Author K. S. Augustin read my editorial rant on fantasy and offered up her upcoming e-book novella for review. The Dragon of Ankoll Keep wouldn’t trigger some of my irritations with fantasy. And she ended with Yes, I know what I’m likely in for, but I’m game if you are.
. Well, here goes…
It’s not the worst book I’ve read this year. That position would perhaps go to the William Bernhardt mystery I aborted reading several dozen pages in. But this book is not particularly good. This time it’s not the fantasy elements that bother me, or even the romance elements. It’s just that the writing is flat.
Gamsin is a female thief. She’s busting out of Mishkow City pursuing a legend of treasure in Ankoll. Just a small purse of gold so she can buy up a cottage somewhere. While staying at an inn in Ankoll, she’s raped and quickly heads to the countryside to escape presumed additional miscreants. After several days heading toward Ankoll Keep, she collapses in the snow. Gamsin awakes to an idyllic setting in the keep. A gorgeous manly man keeps house there. After several weeks, she learns the truth.
It seems Ankoll (he’s named after the lands, or the lands and castle are named after him, I’m not sure which) is a cursed wizard. After being bested by another sorcerer, he’s transformed into a dragon for half of each month. He’s lived for centuries this way. The curse can only be broken if a damsel feeds him three days running (as a dragon) and then has sex with him when he transforms back into human form.
Ankoll obviously wants Gamsin to release him from his curse. But will Gamsin want to do so? After all, her only sexual experience has been two rapes, one recent.
I don’t like the Gamsin character. For one, the name is just awful. But more importantly, her only redeeming quality is she’s a good thief (which doesn’t actually become apparent until toward the end of the story). Otherwise she’s wishy-washy and confused. I would have been far more impressed with her if she told Ankoll Sorry, but I don’t know you very well and you are very presumptuous
and left the keep. Forcing Ankoll to convince her with… something. Because frankly, I don’t like him much either. Years ago he was an arrogant young wizard who stupidly challenged older wizards and lost. Now he has apparently spent centuries learning how to cook, making him the ideal househusband. But he’s bland. He has no personality, beyond a standard bubblehead validation club kind of soft reassurance. He doesn’t convince Gamsin to release the curse by showing how cool he is. He does it by trying to improve Gamsin’s low self-esteem. Which only works cause she has low self-esteem. I’m just not a fan of weak wimpy characters.
Reading through the story though, I kept coming back to the idea though that this would work much better as a play. Strip away the prose. Plays often need to be overacted and blunt to get across their characters in a short time period where few can see up close facial expressions.
But as a book? Eh. It’s short. It’s cheap. But it’s not very good.
Title: The dragon of Ankoll Keep
Author: K. S. Augustin
Cover artist: Christine Clavel
Imprint / publisher: Samhain Publishing
Format: E-book (review copy PDF)
Length: 87 p.
Publication date: September 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59998-609-4
Samhain Publishing provided me a review PDF at the request of the author. Obviously, I had no obligation as to the content of the review.
Ah well, never say I didn’t try! :) Thanks for the review, KR, and I still love your column. If you don’t mind, I may send another one your way, perhaps next year. But with different names, okay? :)