4 out of 4 stars
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Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin, A Review
Starting in Russia, Sapegin introduces the main character, Andy, and his mostly normal life as a teenager on earth. The audience finds out that he cannot go near computers without making them freeze after being struck by lightning and that he is being trained in archery by his neighbor. After these introductions Andy is transported to another planet. He starts off by surviving many of the predatory animals in the forest he lands in only to be taken by a duke's guards and sold as a slave with another group of humanoid beings.
In between all of this, the audience is introduced to Nirrel, an elf working as an executioner in the king's castle, and Karegar, the dragon, who lives with Jagirra, the elf, in a cave over a village. The story then continues following Andy to the king's castle where he is hunted with the other captives, for sport. When he takes the lives of a good number of the hunters he is taken by the elf Nirrel to be broken, per the instructions of the princess. In captivity Andy meets Karegar, who has also been captured, and is magically given the ability to speak, read, and write in the kingdom's language. He is able to escape the castle riding on Karegar without being killed, but his injuries are so great that his only option to live is to be transformed into a dragon, in a process called ”reincarnation.” Jagirra performs the process. The book concludes with Jagirra and Karegar teaching Andy how to maintain control of himself and his magic, while, leaving important questions unanswered until further books.
The most interesting piece of the story (and my favorite part) is the process of Andy becoming a dragon. In Becoming the Dragon Andy does not become a dragon in the blink of an eye., nor does the book cut out the part with something like “and after several months….” No, Sapegin describes piece by piece the process of becoming a dragon and how it feels. This unimaginable change becomes something that I can feel too. The author then proceeds to describe how Andy learns to manage being in a new body with new abilities. To me that is creative writing.
Speaking of how the book is written, the character development in this story is phenomenal and the contrast between static and dynamic characters is on point with a moral that is incorporated throughout the story (and reveals who the strongest really is). Each character had their own background, mindset and personality that there was never a question of forgetting who was who. They were each unique and distinct. This also leads to the main character, Andy. Andy is well crafted and the writer does not need to say that he is resilient, courageous, compassionate, and curious, because it is obvious by what Andy does. He is still a rash teenager, but he shows himself to be a strong person by letting go of the past and continually trying to survive.
Sapegin’s book is one that is hard to put down and part of the reason for this is because he suspends the reader’s belief beautifully. The main character’s entrance into a new world makes sense and seems realistic. For example, the skills he has with the bow were previously learned. Then there is the world itself. When a person enters a forest there are animals and when there are huge creatures called dragons living on this world it is very reasonable to have other large people-eating animals under a dominant dragon. This just scientifically makes sense. This world also has a corrupt government and unknown seemingly barbaric and common visitors (as Andy was) are most certainly going to be treated roughly at least. Being in a more medieval setting, torture is also common. There are many books that don't reach the point where the main character is captured or tortured, yet this book realistically has Andy captured, tortured, almost eaten, and more.
I would be willing to suggest this book to anyone likes fantasy. This is because the book is such a well rounded fiction story that is inviting to a plethora of fantasy fans. There are new and old fantastical elements. This book would not appeal to anyone who does not like books with magic and I wouldn't necessarily give it to young kids, but even with realistic elements it is not graphic, vulgar, or crude.
On the topic of what I least liked about the book, I will admit, in the area of story lines I see little reason to disagree with what the author has written [unless the suspension of belief is dropped with no explanation or a character’s personality or gifts are inconsistent (neither of which is found in this book)]. The author has created this story and decided the fate of his world. I cannot dispute with this. Other than that, my least favorite part was the transitions at the beginning. Moving between the beginning scene and then to how Andy got struck by lightning made sense, but then the other switches between present and past were harder to follow and felt less relevant. After that it was all smooth sailing.
In total I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed reading Becoming the Dragon and wanted to continue the series when I was done. There were no lulls wondering if I should have picked up the book and my interest did not end with the book. I did not give it a three because it was well written with few, if any, mistakes and because it was gripping and enjoyable. It even had some moral that I appreciated as well.
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Becoming the Dragon
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