The King's Dragon

Book Four switches the action from Dessa to her adversary, Captain Drake. To provide the backstory for Drake and his interactions with both Queen Magda and Greyfalcon, the late King's Chamberlain, Chantler again finds a clever and efficient storytelling angle. Throughout The King's Dragon, we follow parallel storylines between Drake's current task (finding Dessa) and a past search undertaken for the King, a mission which left the King dead. Looking at both stories provides more information than simply the sum of their parts, because the mission for the King provides commentary on the current mission for the Queen. Chantler uses black & white panels for flashbacks, colour for present day action, at times interleaving individual panels show more for emphasis even as he raises the reader's (and Drake's) suspicions about what is going on.

This is perhaps my favourite character arc in the series: the bad guy is not one dimensional, we grow to admire his principles even if we're against him for pursuing Dessa, and our growing understanding of the world and the situation actually shifts our allegiances (and his).

Chantler in this book references the Three Stooges, the assassins of the Iron Hand are caricatures of Larry, Moe, and Curly in both appearance and speech. Neither R nor W caught it.

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Three Thieves offers a strong story arc over seven books, well plotted and set in a fabulist world. Each book has a distinctive subplot while moving the larger plot forward. Events include set pieces (castles & kings, chase on horseback, piracy & floating islands) as well as the through-line of a search for a missing sibling. There is enough here that is original to avoid feelings of recycling or cliche, while at the same time Chantler readily incorporates recognisable elements from classic adventure tales and even pop culture.

Overall, chock-a-block with cliffhangers & plot twists, well written and a good challenge for younger readers while keeping the interest of the older among us. show less

Dessa hides out in a monastery while Fisk and Topper try to lead Captain Drake astray with tracks leading away from the monastery, in different directions. Captain Drake has a series of flashbacks/memories (in black and white) of his first days as a King's Dragon, when he discovered that most of the other Dragons were loyal to Greyfalcon and the "iron hand" band of assassins, not to the king. When the king is poisoned, Drake tries to save his daughter, the princess (now Queen). The Queen burns the letter her father left with Greyfalcon and wanted destroyed. Back at the monastery, Drake catches Dessa, but she escapes again - with his horse. On to the next installment!

Quotes

"Listen, boy, what we need around here is for you to spend less show more time questioning orders and more time following them." (Greyfalcon to Drake)

"I can swing a sword, and follow orders, and give them. But I haven't the imagination for puzzles. Never did." (Drake to fellow Dragon Phineas) show less

This fantasy comic book is the fourth in a series and I have not read the three previous episodes. However half of this tale is flashbacks. It is entertaining and well-constructed. It is reminiscent of the French “bande dessinée” style in its artwork.

The plot centres around Captain Drake, a knight of the kingdom and member of the King’s Dragons, searching for three thieves and his doubts about his mission and the royal entourage. The flashbacks deal with the death of the previous king and his role in it.

The artwork is very good and I enjoyed the story and format. I’d recommend this to any comic lover who enjoys a simple sword and sorcery tale.

Enjoyable enough and I look forward to the next instalment.

This is the third book in the Three Thieves series; a middle grade fantasy graphic novel series. There are seven books total in the series and all of them have been released. I liked this book a lot more than the previous one. I felt like this book filled out the world better and showed the reader more history around why things have been happening the way they have.

Although Dessa and crew aren’t in the story much we do get a lot of background on Captain Drake. I have been interested in him as a character since the first book and it was great to learn more background on him.

I am curious now to see where things go in future books. Captain Drake isn’t a bad person, he's just serving a bad leader. He is going to need to make some show more decisions in future books about what is more important to him; his loyalty to his leader or to his own moral standing. The mystery behind Dessa’s brother doesn’t make a lot of progress but we do learn quite a bit more about Greyfalcon and his scheming.

Overall this was a fun and quick fantasy graphic novel read. This whole series has been a well done basic fantasy story with some fun characters and an interesting mystery. I am curious to see where the story goes and plan on continuing with the series. show less

Dessa, Topper, and Fisk narrowly escaped the King’s Dragons in the last book. And Dessa has been badly injured with a broken leg, with Captain Drake hot on their trail. While tracking Dessa and gang to a remote monastery, known for their healing, Drake recalls his early days as a knight in the service of Roderick. Of discovering that all is not as it seems with the mysterious Greyfalcon, that a letter that King Roderick wrote may hold the answers to many secrets, and to see the death of his beloved King under mysterious circumstances. While this monastery is known for their healing, Dessa finds that they may also hold clues to the riddles she’s been seeking to answer. And when the two come head to head, whose quest will end?

I’m a show more later come to this series, but I greatly enjoyed catching up with the first three books and then diving headfirst into this one. While the plot doesn’t move forward much, most of the book is spent on Drake, it’s nice to get a better sense of who he really is as a character and why he does his job the way he does. We get to see that Drake is not as evil as we might make him out to be, but instead he’s own his own quest to discover the contents of the King’s letter and who poissed Roderick. The writing is engaging and will keep readers eagerly waiting for me.

The artwork in this book is enjoyable as well. I have to admit thought that my favorite part of the book is actually the front cover, which is starkly different from any of the other books or the next one in the series. In this book its an almost dark red color, with a sole silhouette on it, of who is likely Captain Drake. It’s a nice way of showing that this book is his story in the tale and that there’s something different about it.

Overall this is an enjoyable and fun series and I would recommend it for any reader of fantasy and fiction. A strong female character and focus in Dessa, this volume notwithstanding, also make it an ideal series to encourage female fantasy readers as Dessa is not a maiden, or an elf, or a nurse, but a strong willed, kickbutt young woman. I give this book 4out of 5 stars.

ARC provided by NetGalley show less

The ongoing back flashes are really deepening this story. I am anxious to see how all the pieces come together!

Spoilers.

You learn about Captain Drake who was there when the King was killed. He never fit in with the King's Dragons because he's ethical. They push him out, leaving him to protect the king alone. Greyfalcon says let in some entertainers even though they aren't on the list. They kill the king. Captain Drake finds Dessa, and she explains that she's seeking her brother. He feels like he's missing something--he has the clues but can't put them together.