REVIEW: Upscaled: A Cozy Comedic Dragon Fantasy (The Dragons of Nóra Book 1) by Joseph John Lee
It begins and ends, as things do, with a girl throwing a birthday party for a dragon. Or it would, if things were ever that simple.
Generations ago, the Inquisition of the Priory of the Thrice-Dead Prophet decided that dragons were a great evil and it was their duty to banish them from the land of Nóra. The dragons weren’t (they just grew tired of the bother and migrated north), and the Inquisition didn’t (they just pretended otherwise), but that’s beside the point.
Though evidence of dragons still existed, it remained within the realm of smugglers, ne’er-do-wells, and people with too much time and money on their hands…until a hatching egg finds its way into the hands of a young girl named Ailís.
Now, with the first newborn dragon seen in generations in her company, Ailís finds herself beset by merchants, brigands, Inquisitors, and a greedy governor, and all she wants to do is throw a birthday party for her dragon.
And you thought planning a party for your kids was tough.
Dear Mr. Lee,
It really was the gorgeous cover and charming sounding blurb that caught my attention. I was delighted to be granted permission to read this early. Parts of it are charming but I think there’s a fair bit of repetition and, yeah I’m just going to say it, silliness here.
Ailis apparently has never bothered to do what her (poor, harried) mother asks nor, it would seem, has her younger brother. But this latest prank, done while they were supposed to be shopping at the market, really takes the cake. In a land where the Inquisition is on the lookout for anything dragon related, it’s not going to take long for someone to realize that the egg which Ailis “liberated” from a smuggler merchant and which has now hatched, is a dragon. Once they do, the Inquisition arrives.
After some silliness regarding a dance recital, Ailis, her brother, and her Ma head out of town in search of Ma’s brother who left town six years ago. But locating him in the mysterious Crann Woods isn’t going to be the end of their problems. With a varied band of people on their heels, they’ll need help from an unexpected source to reach safety in a place they’ve been taught to fear all their lives.
Can I just put it out that I really was hoping for a LOT more dragon stuff. Pilib is adorable but spends a great deal of his time asleep. But then he is a youngster so perhaps that accounts for it. Ailis is, ahem, strong-willed. Bratty might be a better term. Yes, I think this is my age speaking. She’s eleven and acts like it knowing full well that it will drive her poor Ma demented and alert the Inquisition. Ma and Camarain are my two favorite characters after Pilib. I’m willing to admit that maybe it takes a strong person to bond with a dragon but Ailis got on my last nerve a time or two.
The other people in the book range from secretive (but otherwise nice) to frankly silly. Many of them, as the secretive person says, “engage in debates of their own idiocy.” This happens frequently. It was boring after a round or two. One character in particular bloviates quite a bit. The debates and arguments are frequently repeated not just in general but often basically word for word. It’s like watching the Ministry of Silly Walks non-stop for a few hours.
There’s a lot of humor and an overall lighthearted feel to the story. However those very aspects also remove almost all the tension and sense of urgency as well as often not landing properly and falling flat. It’s clear that witty and whimsical were what was being aimed for but alas, these are reached maybe half the time. I also sincerely hope that the final version has been line edited a bit more as many words were often missing altogether or used strangely.
I’m not sorry I read the book but I’m also debating whether or not I’m the right audience for it. Perhaps the silly humor and low key approach to the high stakes will work better for lower middle grade readers. I honestly doubt that teens, much less young adults, would be entertained. But at the same time, there are some arguments lightly made against the causes of (real world) disputes which might sail over the heads of eleven year olds. So is it a cozy fantasy? Well ….. mostly, maybe? The story ends with an epilogue that I could see coming which also intrigues me so I will be watching to see what the second book is about. C+
~Jayne
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