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Nice Dragons Finish Last is a fun read that took me by surprise and kept me awake way past my bedtime. Having never read any of Rachel Aaron’s books before, I downloaded this one on a whim while I was looking for something new to read through Kindle Unlimited. It had over 500 reviews with 4.5 stars, so I decided to give it a chance.
I’ve stopped reading the last six books I downloaded on Kindle Unlimited due to content (sex, swearing, etc…). Some of those made me so sad because I was halfway through the book, without any content issues, and then BAM, a flood of foul language and erotica out of the blue. Luckily, this was NOT the case with Nice Dragons Finish Last.
I tentatively downloaded this story and was worried I would get more of the same, but Aaron never crossed that line. There are a few mild swear words and innuendo, but they are all pertinent to the character and story, and nothing is graphic, which I really liked.
What captivated me with this story is the unique setting. It’s a semi-post-apocalyptic world, in that magical elements are awake after a comet (or meteor, I can’t remember which) passed, and this is a few years down the road and our modern society has accepted the magic around them. Think “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Angel,” but the whole world knows about the magic and monsters all around them. There are universities and schools for mages, science/magic tech firms, monsters, old gods and, of course, dragons. Aaron does a great job of weaving these all together in the background, especially the fun concepts of future tech and magic. This makes for an interesting setting with interesting situations, but I like that it’s the background and setting, not the main concept pulling the story forward.
The main story revolves around the youngest dragon of the Heartstriker clan. Unlike all the other dragons in the world, he’s not a greedy, manipulative and ruthless monster. He’s actually a nice guy in his early 20s who isn’t interested in acting like a “real dragon.” As punishment for this, our hero is trapped in human form (dragons are able to shape-shift into human form) by his mother and left in the only city where dragons are outlawed, hunted and killed. Here he receives a deadly and nearly impossible task and is pulled into the manipulative plotting of dragons that he’s tried to avoid his whole life.
A budding romance forms with a young female mage as they work together to complete the task, solve mysteries and discover new plots.
I believe this was self-published, and the editing is good, but there are a handful of misspelled words and other typos. It wasn’t enough to detract from the story, but you do notice the errors.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series, and I found out Aaron has a ton of other books and series that are highly rated on Amazon. I guess that means I found another clean and entertaining author to read. YAY!
Rated: Mild. There are a few mentions of drugs and alcohol, mild sexual innuendo and a few mild swear words. There is violence and people are killed and kidnapped, and there is suspense with monsters and tense situations. Lots of magic-meets-tech and a budding romance story.
Click here to purchase your copy of Nice Dragons Finish Last on Amazon.
Appreciate he review. Looking for a good dragon read. Two new authors for me. THANKS