THE HUNTED -sci-fan YA
Dragon Knight Chronicles Book 3: The Hunted
Andrew Wichland
Publication Date: July 14, 2019
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07V9C1PPJ
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
There's a certain breed of science-fiction/ fantasy that's mostly non-stop action-adventure set out in a galaxy far, far away with the intent of entertaining readers with none of the warnings or alarms in so many dystopian futures.
In his Dragon Knight Chronicles, Andrew Wichland shows he's got as good a handle on this sub-genre as anyone. Throughout The Hunted, book 3 of this series, Wichland juggles many of the familiar formulas and tropes of such yarns like inexplicable instant armor that can grow on a Dragon Knight's body in but a moment. Dragon Knights can suddenly be armed with arsenals of weapons that can take out fleets of pursuers in seemingly overwhelmingly powerful starships. In this case, there's an occasional nod to fantasy with Knights wearing bracelets that can tap into mystical powers when the occasion calls for them. Along the way, dwarves and minotars help populate the conversations.
When stories zip along like The Hunted, there's not much character development and it seems obvious reading the previous two volumes might fill in many of the unanswered or under-explained elements of The Hunted. For example, plot-twisting characters pop in and then quickly disappear. Some have apparently played key roles in the saga in previous stories. Some of them were very intrigueing, enigmatic, and quickly gone. Never to be seen again? The ending of the tale is one of those open-ended episodes setting the stage for volume 4. Perhaps some of those characters will make return engagements?
It seemed clear Wichland wanted readers to associate his main protagonist, Robin, with earth's Robin Hood, but that connection seemed very thin to me beyond some character names--Little John, Tuck, the like. This Robin Hood is on a quest to protect members of his people, track down a missing brother after finding a long-lost sister, and I'm not clear what else. We don't see much of the forces of the Black Dragon whose evil empire dominates the galaxy.
The Hunted is light, very fast reading that will send you out into outer space for a summer evening or two. It's not meant to seriously engage your mental engines but rather to get your blood racing and your eyes popping. And what's wrong with that?
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com On Aug. 9, 2019:
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