3 out of 4 stars
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A Review of Becoming the Dragon (The Dragon Inside Book 1) by Alex Sapegin
As a normal teenager, Andy never expects to live a life of adventure. He thinks the only adventure he has to look forward to is in the form of video games. He's only heard of the fantasy world from books and the role-playing group to which his older sister belongs. For Andy, the saying, "Lightening never strikes the same place twice" proves to not necessarily be true. He goes through a life altering incident involving actual lightening that leads to another world changing incident that thrust him into the world of fantasy.
Magic is real, along with all the make-believe creatures. As Andy is thrust into the world of Ilanta, he has to come to terms with this concept quickly or die alone in this scary new world. He faces many challenges on his journey in this new world. However, the most important challenge comes with severe consequences. Become a dragon or die. Will he make it through the transformation? Will he be able to return to his old life or will he have come too far to go back? Follow sixteen-year-old Andy on his journey in Becoming the Dragon, by Alex Sapegin.
With dragons, orcs, gnomes, elves, vampires, and other fantasy creatures, this book contains it all. It brings to life the legends and makes some new ones of its own. It has plenty of things to keep any fantasy lover interested.
I enjoyed the new world that the author, Alex Sapegin, creates. The struggle for this young boy to survive yet remain himself is fascinating to follow. It makes you wonder how you would handle the situations if you were Andy.
I did not like the history lessons in the book. For instance, when Andy becomes an apprentice for a bow maker, Sergey goes into lengthy lessons on different types and uses for bows. It totally loses the reader and seems unnecessary towards the story. Another instance is when Andy is being trained by "the Hermit" on religion. Although, I see this explanation as somewhat necessary, I feel it should be broken up and not explained in a long drawn out occurrence.
Another problem I had is with some of the character introductions. When Iliya is described and introduced as someone able to command Andy's dog, it leaves you wondering. "Who is Iliya?" It later clarifies Iliya as Andy's father, but I think it should be explained who he is when the description is given. Also, some of the names of the characters and places are too similar and gets confusing, such as Iliya, Ilanta, Grok, Grchok, Gmar, Glik, Dimir, Dorit, Nirel, and Nelita.
Although parts of the story seem unnecessary and/or confusing, I enjoyed the actual storyline. I give Becoming the Dragon a 3 out of 4. The story ended with a good cliffhanger that leaves you curious to find out the rest of the story. The book includes a variety of interesting fantasy life and has a unique way of pulling them together that hasn't been seen a thousand times in other similar books. I look forward to reading the rest of Andy's adventure.
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Becoming the Dragon
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