4 out of 4 stars
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How often do you read books from outside the USA? Well Becoming the Dragon is one of the books that are written outside the territorial boundaries of the USA. It is authored by Alex Sapegin and the central character is Andrei Karimov. From the name of the main character, you can see that the book is from without. Since the book is from Russia, I know most readers will be interested to read it so as to know the difference between the American writing and the Russian writing. Save for the naming systems and the dialects, most features are uniform.
Becoming the Dragon is the first installment by Alex Sapegin in his series of The Dragon Inside. The story is primarily about a boy named Andy. Andy is just an ordinary youth with normal family and friends. At his youngster years, Andy is struck by lightning. Luckily enough he is not injured. The result of his encounter with the lightning is that he cannot go near any electronic device. Whenever he is close to any such devices, he can easily destroy them making them malfunction.
Being unable to be close to computers, Andy resorts to doing certain outdoor exercises such as riding bikes and hiking. He is soon trained on how to use a bow and an arrow. One day his mother sends him to the research lab where his father is working. As he is nearing the research lab, Andy finds himself in such a unique world. This is a world he has never seen before. It dawns on him that his life is under a great threat in this new world.
There are very many creatures looking forward to prey on him and so Andrei fights to remain alive. The situation is compounded when he is sold as a slave in the neighboring village. Wild animals are sold as slaves alongside humans. Andy becomes very cautious when a dragon is brought and tied near him. As the days go by, Andy and the dragon begin communicating. They promise to join hands in ensuring that they have both escaped from the chains of slavery. Their escape is the genesis of their friendship. Andy finally finds himself caged in a tough war.
This book is capable of detaining any reader on his seat. The book has met the highest quality. Perhaps this is why it became the best bookseller in Russia and in Eastern Europe after it was unveiled in 2010. Initially written in Russian, the book has since been translated into English. The English version is now available. The Kindle edition attracts a price of $2.99 and the paperback version attracts a price of $8. These prices are pocket-friendly to ensure that even people with "shallow’’ pockets are not neglected from reading this book.
The book includes a fine glossary and recommendations to ensure that readers get the best out of it. The author adds “sugar’’ to the story by including a bit of romance and adventurous scenes. He even uses imaginations such as teleportation. The descriptive style of writing lubricates the readers’ understanding of the contents. Readers are able to visualize as they read the story thus they will be intrigued and captivated. Readers get motivated as the author leaves them on a cliff-hanger at the end of the story. The author is keen to twist the plot and make turns. This makes predictions of the next events very difficult thus the reader is compelled to concentrate throughout the story. The translation from Russian to English is well-done and everything is ironed-out making the book perfect.
I would recommend this book to junior readers in high school. However, anybody who loves sci-fi stories will find it helpful. This book has no much erotic scenes thus is fit for all readers. Since I saw no negative thing, I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.
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Becoming the Dragon
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