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Dragon Precinct

Cliff's End, Book 1

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Dragon Precinct

By: Keith R.A. DeCandido
Narrated by: Michael Page
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About this listen

Humans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded port city of Cliff's End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure - or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff's End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.

Gan Brightblade is one of the world's greatest heroes and a personal friend of the Lord and Lady of Cliff's End. So when he's brutally murdered in grubby lodgings in Dragon Precinct, on the eve of a great quest, the Captain of the Guard puts his two best investigators on the case.

©2004 Albe-Shiloh, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Business

Critic Reviews

"All in all, this is a fascinating excursion in genre-bending; worth a try even for readers who usually take either their procedurals or their fantasies unadulterated." (Booklist)
"Dungeons and Dragnet... As a take-off of the standard crime drama, Dragon Precinct succeeds nicely. Dressed in sword-and-sorcery trappings, the cliches of the genre are given a fresh twist. I would like to see more stories in this same setting." (The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society)
All stars
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I liked this but it's a bit too short to do justice to the mystery. The first half is confusing, on one hand it feels like there's quite a lot of set up for the world and city state but on the other hand it feels rushed too. Same with the characters, there's a rushed feeling to their backstories, especially in the epilogue. Maybe this will be fleshed out more in the following novels.

But I liked the characters, some of them are genre staples of both fantasy and police procedurals: grumpy chief, veteran about to retire, haughty wizard, arrogant elf. There is a pleasure in seeing the genre staples mixed up like this though. And the main character is a refreshingly unglamorous half elf half human.

It's a quick read and and fun. I liked it enough that I will probably check out the next in the series, I just wish the central mystery had been fleshed out a bit more. The narrator was great.

Good but too short

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