I love dragons. The fact the book title and the book cover had dragons in it, meant I was immediately sold on this one. Add to that, that this was an indie author I'd never heard of before and I was wholeheartedly in.

The opening chapters felt a little stilted, a lot of awkward moments for our protagonist Austin. I wasn't immediately drawn to him or really even liked him, but I didn't hate him, so that was a plus. When things started to get moving in the following chapters I was drawn into the story and quite enjoyed the pace in which the story moved along.

This was until the book changed to a complete history lesson on Rhyll. I understand there was a need to share some of the information but it really smacked of poor storytelling because that information could be given to the reading in a number of other ways. This history lesson lasted a few chapters and really bogged down the pacing.

Once we broke free of the history 101 class, things picked up again and the twisting and turning plots and mystery were quite engrossing. I appreciated the ways things didn't always go right for our characters, the ways in which various roadblocks occurred and helped/hindered the progress. Even if some of the characters seemed to not be as impacted by these roadblocks.

The last 20% of the book was a quick nail-biting read that helped the book shine. Where things fell a little short for me was the emotional ending. It felt a little rushed and glossed over and overly packed with too much going on to really allow the emotional punch to the guts to hit home. That was a shame because I feel it could have been very emotional if given the right amount of time to breathe.

Overall, this was a fun book. It has some challenges and things I think could be improved, but I enjoyed it. I'll most likely pick up another book by this author down the track.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley**

While I enjoyed the characters and the overall idea behind the novel, it fell a bit flat for me. I'm tired of reading about men whose significant others die and that ends up being their main motivation. It was a nice fantasy romp and I liked the relationships between characters, especially Austin and Corinna. I also appreciated the fact that they had Austin be a grown adult, rather than the young adult that fantasy often portrays. I'd recommend this for someone who wants your typical fantasy romp but is tired of all of the protagonists being really young.

This was a bust for me, i had hoped it would be interesting but i just did not like Austin that much. Rhiannon`s chapter was sort of okay, but meh.

As soon as I see the word "Dragon" in any book title - I'm in.
But I must say, as much as I wanted to love it - it was just fine.
I found that I sadly never cared much about the characters. But I see so much potential in this story.
I hope there will be more to read!

Loved the characters and storyline, liked the way this book was written.

Thank you for the arc ❤️

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ahead of time!

When I first saw the description for the book, I had to request. When I saw the idea that "our fairy tale monsters are another world's criminal castoffs" I was hooked. The monsters and myths of our world are interesting and strange and deeply connected to one another, which is something I always thought was strange. The idea that they might come from another world pulled me in tight to the book.

In addition to how the world was built, I was fascinated by the main characters Austin and Corinna. They're tough and independent and determined. I loved the dynamic between the two of them, and Corinna's sarcasm kept me laughing.

I couldn't set the book down while I was reading it and whether this is a first in a series or a standalone, I can't wait to see what more Mr. Munz has to create.

Interesting storyline and characters. I would have enjoyed a little more character depth and plot. But overall good story

Very interesting story about all the frightening and mysterious creatures we fear the most. Who come from another place (Rhyll) through a portal straight into our world. We just don't know where or when that portal is so can a man who recently lost his girlfriend and found a magical object be the one to save us?
He (Austin) is not convinced at first but he embarks on a journey with Boden a dragon trapped in a magical crystal and Corinna a thief who inherited Austin's dead girlfriend's memories.
A very action and fast paced book where the magic flows from Michael G. Munz words and one page takes the next. I like following alongside the characters and seeing them grow and evolve especially Austin. Corinna was a bit annoying at times but I still wanted to know what would happen to her and her relationship with Austin.
The ending disappointed me as I had hoped for more but all in all a good book that I'm thankful I got to read.

This is an interesting take on parallel worlds and the crossover of people between them. Munz created a tale that brings a not-quite regular Joe into contact with the magical. This is a melancholy story that has surprises, which is nice. “Memory of Dragons” is not a predictable book.

The main characters have an interesting dynamic. I really like how Munz put them together to set up his plot twists. While he did leave some character development on the table, it wasn’t much and it provides fodder for future stories. The ending could be stand alone or used as a beginning for another book. The reader is left satisfied at the conclusion of the story and given the option to want more without the promise of getting it. That is a nice change from the “never ending” story format that many sci-fi/fantasy authors seem to favor these days. I’m over the books written intentionally as “Part One” of a series.

Overall the writing is not gripping. It is solid and has no flaws that I can see, but it didn’t really suck me in as some stories have done. I felt it was just a little flat - I’m not sure why - and I was never dying to read just one more chapter. There were points within that caused me to pause and think, which I found redeeming.

Overall a good story told well. I give it a solid four stars.

The opinions shared in this review are my own and I have received no compensation in exchange for offering them. My thanks to NetGalley and Red Muse Press for this copy to review.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the world that was built. I liked the fairy tale elements and hope there is more in the series.

Austin is on a pilgrimage to Wales in memory of his late girlfriend, Rhi. His day is off to a bad start when a pickpocket named Corinna steals Rhi's necklace from him. He continued on to his destination where he encounters a horror out of a nightmare.
It seems that Rhi was Rhiannon, a magic user from another world, connected to ours by a vortex. Her fellows died protecting a source of great danger to their world, an item someone is willing to kill to acquire. With Rhiannon's memories in Corinna's head to guide them, and his world turned upside down, Austin reluctantly teams up with her. With the fate of both worlds at stake, he has to decide who to trust, and soon. Time is running out.

Memory of Dragons is a recently published fantasy by Micheal G. Munz who describes himself as a ‘geek-bard’ – a jack of all geek trades. Micheal’s bardship is certainly on display in this high stakes adventure which has it’s fingers in the geeky pies of dragons, magical worlds, and monsters, but this book’s strength is in the constant dilemma of who to trust, especially when memory magic is involved.

Set mainly in the south of England and Wales, with occasional tantalising glimpses of the magical word of Rhyll, it is clear that Munz has great affection for the UK, and he dedicates this book to “the Isle of Britain, its people and its lore”. It’s fun to have a book dedicated to me (however wide the dedication!) and with Wales a favourite holiday destination I settled in to enjoy the book.

Munz described the wild beauty of Wales well, and I could picture the places he was describing. I particularly enjoyed that most of the peril took place in the Welsh countryside, which felt like a most fitting location. As a native of England, my main gripe with this book was with the amount of British slang used in the book. As an non-native reader, you may well find the usage of “I say!”, “chuffed” and “bint” charming, but whilst these are all British words, they were sometimes used incorrectly, or too frequently to be believable.

As I was drawn into the narrative, I was impressed by the magic system, and by the slow revelation of Rhyll. The focus on memory magic was particularly intriguing and well explored; what makes a person who they are? Could you become another person by taking their memories into yourself? Munz’s logic is brilliant throughout the novel – his characters solve problems realistically and with intelligence, which was refreshing.

The various exiled denziens of Rhyll I met throughout the novel were also fascinating with some unapologetically terrifying, and some of the more slow burn fear, where I would get to the end of a scene to find myself tensing my muscles, ready to react.

Most threatening was the accomplished mind magician Maeron, whose pursuit of Austin provides the cat and mouse plot for most of the book. Evil in his single minded and reckless ambiton, Maeron’s lack of remorse for any despicable act makes him a substantial foe for Austin. However, looking back on the plot from the ending of the novel, I’m left a little deflated by Maeron’s villian arc, as despite the very real threat Munz communicates throughout, Austin and Maeron’s final confrontation did not live up to the build up.

I do, however, love Austin. Empirical almost to a fault, and seeking always to do the right thing, I was immediately on his side from the start of the novel. I felt his love for Rhi, his heartbreak that she was gone, and his desperate hope that he might get her back, in whatever form, very viscerally. Rhi’s characterisation, even though we never technically meet her, is superb, and Munz created a connection with her despite her distance.

I also very much enjoyed Boden, a dragon trapped in a crystal, whose only communication is through speaking to Austin. I admire Munz’s crafting of Boden’s words – there were many points where I trusted the dragon, despite being told not to, and I frequently changed my mind about whether Austin should consider following Boden’s advice.

Corinna’s character however, I found a little shallow and unlikely. Apart from the fact that she’s Irish (marked principally by her red hair and propensity to say “Aye”) her other character trait is that she’s a bit of a thrill seeker – pick pocketing Austin mostly for the fun of it, and later finding being drawn in Austin’s adventure exciting. Over the course of the book she does display compassion and like Austin, the desire to do the right thing, but she still felt underdeveloped for me.

Despite these nitpicks, Memory of Dragons is an incredibly enjoyable, fast paced book, in which I found myself fully invested due to the unpredicatbility of the plot and my builiding need to see everything turn out well for Austin and Corinna.

In summary, I would recommend Memory of Dragons, and gave it 4.5 stars. It is suitable for 13+ with content warnings for monsters, killing, and mind control. I’m very grateful to the author for gifting me a free copy in exchange for an honest review, and would love to see a sequel!

Michael G Munz’s ’Memory of Dragons’ is an incredibly well-written fantasy novel set predominantly in the true land of dragons; Wales.

What initially drew me to the book was the idea that ’our fairy tale monsters are another world’s criminal castoffs’. I have always wondered where the basis for our monsters came from and the idea created by the author is both fantastic and believable. I am so very glad tha my curiosity and love of dragons in fantasy stories had me read Memory of Dragons as the world-building is so well-done and I could easily visualise the many places our male protagonist, the grieving Austin, travels to.

We are introduced to Austin and his need to find peace at the loss of his partner in such a gentle manner and I felt his pain as if it were my own. The idea of seeing somewhere that matters to someone he loved for himself is a beautiful concept and it introduces you to the main plot of the book in an new and therefore unique manner. I cannot recall reading a tale done with the same concept which is refreshing.

Austin and Corinna are both brilliantly written and are also very real. Both characters have their faults, their strengths and their weaknesses and whilst there is the well-loved idea of ’underdog being the hero’ it is far from predictable. I really enjoyed how the two are brought together by the most unconventional of ways and that Corinna is far from our weak and feeble heroine, (finally, that stereotype in fantasy novels is dying off.) She is strong-willed and independent and the nudges to a life spent being reliant on herself to survive from a young age is told to both Austin and the reader in a sensitive and subtle manner.

Austin is fiercely loyal and whilst normally it is that trait that is a strength, for Austin at times, it is a weakness. He's vastly ill-prepared for the battle he find himself in and perhaps I'm awful, but I liked that he struggles, that when things go wrong for them? Austin doesn't immediately have the answer.
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I loved this book so much, and couldn't put it down as I wanted to know what happens next for the two protagonists against the threat of an escaping dragon and a bad guy whose way of survival on Earth is to kill. I really hope that this is the first in a series as Memory of Dragons had me with lots of questions and the desire for ’What’s next ?’ to be answered. I do hope the author does as I highly doubt when readers come to the end, they too will be left shocked and wanting to know what else happens to the characters we have left behind.

Thank you NetGalley for my arc in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. At one part it reminded of a character from Lord of the Rings. I even went to look and see if there was a second book. I liked the complexity of Rhi/Corinna and how Austin’s mind worked. I will be looking at others books by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, the storyline was well paced, and the story ends in a way you are satisfied but there's room for more stories in the same multiverse. I would love to have learned more about the book and Rhyll magic, but maybe next time!

My rating –3.5/5 stars.

I enjoyed Memory of Dragons quite a bit. It was a very interesting and modern take on some classical fantasy concepts (e.g. boy finds a magical artifact and learns magic is real, then goes on a quest to fight the evil guy). For one thing, it’s set in our modern-day world, and our “boy”, Austin, is a grown-up man. After he loses his girlfriend, Rhianon, in a car crash, he travels to a place is Wales she used to frequently visit, to honour her memory. There, he learns that magic is real and comes from a different world and gets possession of a crystal in which a dragon is imprisoned. Shortly after that, he is confronted by a pickpocket named Corinna, who claims that she’s in possession of Rhianon’s memories. Together they go into quite an adventure in order to protect the crystal and both worlds. While that premise sounds very much worn-out, it did feel quite the opposite when I was reading it. It had some very nice concepts about the origins of "monsters" and some interesting plot-twists.

The book was well-written, the dialogue between the characters felt natural and interesting. The one thing I didn’t quite like was the overall plot of the book – it felt quite predictable at times, which lead up to the ending, which was a bit of a let down that didn’t do the story justice.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Memory of Dragons was not what I was expecting, and is going to be rather hard to review. I didn’t hate it, nor did I love it. It felt like the first in a series that suffered “First Book Syndrome” something chronic. But, that was a huge amount of world building to cram into a 315 page book. The only trouble? This appears to be a standalone. So that’s it, the end.

It was Urban Fantasy with a Sci-Fi twist, and if it were a series I would certainly read at least one more book to see if (now that the world building was established, so we can just get on with it) the flow was better and I could get more attached to the characters. Because, I wasn’t. Attached to the characters. It isn’t that Corrina and Austin were unlikable. I just felt like I spent more time learning about the way everything worked than I did really spending time with them and caring whether they lived or died. If I cannot bond with characters, it’s never going to be a great read for me. Just a fact.

It was action from the start, there always seemed to be something going on. So, it wasn’t that I was bored, I just didn’t care. Aside from that, the premise was fantastic, IMO. The idea, the imagination, the story was all there. It was just too much to cram into that length, and give the characters room to breath and hook us. If you’re not as bothered about getting attached to characters and are rather driven by the world building, then you will likely appreciate this even more than I did.

A solid 4, if not 4.5, stars!

Memory of Dragons is a fast-paced, NA fantasy novel. I loved watching the character development of Austin, as he moved through the story. I did find myself wanting to learn more about Rhi's life before this point in the story, and would love to see the author write that book.

I love a good fantasy novel, and Memory of Dragons does not disappoint. There is nothing better for me than a story that takes place in this world, with just a touch of magic from another world mixed in.

This is a book that is basically good: interesting story with magic and dragons, fairly good pacing with a lot of action from the start, and plenty of twists and turns. Yet I never quite got into it, and it took me forever to finish. I'm blaming Austin, the main character, who I never really warmed to. He was too dithering and I like my heroes with a bit more decisiveness. Other than that, there was nothing obviously wrong with the book, so if you like fantasy with a hero who isn't like everyone else, this is for you.

ARC from NetGalley

This is a well-written fantasy with an interesting magic system interesting characters. Corinna is such a saucy minx, and Austin is such a good boy. I wish that there was a bit more interaction with fantastic beings, but what we did get was good. The writing was very evocative. I wish I had kept notes, but there were several scenes that felt quite visceral. The author was able to describe them in a way that resonated and recalled past experiences.

Nothing in here made me cringe. There was nothing that was written badly. The characters were well-rounded. The setting was evocative, and the way that Austin describes the pain of his loss was very real. I think I would have felt more satisfaction if I had a better grasp on who exactly Boden is, if he is good or bad or what. That way I could root for him or dislike him or something, but I spent most of the time just suspicious, which isn't a terribly fulfilling feeling.

I was a bit underwhelmed with the ending. I liked the very, very ending, but I didn't love what came just before it. It was a bit anticlimactic, though I'm not entirely sure what I was hoping for. It did end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I can't tell whether it was done to leave the reader guessing or if it is prelude to another book. I hope it is the latter.