2 out of 4 stars
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Becoming the Dragon (The Dragon Inside Book 1) by Alex Sapegin sounds from the blurb like it will be a fascinating tale of a human coming to terms with his transformation into a dragon at his deathbed. I had high hopes for the concept behind this book, but sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.
At the start of the book, readers meet Andy, a sixteen year old boy who had been struck by lightning two years prior. As a result, electronic technology tends to misbehave around him and he had to learn to enjoy more mundane activities such as archery and cooking. When he accidentally stumbles into his father's teleportation experiment during a test, Andy gets thrown into a fantasy world where he must learn to survive against strange creatures he had previously thought mythological. Once in this world, he discovers he has magical talents when he gets sold as a slave. As a slave, he eventually gets fatally injured and his only way to survive is to accept a ritual transformation into a dragon.
As I read this book, I kept wondering when the dragon transformation that had been promised would occur. Not until nearly two-thirds of the way through the book does this actually happen. When the dragon transformation does finally happen, the book's style changes from a narrative to a more confusing stream of consciousness diary interspersed with narrative from other characters. I give the author some credit, as this does help the reader feel a bit more of the strangeness of the transformation, but the language and jarring nature of the entries seemed out of place with the rest of the story. The remainder of the story often feels like a world building dump as Andy's adoptive family tries to educate him in all the things he needs to know about the world where he lives.
Another complaint that I have with this story is that Andy seems very reactionary and has very little personal drive to change things in the fantasy world. On earth he showed drive to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow, but after that, I see very little evidence of any desire to change his circumstances. Plenty of things happen to Andy, and he responds in various ways that seemed in character, but he did very little to change anything. Even the points where he made enemies and decided to become a dragon were almost forced upon him. Andy shows very little personal growth, seeming much the same emotionally at the end of the book as he did at the beginning.
From a world building standpoint, it seems that much of the world has been built on RPG foundations, such as mana as a source of power for magic. The author assumes that readers are familiar with these foundations and does little to explain them. Orcs, goblins, elves, gnomes, dragons, and many of the other high fantasy types are present, and there is very little unique about the world. Many Viking mythologies are also incorporated, though readers will not learn why until about three-quarters of the way through the book. At times, this was frustrating, since it seemed out of place to have these mythologies referenced, though toward the end my questions about this were answered.
Overall, I will give Becoming the Dragon 2 out of 4 stars. The book has some interesting moments, and I did enjoy parts of it, which earn it two stars. Technically, it could probably use another professional edit to help clear up some repeated phrases, comma and apostrophe usage, and a few other plot issues. That could help get the book to at least the three stars level if done right. Young adult readers looking for some big adventure without commitment to character growth might enjoy this novel more than I did
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Becoming the Dragon
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