Michael

An interesting setting for a fantasy such as this with its upper-class, old school faux-British background. The book is full of fun British-esque location names which I enjoyed for some reason such as Scirland & Gostershire.

Isabella herself is clearly the standout of the book. Her constant state of enthusiasm about all things dragon is really endearing to follow. The way she will explain how she feels in terms of dragons just creates a contagious level of passion to learn alongside her.

There is quite a slow start and the book does take a rather long time to get going but once they start the expedition in Vystrani, I was definitely invested in the journey and just as excited to learn more about these creatures and solve the mysteries they came across.

The final act of the book surprisingly turns into somewhat of a whodunnit as all of the pieces start coming together that while I still enjoyed it a lot, was not what I was expecting and would have maybe liked more focus on the dragons themself rather than humans.

Maybe the strongest thing I can say is that the world had me so invested that each time Isabella would bring up a research paper or book she had read, I just wished it actually existed and could read it myself which I think marks a very strong connection to the book.

Yep, cozy fantasy DOES really sum it up well. A book that just makes you feel all warm inside to read. I don’t even like or drink coffee but it made me want to boil the kettle and make myself some.

Viv and Tandri are great and their relationship was super cute towards the end. Their joy of slowly building up the shop was infectious, especially when faced with another treat from Thimble (best character).

Getting to know each of the regulars, one by one, just made the shop come alive; from the awkward bard, Pendry, to the at-first annoying scholar Hemington, to the cryptic old gnome, Durias, and finally Hob, the lovely old grouchy craftsman. All of them were so lovable that by the end they felt a bit like a family.

My favourite part would probably be each time the menu would get updated and we’d get to read the whole thing, slightly longer every time. Always put a smile on my face to see that on a page. ~Finer tastes for the working gent & lady~

This one is from the pile of books i’ve been receiving from Polish scammers for free and just read it on a whim to clear down the TBR honestly so I might not have gone into this with the most enthusiastic mind, but it’s also just generally not the sort of book I'd read anyway.

I do think it’s good for stories for this to be told though. It’s just that as a kids book, there's not much to be gained from it now for me. It’s the sort of thing I'd rather read an article on than a story like this as it doesnt give the time to get attached to anyone.

Probably great for a kid who’s first learning about issues such as Apartheid but didn’t grab me at all. You get the basics like the Pass Law and segregation of buses to whites only but not enough is really said about them apart from one admittedly good scene of the police at the train station rounding up innocent people who forgot their pass.

Name one hero who was happy...They Never let you be famous AND happy... I'm going to be the first

I had a good time with this one. I think the best choice that Miller makes is definitely centering the book on Patroclus rather than Achilles. Doing so means we get this lack of understanding of Achilles himself which results in a sense of otherness from him giving him that feeling of being “more than” and slightly above humans like Patroclus. This choice did surprise me at first as I had assumed it would’ve been from Achilles POV and then towards the last few chapters was surprised that we stuck with the Patroclus POV.

Another benefit to the focus on Patroclus for me was that when you get to the section of the book that focuses on the battle of Troy, it’s a lot more grounded and smaller scale that you’d expect, focusing more on individuals at camp rather than the battle itself which I appreciated.

Following the stubbornness of Achilles and watching him struggle with the idea of his death and being remembered could be frustrating at times but you always understood where is was coming from and it kept things compelling throughout for me.

It’s impressive just how quickly Miller was able to make me hate Pyrrhus though. Pops up for the last chapter or two and is insufferable the whole time.

Pages to Fill is a short story to add a little bit of backstory to Viv’s old team she would adventure with, it’s an interesting piece of extra characterization for the gang but because it’s set before L&L it means a lot of what you read the original for isn’t present here at all. It really just reads like a normal fantasy for the most part.

There are hints of the tone of the original at times, the wonder of Viv entering the Gnome Athenaeum put a smile on my face, there’s always a joy going into a library/bookshop for the first time.

The bounty plot was fairly standard but with a satisfying enough conclusion for a short story of this length and having the chance to walk around Azimuth was fairly interesting; seeing the tiny city described through the lens of seven foot Viv lead to some solid comedic moments.

A solid extra chapter to the original and I’m still very much looking forward to getting to the next book by Baldree soon after.