"The Dragons of Deepwood Fen" by Bradley P. Beaulieu

A book review

Bradley P. Beaulieu’s Song of the Shattered Sands is one of my favorite fantasy series. I was really happy when I heard he had published the first book of a new series, in part because I enjoyed his previous series so much. I was also glad to hear that he had recovered sufficiently from the stroke he suffered a couple of years ago to be writing again.

The aspect of The Dragons of Deepwood Fen that I enjoyed the most was the way it handled dragons. Obviously, dragons are an iconic creature that feature in many fantasy novels. It’s common for them to breathe one or more classical elements—fire, lightning, etc. There are some dragons in Deepwood Fen that breathe fire or acid, but Beaulieu expands this convention in interesting ways. One type of dragon breathes a cloud of gas that induces confusion and susceptibility in anyone who inhales it. Another doesn’t have magical breath at all; instead, its wings light up in patterns that have a hypnotic effect. This goes a long way toward making Beaulieu’s dragons feel different than the dragons in every other fantasy book.

I also liked that there were mentions of fantastical flying creatures other than dragons. The fact that other animals have evolved to fill in the “large flying predator” niche makes the world feel more real. A province that rebels against the empire in which most of the story is set fields griffin-riders. Wyverns are mentioned. A couple of times, characters traveling through a primeval forest encounter flying lynxes. (I wanted to see more of the flying lynxes!)

There were times when the geography of the setting got a little confusing. There are circles of standing stones that can be used for teleportation, and of course, flying on dragonback is faster than walking or riding a horse. But the time it took for characters to get from one place to another didn’t always feel consistent, even when they were using the same mode of transportation. That made it hard to gauge whether it would be easy or nearly impossible for the characters to reach a destination in time to accomplish a crucial goal. But overall, this is a great start to a new epic fantasy series.

I received an ARC of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher!