Book Review: The Dragonslayer's Sword

For Astrid, a blacksmith who makes swords for dragonslayers, the emergence of a strange gemstone from her body sets in motion a chain of events that threaten to destroy her life. Her happiness is shattered when her lover-the dragonslayer-disappears without a trace, and the life that she knows and loves implodes without warning. Astrid lives in a world of shapeshifters whose thoughts have the power to change not only themselves but others. Everything Astrid knows to be true is called into question when she learns the truth about her past and the mysterious family from which she was separated as a child. Reality turns inside out as Astrid gradually learns the truth about the people she loves as well as those she disdains. With the fate of dragons, ghosts, and slaves in foreign lands resting on her shoulders, Astrid faces the challenge of deciding who she is and how she will stand up inside her own skin. Will she withdraw and hide from the world that has disappointed her so much...or will she rise to lead others to freedom and peace?

The Dragonslayer's Sword
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 288 (ebook)
Part of Series: The Dragonslayer Series #1
Purchased: For Review by the author
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Buy: Book Depository || Amazon (US) || Amazon (UK)

REVIEW: 
Seriously what where the chance to say no to the book related to dragons...yeah...like zero...so here we are with the Dragonslayer's Sword by Resa Nelson.

What can i say? I really didn't expect to like it that much (i was thinking to go for 4 starts but you will see later why i didn't). The world is amazing and different. A mix of many different people and beliefs. And while it starts from a small town, you get to know more and other things too. The story? Captivating from the very first chapter. You see the world from our heroines eyes, and you get to know and understand everything along with her. You know what she knows. And that made the whole story new and surprising. Don't remember when was the last time, i didn't know what will happen until the last page. You are literally one with the character and you grow with her. Secondary characters? Complex, with full personalities and ideas like Astrid. Even characters who are not as important to the story, they have a story and are connected beautifully with the world and help you understand it better.


Another big...really big actually, part of the book is the blacksmiths. Never read a book before, where the blacksmiths are that important or so front in the story. You get to see their world, in amazing detail and honestly? I fell in love with them, that much that i just created a new blacksmith characters for my imagination stories :P I could kept reading just for them...who cares about dragons? How they worked, lived, and thought was way more interesting than anything else in the book.


Then of course we have Astrid who is one of my favorite characters ever! She is strong, clever, kind hearted and no matter how many bad things happened to her she is not the usual cry-baby girl. She fights and she found a way to survive. You read about her and you are proud of what she's done. She has some negative things of course, but who hasn't? We are not perfect, and she is not. She is just a character who you can connect with and appreciate her part.


Now, as i said i was going 4 stars but i gave it 3.5. That's only because there is a really strange idea about the shapeshifting of the world. Even at the end of the book, you are still might missing things. And at first i was very confused on how it worked. It took me half the book to actually understand in a decent level the whole thing so here is the minus -0.5. Maybe it didn't work out for me, or it could have been explained differently since it's also important for the story. Of course now, i have no questions about it so we are okay.


So here is, the first i believe, fantasy book i recommend for 2012! Different, original, complex but easy to read, with lots of action and a really great world to spent some days in!