Victor Milán (1954–2018)

Fact is: I am very picky with fantasy novels and I was probably one of the few people who never was much into dinosaurs, so in theory such a premise shouldn't have piqued me, but knowing [a:Victor Milán|4601681|Victor Milán|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422563171p2/4601681.jpg]'s work from his short Wild Cards stories (and his Wild Cards single book) and having thoroughly enjoyed it, I figured I could try these books out and man, was I not disappointed. (I am writing this after show more finishing all three books so it's colored by having read the next two.)

First, the only negative factor one could say about this first book is that it maybe takes a bit to find its footing because of the obvious need to plant the worldbuilding and introduce the characters and there's a lot of politics talk that might be a bit hit and miss, but that's a given for any fantasy book of this scope and size so it was a necessary price to pay that anyway paid off in the second half when things started going underway.

On the positives: I actually am in awe of the amount of work that must have gone into these series and (I'll probably say more on that in the reviews for the next two since they expanded on most things I liked about it) I absolutely dig this re-imagined Medieval Europe - I like how you can recognize exactly who is who and what historical events might be referenced, but it's all done very freshly and with a lot of room for surprising a reader. (Also, as an Italian, I am absolutely delighted that one of the characters who comes from this-world-Italy has a law degree given that we had one of the first law universities in the world during the Middle Ages... but I digress.)

As for the characters, they *all* get better in the next installments (which is why this one has only three stars), but what I had here was more than enough to keep me hooked - the main four (Rob - who's most likely my favorite out of all the cast-, Karyl, Jaume and Melodìa) are all solid characters whose storylines I thoroughly enjoyed and whose evolutions I found very well-penned (I especially enjoyed Rob and Karyl's adventures admittedly, but I definitely dug Jaume's background and Melodia's development), while the minor characters cast was also very well-conceived and written (admittedly most of my minor faves are in between Jaume's Companions) and the antagonists were also all fairly interesting, even if again, they all got better in the next installments as well. From the character work point of view, I found everyone very engaging.

Ah, and of course it definitely delivers when it comes to the dinosaurs. As stated, I'm no dinosaur nerd so a lot of that got lost on me I'm afraid, but I definitely learned a lot, I really liked how the dinosaurs aren't just there for show but are full part of this world up to language choices and these books definitely got me at least interested in the aforementioned dinosaurs when Jurassic Park couldn't back in the day. Ah, and Milán can definitely write his battle scenes. He writes really great battle scenes. If everything you asked of this book (without going into worldbuilding, diversity in the cast and so on) is knights fighting on dinosaurs you're getting that in spades, but it's really more than just knights on dinosaurs.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed this first installment - it does suffer a bit from the problems most first installments of huge series have namely that it takes a while for the story to kick in fully, but the next two books more than amply make up for it and it's definitely a good start to a really enjoyable triad.

Also

[SPOILER for the ending]

I am ABSOLUTELY intrigued by how Milán has decided to work in the theological part of this universe - there's enough of fairly known figures and mythological elements (archangels? apocalypses? Aphrodite? Faeries?) but they're so different that you can't know exactly where this entire thing is going and I absolutely couldn't wait to find out until I got to the next two installments. No spoilers, but I was not disappointed. show less

This is a competently written book that wildly annoyed me. It's very sexist—within the first few pages we get the male-gaziest description of a lady with a shag haircut wearing only a thong bikini bottom that I have ever had the displeasure of reading—and while I can forgive people glorying in hot ladies, the other one of Kirk's love interests is a caricature of a shrewish leftist woman. It also has a strong pro-anarchist viewpoint...but also pro-Federation and pro-militarist...so show more ultimately it just reads as conservative. I guess if you vibe with that you might like it. If not, stay far away. show less

A tough, skilled and rather clever dog sled courier is delivering a jar to a wizard. The jar turns out to contain the spirit of an ancient philosopher ascetic, who posthumously has decided he regrets his choices and now desires nothing more than to witness the excesses of human activity he denied himself in life. He also just won't shut up about it. They get attacked by warriors riding giant dogs, and then a sentient raven shows up and kills the surviving attacker before he can be show more interrogated. And that's the first 30 pages. In the next few dozen, we will meet an ancient flying city, a demon ape in a castle filled with the people it has killed, and a beautiful warrior who seems likely to be more than she seems.

At first glance, a basic sword & sorcery world wherein all characters are heightened, every culture rides a different kind of oversized animal (dogs, eagles, badgers, bears), the characters freely enjoy sexual encounters with a generous portion of the people they meet, and there are magical talismans and evil magic users to contend with. The book does, though, provide the central characters with a good measure of depth, put some thought into the dynamics and functions of the world, and it has a solid pace that keeps me turning the pages (as evidenced by my recap of the first 30, above). The sex -- while something I'm unaccustomed to in quite this level of detail -- is not speculative or any more gratuitous than the violence would be in most adventure novels. And the character relationships grow rather touching, all things considered. "The War of Powers" does not reinvent the wheel, but it does use a lot of well-worn spokes in fun combinations. I won't exactly be rushing to buy the second half of this saga, but I'm positive I will eventually do so. I'm pleasantly invested now and want to see how it ends. show less

Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan is the first in the series by the same name. It follows several different, sometimes overlapping perspectives. During a ferocious battle at a river, which featured several of our main male protagonists- Karyl, Jaume, Falk, and Rob Korrigan- Voyvod Karyl is betrayed by his comrades and left for dead. To the amazement of others, himself most of all, Karyl recovers, and is recruited to train an army to defend a pacifist province beset by land hungry neighbors. The show more person set to recruit him? Rob, who had been part of the opposition in the previous battle. The rugged dinosaur master had been sacked from his job for his part in winning the battle, all because he didn't get the proper 'nod’ for his plan from his noble employer. Across the land, Mor Jaume, has returned to the capital, where he finds Duke Falk, his former opponent who has now swore fealty to Emperor. After a brief interlude, Jaume is forced to take an 'Army of Correction’ to deal with another rebelling stronghold, leaving Falk behind. Here the stories are joined by Melodia, the Emperor's daughter and betrothed of Jaume.

Despite numerous difficulties with the ruling council in Providence, Karyl and Rob train their army. Despite difficulties, Jaume leads his army to another victory against Terraroja, though it was fraught with betrayals just as his last battle was. For his success, Jaume is sent against another stronghold. Despite difficulties, Melodia survives Falk’s intrigues, and makes an escape. Slowly, but surely, these players are converging on one another. And behind it all lay the Grey Angels, the supposed protectors of the planet Paradise.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read that GRR Martin himself called 'Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park’, and I have to agree! Milan states at the beginning that Paradise is not an alter-Earth, or a future Earth, and this is quickly evident. It actually kinda feels like Stargate, where these Creator beings plucked up elements of humanity and plunked them down on a Cretacea-like world, complete with all manner of dinosaurs, and with an overall climate much more tropical than ours. The evolved human society is feudal, with knights, lords, nobles, and an Emperor. The language of Paradise is heavily influenced by Spanish and French.

I felt the characters were well-developed, and I became completely invested in all of the characters’ various stories. Unlike with many stories with multiple viewpoints, I didn't find a preference for one over the others. I found each storythread equally engaging, and never wanted to flip ahead to return to a more beloved character. The best part, by far though, are the saurs! Hornfaces are used as draft beasts, raptors are kept like hunting hounds, gallimimus-like beasties are used as mounts like horses, and the great duckbill species, and fearsome predatory giants like allosaurs and tyrannosaurs are ridden into battle by dinosaur lords. There are numerous species of pterosaurs, and oceanic saurs as well. Two of the saurs- Little Nell, and Shiraa- are delightful characters in, and of, themselves. Nell, for sure, has personality! For someone who has always loved these 'dragons’ of the past, and whose second favourite movie is Jurassic Park, this was a wonderful treat and I look forward to reading the next in the series!

Read my review for The Beast of Cretacea https://wp.me/p6C2DX-cl

***This book was purchased, read, and reviewed for my own enjoyment. show less