Book Review: Prince Lander and the Dragon War by S.D. Smith

Prince Lander and the Dragon War by S.D. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love S.D. Smith's books, and usually love them even more after reading a second time. However, the Tales of Old Natalia books are always difficult for me to review, in a similar way that it is difficult to review The Legend of Korra without comparing it to Avatar: The Last Airbender. So I plan to approach this review from three angles:
1. Standalone plot and story
2. The lore in the greater Green Ember series.
3. Narration (Audiobook)
So let's dig into Prince Lander and the Dragon War.
(please understand, I've only read this once so far, and this is probably the most critical review I've written for one of S.D. Smith's books)

First, the plot and story, and how well Prince Lander and the Dragon War stands on it's own merits. S.D. Smith sticks to his usual writing style of filling the story with emotion and adrenaline. This has worked well enough in some of his other books, but I've always viewed it as one of Smith's weaknesses. This is usually my reasoning behind 4-star ratings for books that I find myself loving. I think Prince Lander suffers more than other books in the series due to lack of character development as we jump from one adrenaline-fueled jaunt to the next. There are a lot of questions established as this story charges heedlessly into the fray, but few of them are answered because Smith doesn't spend much time in those character driven moments. Who is Hollie Grimble and does she have any significance? She could have easily become a love interest that could lead to a marriage bringing peace between the factions... but no. She doesn't seem to have any significance. Who are Lander's brothers? I just don't care enough about them. Why is everyone so quick to turn on King Whitson? I guess because he made them all settle right next door to the dragons--again, WHY? Who are the Drekkers (I know this is explained, but is it really)? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Drekkers; I just didn't understand their role. Oath sworn to the king, but we won't honor it or pick sides, but we'll pick your side...
In a sense, the plot suffers from a "chosen one" trope. Prince lander spends the entire book trying to unravel and bring about prophecies about the star sword, in essence, trying to make himself the chosen one. There's a sense that all depends on Lander, and despite injuries and overwhelming odds, nothing would succeed without him.
There's also (annoyingly) a new catchphrase for this book: "Defend all. All defend." While I love Blackstar's oath, this is the one book where it somewhat makes sense to have another catchphrase--Blackstar's not here and King Whitson's trying to build a community. I still think it's unnecessary, and the oath would have been fine.

Second analysis: Lore in the overall Green Ember series.
My overall thoughts... think Solo: A Star Wars Story--it's telling a story that is legendary and mysterious within the lore of it's own universe... and then it fails to deliver that legend. Without spoilers, I think there could have been more to how the dragons ended up under the lake at First Warren. I'll go back to The Green Ember and my review of The Black Star of Kingston--these are supposed to be stories that Picket and Heather grew up listening to. Picket idolizes Blackstar and his devotion in protecting King Whitson, but they spent all of 5 seconds together. Yes Blackstar shows up in this book, but he's never with King Whitson.
After The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner, I thought Massie would have made a better idol for Picket, as he never left Lander's side--but then he disappeared in this book.
Sadly this book just doesn't fit into the established lore of the series. Sure, names and hints and little Easter eggs are scattered throughout the book, but I'm sad to say it's not a satisfying, cohesive tale.

Finally, the narration by Eric Fritzius.
I love Joel Clarkson's narration of the main Green Ember series, but I've always struggled to enjoy Eric Fritzius's narration of the Tales of Old Natalia and the Green Archer series. He does well enough with voice variations and accents, but most of the time I just imagine a character sounding differently, especially in this book. This is probably because all the truly old characters (King Whitson, Blackstar, Massie, etc.) don't sound old enough, which makes Lander sound too old. I just didn't enjoy the narration. The Drekker voices are fun, same as Jimmy Docker was.

At the end of the read, this book was a lot of hype, and I'm surprised I'm giving it 4 stars. I'm tempted to only give it 3. I'll read again soon with my daughter, and maybe it'll grow on me. I'm sorry, I really wanted to love this book.

View all my reviews

Two Songs for the World Today

Wow. Thinking of problems today, and why we can’t get people into one room to share simple discussions. (Last week, someone commented that you can only lead a horse so close to water before you end up with a drowned horse.) We need connection so much, and yet no one is willing to enter the room (or arena as Brené Brown calls it, currently reading Dare to Lead). I just want to quit and give up trying, but am I doing this for me, or for the people I hope to get into the room?

Then it hit me. Two songs came to mind. The first song I thought of is the reason people won't enter the room. The second song that came to mind later signifies getting people into the room to discuss the problem.

First song: "So Selfish It's Funny"
(lyrics below, but if playing the video, you may want to turn the volume down)

Song: So Selfish It's Funny
Band: Showbread
Album: No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical
Lyrics:

Someday they'll write a book about you
Because you're so selfish it's funny
So self-absorbed, this thunderous horde
Of you, you, you
So self-absorbed, this thunderous horde
Of you, you, you

Yeah, I'd love you
But you love yourself
And you'd love me
But I love myself

So tense are these nerves in any instance
Teeth snap and a toe taps the dirt
Cry like a baby and see if then maybe the others will cherish your hurt
Never you see a cry or a plea
Consider another or first
Know this is YOUR world
The harsh words you have hurled
Recall you are the one in need worse

Yeah, I'd love you
But you love yourself
And you'd love me
But I love myself
Yeah, I'd love you
But you love yourself

Ignoring you, I dance, oh I do
Through magnificent realms, quite divine
Stopping to see my face smiling at me
For this is my life and my time

Yeah, I'd love you
But you love yourself
And you'd love me
But I love myself
Yeah, I'd love you
But you love yourself
And we'd serve you
But we serve ourselves

What an arduous task, it proves such a feat to be only one of a kind
Through the scenery slips through the spaces we meet
Press forward and leave me behind

What a child you are, for you look just like me
Looking out for number one, I'm all that I have and all that I see
Saved by the grace of the Son
So shall we deny?
And rot as we die?
As I write a book about me
My noble wealth of serving myself
I am so selfish it's funny

Giving up to start again

This past week has been rough.

• Monday I told my boss I planned to do something in a month and he said he approved of the idea.
• Tuesday I was crushed due to lack of participation in a project I've been working on, which ultimately throws off the plans I proposed on Monday (hard to host a special event when nobody wants to participate).
• Wednesday, I had the opportunity to discuss my project with a coach in order to iron out kinks and hopefully, eventually, push the project to a larger audience. My coach was in a van full of people on the road, distracted, and the call dropped several times before it devolved into a text message conversation with no productive outcome.
• Thursday, I felt so defeated, I didn't bother participating in my own project event. I didn't even bother checking in with the people that normally participate to see if it went well, or even happened at all. I was ready to throw in the towel.

I've been listening to the book "Dare to Lead" by Brené Brown, and Tuesday, I came across the section where she shares a story by Retired Air Force Colonel Dede Halfhill. The story touched on exactly what I was feeling and struggling with all week--exhaustion and loneliness.

I loved the way Dr. Brown narrated the story in the book, so I went looking for a clip of that exact audio on YouTube. I didn't find it, but I did find a couple videos with different tellings of the same story. 

edit: I should add that this list is in the order I found these videos. I've been bouncing around rewatching them to absorb the story, and I'd probably recommend watching them in chronological order: 2010 TED Talk, 2012 TED Talk, The Art of Language and Connection, and finally the Interview with Col Halfhill (retired). Now back to my regularly scheduled chaos...

First, here's the story. A weaker telling, but as close to the book as I could find:

This story revealed to me that the exhaustion I'm facing is LONELINESS. I feel alone in my efforts. I feel alone because I can't express my feelings with anyone due to the mandate of sterile, politically correct language. I lack friends. I feel alone at work. I feel alone at home. I don't know how to connect with others, or who to connect with. But this story tells me I'm not alone in those feelings.

In my search for other versions of the story, I found a full interview with Col Halfhill (retired) that covered The Man in the Arena quote by Theodore Roosevelt and how she met Brené Brown and shared the story that ended up in the book. I watched shortened clips of the interview out of order, but here's the full interview from start to finish. Thank you Josh for starting The HeroFront Podcast. I wish I had found this nine months ago:

This interview mentioned Brené Brown's TED Talks, so I went digging for those.

First there was Brené Brown's 2010 TED talk on Vulnerability:

And finally, Brené Brown's 2012 TED Talk on Shame (I think this one is stronger than the 2010 talk):

So now I'm back to reassessing the value of my project. Ultimately, I have to remember it's not about me. As I prepare to share some of these videos with my coworkers, and open up about my struggles, I drafted up the following to describe why I continue pressing forward:

For every one of me that's struggling to get people involved, there are hundreds of you who could potentially benefit from one of these discussions. So I can't give up.

Ultimately, the potential benefit this might bring far outweighs my frustrations and disappointments.

Accordingly, God reminded me this morning that He is bigger than my unmet expectations.

Also, just to end this in the key of AWESOME! Col Halfhill's story reminds me of this amazing song:

Jars of Clay, "Work" from the album Good Monsters (which is truly incredible, if you haven't heard it).

Another highlight from Good Monsters is the track "Oh My God":

And I'm done. Thanks.