There Will Be Dragons

baen ebook

I read this book using DailyLit's email program, and really enjoyed it. An idyllic technology-based society suffers a failure of technology and has to rebuild their society while fighting a civil war against a tyrannical and insane leader determined to change the world "for its own good." Fascinating political, military, and societal themes, guaranteed to appeal to any urban homesteader or survivalist. The only time I feel the story slows down is the military training sequence, but I enjoyed it because it was so spot-on for my own basic training experience. There's a Heinlein kind of feel to sensibility that I miss in many newer works. This story stand alone, but I will be reading the sequels. Recommended. ( )

I bought this book randomly when I saw it at a charity book sale. While the title is kid of odd, its actually quite a good read. The book is sort of a science fiction fantasy novel, set in the far future with a reasonably plausible plot line. There are a few elements that I feel could be explained a bit better, but overall the book is quite good. I'll be buying the next one in the series.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/John_Ringo/There_Will_Be_Dragons.html ( )

The premise that the Society of Creative Anachronism members hold the key to surviving a high-tech apocalypse has stayed with me since I first read this, and compelled a re-reading. I also enjoy the philosophical discussions opposing freedom and individuality with survival of a civilization or species. Also the discussion of how the lack of want or the presence of abundant resources leads to technological and cultural stagnation. Overall, the story contains a lot of action, but also a lot of though provoking subtext. Can be read on multiple levels.

The MP3 version on the Baen CD-ROM Library Version 4.0 is either a very good computer reading or a very poor narration. It contains grammar and pronouncation mistakes that I've come to expect from computer text-to-sound programs. But the pacing is too fast, especially lacking pauses between point of view changes, to overcome any other problems. I had to give up on listening to the book as it was requiring too much concentration to be enjoyable. ( )

The opening salvo in a so-far four-part series, There will be dragons doesn't exactly open with a bang (no pun intended!). A pampered, petted, soft and sedentary society where crime basically doesn't exist and neither does conflict; where food is plentiful, transportation is easy as a whim, and if you want to be a zebra, a unicorn, a dragon, or even a cloud of nanites, it's possible.

With a monitoring Mother computer to keep everyone safe and a thirteen member council to monitor Mother, everything should be serene and peaceful.... Except suddenly it isn't. The Council takes sides and goes to war, dragging the peaceful world along. For a population with no power except that commanded by the Council, no roads, no food supplies, and no survival skills to speak of, life is suddenly very, very difficult. The only hope? Small and scattered groups of reenactors.

This is the story - mainly - of Raven't Mill, a tiny dot on the surface of the Earth, and of Duke Edmund, Daneh, Rachel, Herzer and Bast. If they can't hold out, humanity as we know it is pretty much doomed. ( )