Garrodigh is a four-headed wild dragon with 3 surviving heads - and not one of them is sane or healthy. Upperhead thinks he's actually a human, Centerhead wants to kill all humans, and Bottomhead just wants food. He's injured, so when humans come look for surviving tame dragons and their riders after a battle, he pretends to be one of the tame ones. He's given to Rania, a dragon rider, who nurses him (them?) back to health, and somehow makes him care.

The RRF keeps trying to invade the city - the same RRF that killed Garrodigh's fourth head, so he joins the good fight to avenge his head and defend his new home...

Once again, John Wiswell has written a very weird book with a lot of heart and humour. I think he might actually be my favourite author at this point.The constant bickering of the dragon's three heads is hilarious. This is a story of a disabled dragon recovering from trauma, and his human who insists on remaining naively optimistic throughout, written with Wiswell signature humour and kindness. It won't be for every reader, but I loved every overly dramatic page. I do think the blurb doesn't really reflect the book as well as it maybe should, though the title really does!

Many thanks to the author and John Murray Press for letting me read an ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dragon Has Some Complaints was such a sweet, funny and joyful romp of a book. It’s everything I wanted from a fast-paced, cosy fantasy. Our protagonist is Garrodigh the great terror, a three-headed (but formerly four) dragon with a hatred for the humans that invade his wilderness and led to the destruction of his wings and loss of his fourth head. And, after witnessing the downing of dragonriders in an aerial battle, Centrehead hatches a cunning plan. If they pretend to be a downed dragon, they’ll be taken back to the humans’ lair in the floating city of Kardosa, fed and cared for and in the perfect position to enact vengeance. It would be perfect if only the heads could actually get along. While Centrehead schemes, Upperhead is convinced he’s actually a human trapped in a dragon’s body and all Bottomhead wants is treats. Lots of bickering ensues. Luckily, their new rider Rania is either oblivious or too desperate for a dragon of her own to care. And, of course, her love and affection for them changes nothing about Centrehead’s plans and the war slowly claiming the city is none of their business and they will not become invested in human affairs. But, as the truth about the dragonriders and Garrodigh’s past is unveiled, the heads find themselves working towards an entirely new goal: save Rania and save Kardosa.

And what a fun ride! I wasn’t expecting to have nearly as much fun as I did. For starters, Garrodigh was a gem of a protagonist, I absolutely loved the dynamic between his 3 heads. Having a multi-headed protagonist is something I can’t say I’ve seen before in a book and their banter was so much fun! I really appreciated the author’s use of a non-human perspective. Some draconic protagonists just end up feeling like humans with scales, but Garrodigh certainly wasn’t! The development of all of the three heads throughout was so lovely to see. Rania was also a delight, she was really easy to root for and I just wanted her to end up happy! The cast of side characters was also wonderfully colourful. My personal favourite was Cosmos (I loved how pathetic she was) but the others were also all great.

The depiction of dragons was also so wonderfully unique. Each has the potential to have multiple heads, which is such a fun concept. We also need way more floating cities (and islands in general) in fantasy, Kardosa was such a cool setting. I do wish some aspects of the world had had a little more depth- we weren’t really given any information on the background of the villains or their motivation beyond ‘conquering’. Because it’s a more character-focussed, low fantasy story, it didn’t end up affecting my reading experience that much but I think it could have added something a bit more and increased my satisfaction in the ending.

I would class this as cosy fantasy because of the emphasis on healing and found family, as well as the humour. There were some more ‘high fantasy’ elements with violence, ancient gods and some character death, but these aspects were balanced really well with the more light-hearted aspects of the story. The humour is also just really great. I found myself grinning at the pages at several points throughout the book. It was chaotic, and a bit silly but just so much fun. The plot was very similar in this regard. The pace was a little bit all over the place, but I actually ended up liking the ‘slice of life’ atmosphere that created. It was really successful in building up my investment in the characters before the stakes were raised, and I couldn’t put the book down during the climax! I wasn’t particularly invested in the romantic side of the story, though it was very sweetly written and a lot of people will definitely love it, but there was enough else to keep me very satisfied

Overall, The Dragon Has Some Complaints was a delightful read that will satisfy fans of cosy and more epic fantasy alike. It was dragon-filled, heartwarming and a lot of fun. Definitely check it out if you want something light and humourous, but not without stakes and strong character development.