Book Tour: The Last Rift Dragon by Shami Stovall

About The Book

The City of Bridgehaven is under attack.

The nation to the west intends to murder Bridgehaven’s last three remaining dragons, rendering them extinct. They’ll stop at nothing to crush the eggs, flay the dragons, and burn Bridgehaven to the ground.

But Richter Whitlock is determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. He joins the Knights of the Silver Fog—individuals dedicated to protecting Bridgehaven, and the dragons, at all costs—in the hopes of caring for a fragile dragon egg, so that one day he may bond and fight back.

But there are traitors in Bridgehaven, and enemies are circling close.

If Richter hopes to save his home, and his egg, he’ll have to master his magic, learn to craft magitech, and become one of the greatest Knights anyone has ever seen…

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My Review

A surprise attack upon the new Knights of the Silver Fog and their dragon hatchery leaves Richter permanently disabled and without his precious dragon egg. With Bridgehaven facing attack, Richter and the surviving Knights of the Silver Fog face an impossible task – find more dragons, in a world where they no longer exist.

Bridgehaven, a complex city sprawled across a series of islands connected by a network of bridges, was once home to dragons. The magical creatures exhaled a silver fog that awoke magical gifts within the citizens and powered their machines.

Whettin, the country next to Bridgehaven, believes magic should belong to the elite rather than everyone. Led by the Ritters, and their magic vomiting giant centipedes, Whettin seeks to destroy Bridgehaven and its dragons.

Standing between the centipedes and annihilation are the last dragons of Bridgehaven, and their bonded Knights of the Silver Fog, who give speech and thought to the dragons. When a sneak attack decimates the knights and their dragons, Richter and the surviving knights must search for new dragons to keep magic in Bridgehaven to protect their home against the invading forces of Whettin.

Richter is the main character, and the story is told through his first-person narration. He is the best and the brightest of the Knights of the Silver Fog. The heart of the story is his friendship with his best friend, fellow knight, Lex. They both love dragons, geek out about their qualities, and are loyal friends.

There is a surprising amount of time spent building incidental characters, while some major characters are less well fleshed out.

The dragons, of course, are lovable characters. Similar in personality to the human they have bonded with, the dragons are a nice mix of the humans and other animal traits. It is a shame that they didn’t get to drive more of the story.

The smooth writing easily pulls the reader into the world and carries them along for the journey. The narrative stays firmly within Richter’s head, and within the moment, so there are no dull spots.

The tone of the book is extremely light, which makes for a pleasant read, but sometimes jarred with the unfolding events. It is uplifting to read such a wholesome and hopeful book, but the narrative would have been strengthened if the high stakes scenes were given more room to breathe.

There are also a few moments that draw the reader out of the action, such as a scene where a man continues running after his leg has fallen off. However, these moments are few and far between.

The pace is consistently fast. The author sets up the book to be a certain type of story, only to pull the rug from under the reader’s feet to go in another direction. This happens a few times throughout the book. While this led to some unexpected and imaginative plot developments, it also left some scenes appearing redundant, while others felt rushed and lacking much needed depth.

The Knights of the Silver Fog have many sayings, derived from their religion. One often repeated throughout the book is “Every misfortune, an opportunity”. This serves well as the theme for the book. Despite tragedy, personal loss, hardship, fear, and near impossible odds, Richter and the Knights of the Silver Fog never grow dispirited or give up. They learn from each set back and grow. Their duty means a lot to them, and they won’t shirk their responsibility, not even when tempted.

It is refreshing to read a young adult book when the characters embrace their responsibilities, don’t moan or question their path, and explore each set back with curiosity and hope.

The different interpretations of the scriptures that form the backbone of Bridgehaven, and thus the Knights of the Silver Fog, and the neighbouring country of Whettin, is fascinating. The belief structure of the different groups of people underpins their behaviour, and this is examined in various interesting ways. It added another layer to the book, which will hopefully continue to be explored in the rest of the series.

The setting is imaginative and exciting. The blend of scientific explanation and magical classification brings the dragons to life in new ways, in a sub genre of fantasy that is already saturated with dragons and their bonded riders.

Bridgehaven is beautifully described, and it is easy to see why Richter loves and admires the city so much.

The more novel settings in the book are fascinating. The author expertly weaves the curiosity, exhilaration, and anticipation of exploring a new world through Richter’s eyes, drawing the reader along for the journey.

There are many moving, emotional scenes in this book, evoking both sadness and anger, as well as joy and excitement. Because of the fast-paced nature of the book, there is little time to linger in these emotions, and the characters have no time at all to respond to the events that inspire them.

The world building, the dragons, the magic, and the sense of discovery, curiosity, and hope are the strengths of this book. It is a world that the reader wants to get lost in, learning about the dragons, their abilities, and their environment. Richter and Lex’s friendship is sweet, and their dragons, especially Lex’s dragon, Diamond, are loveable.

The fast pace of the novel leaves no room for the depth that the more serious elements of the story deserve. Likewise, Richter’s upbeat narration seems to make light of, or trivialize certain important scenes.

Those who loved the spin off tv show to ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, ‘Race to the Edge’, will love this book. The close friendship between Richter and Lex is reminiscent of the bond between Hiccup and Fishlegs. The range of dragon varieties, all with their different appearances and abilities, and Richter’s attempt to catalogue them, recalls Hiccup’s similar attempts in the series. The combination of friendship, animals, adventure, and moments of peril that made ‘Race to the Edge’ so good are all present in ‘The Last Rift Dragon’, which will be sure to endear the book to fans of the show.

Aimed at a young adult audience, this book is suitable for strong middle grade readers up and will appeal to adventure loving adults who enjoy exploring new worlds filled with dragons and magic.

A gripping adventure that begs to be read in one sitting, ‘The Last Rift Dragon’ is a strong start to the series. It will be interesting to see how the story, world, and characters develop throughout the following books.

Thank you to The Write Reads and the author for providing me with a review copy.

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About the Author

Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction, best known for her Frith Chronicles and Chronos Chronicles series. Before she was author, Stovall taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second.

When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators, or hanging with John 3 and John 4.

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:

Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAStovall/ 

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