Dragonslayer (The Dragonslayer, #1)

by Duncan M Hamilton

Mirabaya, a country similar to medieval France, is ruled by a young, untried king who should be easily led by Amaury, the head of the church. Amaury knows power is often best wielded from behind the throne, out of sight, out of range of an assassin. Threatening his plans is news of a dragon, a creature thought destroyed centuries ago. How best to deal with this nuisance?

Once a member of the King's personal guard, Gill now spends most days drinking and mourning his wife and child. He's stunned to be ordered to find and destroy a marauding dragon - weren't they hunted to extinction long before he was born? Together with Solene, a young woman who has an unstable, dangerous magical talent, this unlikely hero faces treachery and uncovers lost history as they attempt to defeat a dragon that shouldn’t exist.

• ISBN10: 1250306736
• ISBN13: 9781250306739
• Publish Date: 1 August 2019 (first published 2 July 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 29 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Dragonslayer through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is one of those rare times when you can judge a book by its cover. Dragonslayer is everything you would expect, upon seeing an angry looking dragon on a dramatic book cover. It’s a perfect example of an epic fantasy, with the journey just beginning.
Dragonslayer is the first novel in a new series of the same name by Duncan M. Hamilton. As you can guess, from both the cover and the title, this book is about hunting a great dragon. But there’s more to it than that, naturally. The real highlights of this novel are the characters.
This series follows Guillot dal Villevauvais, aka Gill, as well as several others, on their quest to deal with the big bad dragon of the world. Gill is a classic fantasy character. He’s been through his fair share of hardships, but he’ll always step up and do the right thing when he’s needed.


Dragonslayer is perhaps the best example of epic fantasy to come out in 2019. It’s everything I’ve grown up expecting and hoping for, when it comes to dragon hunting series. It’s tense and dark, with brooding lead characters, and a strong set of supporting characters.
Admittedly, I don’t always go for the novels where it’s clear that dragon hunting will be done. I usually tend to lean in the opposite direction, with my dragon preference. However, every now and then I’ll indulge. And I’m so glad I picked Dragonslayer to be that exception for me.
This novel was one that slowly built up. It never rushed, and it didn’t really need to. We had plenty of time to get to know the world, the characters, and even the antagonist (the dragon) himself. And there was more than one plan or type of thinking, when it came to the humans. The added politics here was very much appreciated.
I’ll admit I was both interested and surprised to see some of the tale told from the dragon’s eyes. I hadn’t expected that. But it was a nice twist. Antagonists are almost always better when you can understand their motivations.
It did take me a little while to start liking the main hero of this tale; Gill. Though it was actually kind of fascinating to have a hero introduced in such a non-heroic way. I suppose it made his actions seem all the more impressive; that he stepped up to deal with this threat, despite his downward spiral.
There are plenty of other characters in this novel as well. Two are more important than the rest, but their development is so integral to the plot, I’m almost tempted to leave it there and say no more about them. I will say that I did have a favorite, and that she appears much later in the novel.
I’m honestly curious to see where the next part of this trilogy is going to go. I have a few ideas, but obviously nothing concrete. Once Duncan Hamilton releases a title, we’ll probably have a better idea of what we’re in for. But I’m looking forward to finding out.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[tweetybugshouse]

This is the perfect kind of book when your really wanting a story that goes back to stories you grew up with. One classic is the town that gets ravaged by dragon and a legendary hero is sent off to slay the dragon and maybe rescue a princess or some sort of treasure. The Dragonslayer gives us the perfect twist on this classic story. In this version our hero is a someone who comes from a long line of famous Dragonslayer but has never stayed one in his life. In fact he was disgraced and has lived the last years as the towns trunk to the point where someone else is even collecting the town taxes.

Another twist on this classic tale is the dragon itself Alpheratz i really felt for this dragon as he been asleep for a long time and some buffoon comes to his cave in search of a magic cup and wakes him up. When he is awoken he goes out in search of his dragon mate and find her and the eggs gone and destroyed by humans. So what does an angry dragon who lost his whole world do he takes it out on those he deems responsible.

Then enter our Dragonslayer who rescued a damsel in distress this time it a witch but Solene is a very enjoyable character who is strong, confident and has a power tool her magic to defend herself. Now our party has Gil, Solene and the rest of those charged with taking out this Dragonslayer. This story is enjoyable in that the characters play their parts to a tee and in the end their some secrets to be uncovered. This is the first book so i am eager to see what is to become of our dragon and wether Gil will really be forced to destroy him.

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book, in exchange for an honest review. This will be available on July 2nd.

Dragons! Huzzah! I’m a sucker for “traditional fantasy”- you know, monsters, warriors, epic quests, that sort of thing. So, I was excited to dive into this one. I’m happy to report that it lived up to my expectations.

I was hooked from the beginning. I loved that it started with an encounter with Alpheratz, the dragon. It established right away what sort of dragons this world has (spoiler: it’s not the cuddly kind). From there, the book takes us to Gil, a grizzled swordsman whose drinking has rendered him kind of useless.

While the plot is interesting, what stood out to me was how well Gil was developed. I really felt for him from moment one. He’s let himself fade away almost into obscurity as a way of dealing with his personal tragedies. The quest to kill the dragon ends up sort of being his salvation, in that he remembers who he was and is brought back to that.

There are things hinted at from his past, some of which has yet to be fully explored. I’m hopeful that more of that will be revealed as the series continues. The story is unfolding naturally, albeit slowly at parts, which I appreciate.

Solene was a great addition, adding complications that Gil wasn’t exactly ready for, and the Prince Bishop was a fun adversary. I couldn’t help but like him; his machinations were so entertaining.

This book felt reminiscent of the Drenai series by David Gemmell, although I really couldn’t tell you why. I honestly think it was Gil’s personality. I happen to really enjoy Winter Warriors by Gemmell, so this comparison is meant as a compliment.

This book is a fantastic start to a series, and a great introduction to Duncan M. Hamilton’s writing, if you haven’t already read any of his work. I highly recommend it.