I didn't realise just how much I missed reading about dragons until I cracked this one open. Deep dragon lore in fiction is due for a comeback now more than ever and I will say that until the day I die.

This is epic dragon fantasy where their existence affects everything from politics to intoxicants to urban planning. The magic system is insane and makes for some amazing terrain. And for this attention to detail in the world-building alone, this book lives rent-free in my head. Expect a high-stakes investigative political drama with a healthy dose of dragon-riding and multi-pov characters.

I am a little conflicted because while I did thoroughly enjoy reading this story, the heavy plot, while satisfyingly twisty, felt imbalanced with the less-rounded characters. So much was happening in the peripherals that I found it sometimes difficult to connect to our protagonists. The romantic sub-plot felt a little odd, not much more than some awkward flirting, and while entertaining it did feel a little forced and unnecessary to the story.

That being said, Rylan and Lorelai have my attention and I will definitely be picking up book two.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book, the action packed story and the vibes. After reading the fourth wing/iron flames books. I've been in a dragon high and this has definitely added to the vibes and high. The world building is a little slow, so be prepared to take in a lot of information in this book. Ebook are soo deceptive, as it was a dense book, with much to tell. I look forward to seeing what development occurs next in the world built by Bradley P. Beualieu.

I found The Dragons of Deepwood Fen to be strong in the areas of plot, world building, action and the involvement of two of the main characters. It's an epic fantasy, make no mistake, and it has a considerable amount of complexity and switching points of view. It's a fairly good example of a modern epic. But I also found there were some "rough edges", and it could have done with some improvement in the areas of fantasy creature aesthetics (let's face it, that's one of the main things fans love the most!) and style/narrative elements.

The backdrop is a long history of conflict between an unscrupulous empire and its would-be vassal, the people of the Holt, the Kin. The story centers around a number of heroic main characters and also several horrid villains. Ryland is a spy/thief masquerading as a "dragon singer". I found that Ryland was the most interesting character, as he must navigate between two worlds, that of the Kin and the Holt (including their freedom fighters, the Red Knives) and the empire and the city of Ancris. Rhiannon is a teenage prodigy of the Holt folk, her skills with magic craft making her a pivotal character who must choose between support for her resurrected mother and her own conscience. Lorelei is a inquisitor of the empire, who must find her way through the political knots around her to uncover and fight for the truth.

These characters must struggle against a hypocritical Church of the empire, which has been compromised by an evil god, Faedryn, who has been imprisoned but is sending out his sinister will in order to escape. The history of the empire is bound up with the Church of Alra, full of war, many lies and oppression. I thought the Hissing Man was a detestably good cloak-and-dagger villain, who serves the Church in morally dubious ways. There is also the ruthless Llorn and his extremist followers of the Red Knives to face.

This novel definitely has its moments: particularly the magic and ideas behind the "vyrds", which are Stonehenge-like portals allowing faster travel. The magic system with its concept of duality and light/dark powers behind everything is well thought out. Some of the interior scenes and the characters interactions and the atmosphere established were effective too. I also enjoyed the action sequences like dragon battles, brawls and chases quite a lot.

But there was also room for improvement. I thought the plot and storytelling components were a mix of grimdark, traditional epic fantasy and oddly, cosy fantasy. Blending some of these together meant some of the story didn't quite gel for me. Likewise with some foul language and darkly explicit violence, which probably didn't suit the rest of the story. And treating dragons, the staple of fantasy creatures these days, like cute, unusually intelligent, adorable dogs was an unusual technique. It might work in middle-school novels like How to Train Your Dragon, but in a story for adults or older teenagers...? And I thought some of the details could be clearer, and as part of the long story readers could do with some reminders of who a character mentioned earlier was; for example, I had forgotten who Yeriel actually was by the time she actually turned up.

This book is focused on plot, but it is a long and slow story. Sometimes there is just too much going on. One of the main issues I had were that some of the characters (Azariah, Rhiannon, Lorelei) failed to really capture my interest and imagination. And it's apparent sometimes how Beaulieu borrows bit of other authors' ideas and styles. In a crowded epic fantasy market, readers might expect a bit more for a new book to make into the "top tier".

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus publishers for an ARC of this book.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Note, I have posted reviews on Goodreads and on my blog.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6154875428

https://toomanyfantasybooks.blogspot.com/2024/01/book-review-dragons-of-deepwood-fen-by.html

My thanks to Head of Zeus AdAstra for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Dragons of Deepwood Fen’ by Bradley P. Beaulieu. This is Book 1 in The Book of the Holt series.

I was drawn to this epic fantasy by its premise and the always welcome presence of dragons. Unfortunately, I found its plot quite confusing and the pace very, very slow.

In addition, while switching between various characters’ points of view can work well, here coupled with the slow pace, I realised that I wasn’t feeling any particular connection to any of them. I read 75% of the novel before reaching the decision to set it aside.

I can see that there are plenty of high ratings for this novel and readers who thoroughly enjoyed it but its pacing and world building just didn’t work for me even with the presence of dragons, dragon riders and dragon singers.

4/5 stars! So if every book could be a book where dragons have strong personalities and big opinions they constantly share, I would gobble every single one up. This book is great and hilarious in the best way. As a typical 'high fantasy,' there is a huge amount of world-building, which can get a bit exhausting at times. But I loved getting to know the riders and their dragons and want to see what is next.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I enjoyed it's one enough, but i didn't get a chance to finish it. Life got in the way! I did manage to read enough to know who would like it though so job done really. Thanks!

𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬

⟡

I am so glad this is book one of a trilogy, I can't wait for more of this world! The world itself is so interesting and immersive, the worldbuilding was heavy at times, especially at the start, and I found there was a bit of information/description overload that wasn't necessary but still I was hooked. The magic system was great, there were lots of different layers to it that I really enjoyed. I am so glad this is book one of a trilogy, I can't wait for more of this world! The world itself is so interesting and immersive, the worldbuilding was heavy at times, especially at the start, and I found there was a bit of information/description overload that wasn't necessary but still I was hooked. The magic system was great, there were lots of different layers to it that I really enjoyed. The political intrigue was great and I loved the multi POV, you really got the whole perspective which I always appreciate.

Let's talk about the dragons! They were great, the way they act really reminded me of dogs🥹 they all have very distinct personalities and the different powers were so cool!

I really liked the characters, they are all very fleshed out and there are interesting relationship dynamics. The two main characters in are very likeable, I particularly liked Rylan and I think Lorelai was possibly ND coded which I loved. I'm hoping this was a set up for romance between them but the story works perfectly without it either way!

Overall I really enjoyed this book, if you liked Priory of the Orange Tree I recommend this. I am so happy to have been able to read an ARC and I can't wait for the next book!

Also bonus:
This book sets up that very specific "grumpy man (and his grumpy dragon) protecting the lonely kid with powers and being a potential substitute parent trope"

Let's talk about the dragons! They were great, the way they act really reminded me of dogs🥹 they all have very distinct personalities and the different powers were so cool!

I really liked the characters, they are all very fleshed out and there are interesting relationship dynamics. The two main characters in are very likeable, I particularly liked Rylan and I think Lorelai was possibly ND coded which I loved. I'm hoping this was a set up for romance between them but the story works perfectly without it either way!

Overall I really enjoyed this book, if you liked Priory of the Orange Tree I recommend this. I am so happy to have been able to read an ARC and I can't wait for the next book!

Also bonus:
This book sets up that very specific "grumpy man (and his grumpy dragon) protecting the lonely kid with powers and being a potential substitute parent trope"

I absolutely LOVED this book. Its multi POVs weave a wonderful immersive tale that had me hooked. The characters are well realised and the world is rich. I cannot wait for book 2 in this series. The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars wasnt to do with the book but with the synopsis. It describes Lorelei and Rylan fleeing as traitors. For me, the synopsis is a teaser, usually mostly describing the first part of the book, and so I went into the book expecting to see Lorelei and Rylan fleeing in the first few chapters of the book, but it doesnt actually happen until past the halfway mark, while this had absolutely no affect on the story and if fact worked well in the context of the story, it did mar my enjoyment of the book a little. I kept waiting for the book to really 'start' because I felt like Rylan and Lorelei fleeing was where the story was really going to kick off. On the whole, I loved the foundation that has been laid down for the rest of the series.

The Dragons of Deepwood Fen had strong worldbuilding and an interesting magic system, but unfortunately it just didn’t grab me.

There was nothing wrong with it, but I just didn’t find myself reaching for it and got distracted by several other books in the meantime. I can’t quite put my finger on why, because the synopsis sounded right up my street and there wasn’t anything I actively disliked about it, but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to netfalley for this arc.

The dragons of deepwood fen is a rich and epic fantasy. It is slow to start and there are a lot of points of view but it does come together.

My favourite character was Rylan and the bond he has with his dragon Vedron. The way the characters developed was great. The writing was a little on the serious side and not as light hearted as it could be but I enjoyed it nonetheless and would continue with the series

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for giving me an eArc copy for this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is not the first book I’ve read by Bradley P Beaulieu, as I’ve actually read their other series The Song of The Shattered Sands which I was obsessed with. I was super excited to see they had a new series starting, and with dragons??? I was so ready.

However, I was a little disappointed with this book. I know that fantasy can sometimes start really slow, especially with high fantasy where it can require a lot of world building, however I was about 65% through this book before I had any idea what was going on and before I stated to enjoy the story. It was very, very slow paced with a lot of POV’s that made it harder to keep up with the storyline, however towards the end it did start to pull all of the characters together.

It was honestly sometimes a struggle to keep going, I did keep pushing though, and I am glad I did as the last 35% of the book kinda made up for it with all of the drama that the first parts were missing. However it did still feel a bit lacklustre, but there was definitely one plot twist that I wasn’t expecting which was nice to see.

I felt the characters were all really well fleshed out, thanks to the many POV’s, and definitely cannot wait to see what happens to them in the next book in the series. My personal favourite was Ash, and I hope we get to see a bit more of them in the series.

I’m not sure if I will carry on this series, but I am definitely looking to read book 2 when it comes out to see where this story looks to go. It’s definitely not a complete write off for me, as the storyline did start to get really interesting towards the end, but I’m still a little uncertain and would like another book to cement my thoughts. Any high fantasy readers out there would probably like this a lot, so would recommend to give this a go. Book is released on the 4th January, go and pick it up if you can!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I enjoyed this one, but it took a while to really get into it. A combination of a rich complex world and many POV's made the first third very difficult to follow, and the slower pace also contributing to this. Once I'd read enough to understand the world more I thoughly enjoyed it. This book has wonderfully written character with intriguing plot lines which gradually become interwoven together. I also of course loved the dragons and all their powers. A solid read and one for for those who like epic fantasy with complex worldbuilding and plotlines.

I enjoyed lots about this book. The world is quite thought out and the author obviously put lots of time into planning and thinking things through. The characters of Lorelai and Rylan were both great, and I enjoyed following both of them. Ash, Creed and Skylar are all great side characters too. The dragons were well done. It wasn’t done the way I expected but I did enjoy it. I expected the dragons to take more of a prominent roll honestly and would have liked more but what we got was good. I enjoyed the bond between Rylan and Vedron best of all. I enjoyed the light exploration of bonding vs forcing the dragons to submit and hope this continues in the next book. The political intrigue is the large focus of this book and it is done well. For readers who like that sort of thing I think there is much to enjoy here.

What I found difficult was the pacing. The story is very slow. The events in the synopsis itself take up to (or perhaps even more than) 50% of the way through the book to come to pass. I get that this book is setting things up but the slow pacing takes away the urgency, suspense and tension of the story. Usually I expect the synopsis to cover the beginning of the book and then things continue on but in this case the story is so slow that the events in the synopsis are literally the entire book and go right up until almost the end. Overall, I like slow paced books but this one seemed to loose focus in the middle a lot and had such a meandering feel that it was hard to get invested in what was happening.

There are also a lot of characters which itself is fine but I really think this book would benefit from a character list and glossary of terms at the start to refer back to, as it took away from my enjoyment trying to remember all of the names, titles, terms and positions in the society.

The writing style was quite matter of fact and I’ve read others describe it as almost clinical, which I would agree with. I feel there was room for a bit more lightness and emotion in some scenes to really help the characters feel more well rounded.

Overall, a good story at the core and it was enjoyable but there were some things I found stopped me from truly loving this book.

I was so excited about this book so I feel incredibly disappointed. The premise was promising and I love a good in-depth fantasy, unfortunately, the book fell far short of the description, expectation and hype surrounding it - so much so that I couldn't get through it.

By the time I'd reach 10% of the way through, a total of 6 POVs had been introduced, all with a totally different story. None of these were particularly interesting and the huge number of POVs made it very difficult to care or get to grips with the characters.

There's a lot of world building, but it's very clinical. There is a lack of wonder that you want from a fantasy. Yes, there's plenty of detail but it's confusing, with a fair bit of info dumping making it hard to get a clear picture.

I'm afraid that I just didn't care about any of the characters or how the stories would all be connected. The slow pacing made it feel like I was trudging through treacle and I wasn't rewarded for the effort I put into reading it. The result is that I stopped reading less than halfway through and I have no urge at all to pick it up again.

I really loved this one. A proper cinematic, political fantasy adventure with lots of dragons. For my full review check out my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/aovIEdlaJ9I

THE DRAGONS OF DEEPWOOD FEN
(Book of the Holt #1)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author: Bradley P. Beaulieu
Genre: High fantasy, fantasy politics, multiple-pov.
Quote: "I'm a man who stands between two worlds-one foot in the empire, the other in the Holt."

Review:
As someone who never got on the Fourth Wing hype-train (sorry😅) but LOVES dragons, this book was the perfect remedy.

I will say however, this book starts off very slow. As an entirely new fantasy world there were a lot building blocks that needed put into place before the plot could really get going.
However, the pay-off was wonderful! A carefully fleshed out multiple point of view story, with heavy focus on the politics of power and survival! I think this book mainly acts as a solid set-up to what promises to be a rich and fresh fantasy series, in a world reminiscent of the classic fantasy tales.

I adored the lore surrounding the dragons. With rider's from the Empire using magical fetters to illicit control, in contrast to the rebels who choose to form a bond with their dragons for mutual gain. I also enjoyed the snippets of information on the different species, of their abilities, and the heirarchy of their powers.

The characters' POVs were all compelling which is often a tricky thing to pull off (I'm looking at you Bran from GoT). I found the mystery surrounding The Hissing Man, and his interest in a trapped God, most intriguing. His appearances were certainly very insidious and at times it felt like he was the puppet master holding all the strings.

I would warn again, this world takes time to get into, it is not a 'quick' read but in my opinion it's worth it.

Overall, if you enjoy a dash of politics in amongst lots of dragons, mysteries, deception, magic, ancient gods, and even more dragons! then this is the perfect world for you.

Thank you to @netgalley for an eArc of this in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Beaulieu’s Song of Shattered Sands series so I was really looking forward to this new series.i mean it’s got dragons in the title and everything. However I found it disappointing, the main reason for this was that there were too many POVs, I found it difficult to latch onto any one character because we didn’t get enough time with them, there was a lot of repetition of events which slowed the pacing down, it took forever to get to the point. It was all a bit unfocused and bloated and the dragons in the title were very little to do with anything so far. Disappointing but not without hope.

I feel incredibly privileged to have been granted access to this ARC - my first ever! - because this book is absolutely awesome!

From the first few chapters I was utterly swept away on this fast-paced, action-packed adventure. There is political and religious wrangling and intrigue abound, swashbuckling and dashing heroics (along with plenty of sneakiness, thievery, and general skullduggery), a host of compelling characters and, of course, lots and lots of dragons! It has pretty much everything I love in a fantasy novel and it is written so wonderfully. Reading it was a delight!

The world building is rich, evocative and woven into the story seamlessly. I adored learning about the different cultures, factions, magic system and mythos that prevail in the world this story is set in, and then having some of those ideas turned on their hand before we reach the end.

Also, let me just say, the DRAGONS and the dragon lore in this book are superb. If you are a dragon loving fantasy reader and want a sophisticated, high stakes story with dragonriders and mental bonding, look no further because this fits the bill beautifully.

I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this beauty and the next installment in the series!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Bradley P. Beaulieu, Head of Zeus and Netgalley for the eARC! I enjoyed every page.

Another excellent work by Beaulieu. This one did take a bit of time to get into. There were a lot of characters and places to wrap your head around. However, once past the first part, the book really starts to unfold into an intriguing and captivating tale of politics, betrayal, and magic.

I just loved everything about this, and I am very much looking forward to the next one.

The Dragons of Deepwood Fen is the first book in the Book of the Holt series. It is a fantastic introduction to this series - the world was such an interesting one and so well written. I loved the concept of the different dragons and their powers. The characters are all well written and the plot was compelling throughout. I would highly recommend checking this one out.