintrell tugs, braids and weaves these threads into a wonderful tapestry. Not once was I disappointed to leave one for another. Seeing them come together was dopamine inducing.
Another device utilized successfully is the flash back. I thought them to be well executed and an integral part in both character dev and world building. Again, I was not disappointed to leave one story track for another when taken to a previous time or back to the present.
Quaintrell's characters are varied, engaging, loveable, awe inspiring and tragic. The lore and magic system capture the imagination.
His prose style is fluid and pleasurable making it difficult to put the book down.
I do not exaggerate when I say this author easily stands with and may exceed some of the more renowned trad published authors of this genre. If you like Weber, Abercrombie, Weeks, Sanderson, et al. you will love Quaintrell.
BSFReads
Pachomius Patrick Hamor5.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly Fantastic
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2023
This was a fantastic first installment of a new series taking place in the world of Varda. If you have read Philip's books in publication order then you'll discover a treasure trove of easter eggs to be enjoyed. If this is your first foray into the author's imagination, then you are in for a treat. This book has all your favorite tropes, the ones that draw you to fantasy in the first place, while it turns other popular tropes on their head. If you love compelling characters driven by an overarching sense of urgency--that their every decision may have far reaching consequences, then this story is for you. There's are heroes and villains, and some you are not to sure about. There are dragons (of course) and others characters and monsters out of myth. Pick this book, NO--pick all of Philip Quaintrell's books up. You will not be disappointed.