The Royal Order of Fighting Dragons by Dan Elish, 2018

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Born to... Fight?

Ike Rupert Hollingsberry is haunted by the past because complete strangers won’t let him forget that his famous father died on the set of The Fighting Dragons, a cult favorite that still has people talking. But when he’s attacked by a large locust, like the one that killed his dad, Ike is helped by the geekiest nerd of all, Elmira Hand. Killing the giant locust is only the beginning of the surprises in store for Ike as he is whisked away from New York City to an isolated Florida compound to assume his role as the next in line to lead the Royal Order of Fighting Dragons—that are NOT supposed to exist—and learns his dad’s death was a cover-up for a far greater purpose…

(300 pages)

Oh, gosh.

There is so much to cringe at in this book, but I had so much fun reading it that I'm not going to pick at it too hard. Sometimes, a goofy book about kids finding out they are part of an ancient tradition, getting onto dragons, and fighting massive bug beasts just hits the spot, you know? This was a very nice break from my otherwise intense first few weeks back at university.

Because really, it's a great premise. Sure, variations of the "kids saving the world from disaster" story have been done to death, but they are told so often because they are genuinely appealing. I quite liked Ike, who was a genuinely good kid, and the other kids were fairly typecast into specific roles but I thought they were interesting enough that I still enjoyed reading about them. I particularly liked the Australian girl, who was so outrageously and stereotypically Australian (think: wrestling alligators and wearing a snake as a belt) that she was just hilarious to read.

At the same time, I don't want to pretend that this is a perfect book. The basic idea that only Ike and his teammates can save the day seems forced, since there must be so many other descendants of the necessary knights and their dragons. Ike's tech-genius friend is ridiculously overpowered (a trait that annoys me more and more the longer I study computer science), and the idea that Ike has to be the leader of the group because of who his ancestor was seems ridiculous at best and almost harmful at worst (because seriously, we are not entirely defined by our ancestors!).

Since I live in Scotland during term-time, I also want to briefly address the Arthurian origin of the conflict between the Royal Order of Fighting Dragons and the locusts. Basically, I thought it was a really cool idea to root the conflict throughout history, but I found it pretty obvious that Elish has not spent much time in the U.K. There is a list partway through the book of all the locations of previous attacks; for those that happened in England, the town or general area is specified (usually London). But when it's in other countries, it basically just says the name of the country (Ireland, Scotland, and "South Wales"). These places are, in fact, also split up into towns and cities! Also, one character is described as having a "strong British accent." I literally laughed out loud when I read that, because there is no such thing. Britain is made up of Scotland, Wales, and England, which all have very different accents from each other and even regionally within their own borders.

This is something that really only bothers me because of my experience living over here, though, so I really can't hold it against the book too much. If you see a copy, and you're looking for a fun, cheesy, and slightly ridiculous adventure story, then do give it a go! I may have some nit-picks, but I still enjoyed it.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.