Review by Stacy_Morgan -- Becoming the Dragon
Posted: 15 May 2018, 11:40
[Following is a volunteer review of "Becoming the Dragon" by Alex Sapegin.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Becoming The Dragon is the first book of the The Dragon Inside series by Alex Sapegin. In this book, we are introduced to Andy Kerimov, a teen living in Russia.
Two years previous to the beginning of this story, Andy was struck by lightning. This resulted in his inability to get within five feet of machines lest they slow down or freeze up.
One day, his older sister decides to send him to bring his father important papers he had forgotten to take to work.
This would usually only result in several computers crashing. While that may not be ideal, it would be better than what happens.
Mr. Iliya Kerimov and his co-workers are getting close to creating a transportation device. Their belief is that this will make global travel easier.
Due to the unfortunate timing of a test of said teleporter, Andy is caught in its crosshairs. Andy's special ability to wreak havoc on anything and everything mechanical kicks in, and he doesn't end up on the other side of the world. He ends up in a different world altogether!
Andy is met with hostility by wildlife and people alike. He has to fight for his life over and over; defending himself with wits and instincts. Many times his doing so has him and the reader questioning his ability to hold on to his humanity.
Most of the people he meets turn out to be enemies. It's not all gloom and doom, however. Andy makes friends without which he most likely wouldn't survive; including a dragon and Snow Elf.
In Becoming The Dragon there are many times you're thrust into a scene not knowing who the characters are. There are no lengthy explanations; their story just starts. I found myself rereading the beginning of a number of chapters due to this style of writing. The beginning of the story follows this pattern, but there were quite a few flashbacks and explanations scattered throughout the first chapter. Due to this, the story seemed a bit slow in really starting. I appreciated it later, though, as I could understand what I needed to without the story being interrupted by these long explanations.
I also appreciated when details were given; when things and people were explained at length, it wasn't dry. I could see them in my mind's eye with ease. Alex Sapegin has mastered the art of 'showing, not telling'.
The story was amazing, and I have no complaints.
I ought to tell you, though, the author doesn't pull punches. Andy gets tortured and whipped a number of times due to his uncanny ability to annoy and anger powerful people. The same goes for certain "sacred" body parts, sex, and swearing. However, he'll say things like, 'Andy only had time to scream some profanities before he fell,' rather than saying what exactly those profanities were. He walks a delicate tightrope. In my opinion, though, he doesn't even wobble. Without being gratuitous, he makes his point. This was most likely my favorite part of this book. This was not because of what was said or not said; simply because I appreciate the incredible talent this takes. What happened was my least favorite part of the book, but the way it was written... Oh! My writer's heart was in awe.
The book was originally written in Russian; this is a translation. The storytelling didn't suffer at all because of this, however. Props to Elizabeth Kulikov on wonderful translation work! Making a translation sound good as a story is exceedingly difficult, and she did marvelously!
The grammar/punctuation situation was a bit of a challenge to judge. Russian and English have different rules regarding these things, so the errors there were are easily understood and dismissed. Were it not a translation, I would have no problem docking a star for the number of mistakes there are. The mistakes are small, easily glossed over, and grew to be fewer as the book continued. Toward the beginning, however, there is a substantial number of errors. I wish I could give this book four stars. But, I don't feel right saying it was perfect with the number of grammatical errors it had; especially as it was shown that Elizabeth Kulikov is capable of smoothing these things out. Thus, I give Becoming The Dragon 3 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to those who like the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. I feel like this book, because of the previously mentioned no-punches-pulled aspect would be rated PG, however.
******
Becoming the Dragon
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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3 out of 4 stars
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Becoming The Dragon is the first book of the The Dragon Inside series by Alex Sapegin. In this book, we are introduced to Andy Kerimov, a teen living in Russia.
Two years previous to the beginning of this story, Andy was struck by lightning. This resulted in his inability to get within five feet of machines lest they slow down or freeze up.
One day, his older sister decides to send him to bring his father important papers he had forgotten to take to work.
This would usually only result in several computers crashing. While that may not be ideal, it would be better than what happens.
Mr. Iliya Kerimov and his co-workers are getting close to creating a transportation device. Their belief is that this will make global travel easier.
Due to the unfortunate timing of a test of said teleporter, Andy is caught in its crosshairs. Andy's special ability to wreak havoc on anything and everything mechanical kicks in, and he doesn't end up on the other side of the world. He ends up in a different world altogether!
Andy is met with hostility by wildlife and people alike. He has to fight for his life over and over; defending himself with wits and instincts. Many times his doing so has him and the reader questioning his ability to hold on to his humanity.
Most of the people he meets turn out to be enemies. It's not all gloom and doom, however. Andy makes friends without which he most likely wouldn't survive; including a dragon and Snow Elf.
In Becoming The Dragon there are many times you're thrust into a scene not knowing who the characters are. There are no lengthy explanations; their story just starts. I found myself rereading the beginning of a number of chapters due to this style of writing. The beginning of the story follows this pattern, but there were quite a few flashbacks and explanations scattered throughout the first chapter. Due to this, the story seemed a bit slow in really starting. I appreciated it later, though, as I could understand what I needed to without the story being interrupted by these long explanations.
I also appreciated when details were given; when things and people were explained at length, it wasn't dry. I could see them in my mind's eye with ease. Alex Sapegin has mastered the art of 'showing, not telling'.
The story was amazing, and I have no complaints.
I ought to tell you, though, the author doesn't pull punches. Andy gets tortured and whipped a number of times due to his uncanny ability to annoy and anger powerful people. The same goes for certain "sacred" body parts, sex, and swearing. However, he'll say things like, 'Andy only had time to scream some profanities before he fell,' rather than saying what exactly those profanities were. He walks a delicate tightrope. In my opinion, though, he doesn't even wobble. Without being gratuitous, he makes his point. This was most likely my favorite part of this book. This was not because of what was said or not said; simply because I appreciate the incredible talent this takes. What happened was my least favorite part of the book, but the way it was written... Oh! My writer's heart was in awe.
The book was originally written in Russian; this is a translation. The storytelling didn't suffer at all because of this, however. Props to Elizabeth Kulikov on wonderful translation work! Making a translation sound good as a story is exceedingly difficult, and she did marvelously!
The grammar/punctuation situation was a bit of a challenge to judge. Russian and English have different rules regarding these things, so the errors there were are easily understood and dismissed. Were it not a translation, I would have no problem docking a star for the number of mistakes there are. The mistakes are small, easily glossed over, and grew to be fewer as the book continued. Toward the beginning, however, there is a substantial number of errors. I wish I could give this book four stars. But, I don't feel right saying it was perfect with the number of grammatical errors it had; especially as it was shown that Elizabeth Kulikov is capable of smoothing these things out. Thus, I give Becoming The Dragon 3 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to those who like the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. I feel like this book, because of the previously mentioned no-punches-pulled aspect would be rated PG, however.
******
Becoming the Dragon
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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