Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.
Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gold from both sides. She knows the secret life of commerce like a second language, but the strategies of trade will not defend her from swords.
Geder, sole scion of a noble house, has more interest in philosophy than in swordplay. A poor excuse for a soldier, he is a pawn in these games. No one can predict what he will become.
Falling pebbles can start a landslide. A spat between the Free Cities and the Severed Throne is spiraling out of control. A new player rises from the depths of history, fanning the flames that will sweep the entire region onto The Dragon's Path-the path to war.
Besides having a great name, The Dragon’s Path also is a truly fantastic book. It has an intricate plot, is full of both humor and action, is captivating, and is just plain well written.
Of course, my favorite thing about The Dragon’s Path were the characters. They were appealing, robust, and both hilarious and steadfast (at different times.) My personal favorite characters were Marcus Wester, Yardem, and Master Kit. Besides having personal histories that I’m sure could each fill their own book, they and their dialog were fantastically written. I actually laughed out loud at points when reading dialog between Yardem and Marcus.
What I didn’t love about The Dragon’s Path was its world building. I felt like Abraham created a fascinating world with imaginative peoples and a diverse history, and yet I feel like I barely got any taste of that at all. I wanted more about the people and their world, and I felt like it was glossed over in the beginning and that was supposed to be the entire description. Of course an example of how in depth and riveting Abraham could have made the world building can be seen in his money and banking system. Abraham creates a complex (and integral) banking system that helps establish the credibility of Cithrin’s world, and it’s obvious from the care and details he includes in this that he can build a spellbinding world, yet for some reason it seems to be rest of the details surrounding the different races and their characteristics were cut out.
That said, I think there’s plenty of time for history of the world, and possibly more information on the world to come out in the next books in the series. The characters are well written, the dialog interesting, the plot intricate and interesting, and the book as a whole well put together and utterly engrossing. Because of this I would highly recommend The Dragon’s Path to anyone looking for a good read (especially one in fantasy), and personally can’t wait for both the next book in the series, as well as Abraham’s next book Leviathan Wakes.
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