Becoming The Dragon

Becoming the Dragon is an adventure/fantasy novel. It is the first book in The Dragon Inside series (Becoming the Dragon, Wings on My Back, A Cruel Tale, Crown of Horns, Home at Last) written by Russian novelist Alex Sapegin. The main character, Andy Kerimov, is an unusual sixteen-year-old student who lives in Russia. He is unusual because he is unable to do many of the things a typical teenage boy enjoys. Andy was struck by lightning during a class field trip. This has given him a nasty scar on his shoulder and it has left him unable to be near electronic devices. His body seems to generate an electronic pulse that causes electronic devices to freeze. Over time, he has learned how to control and manipulate this new gift.

Andy's father works

He is confused when he encounters strange, aggressive, oversized creatures. He notices the exceptionally bright stars in the night sky but sees that none of the major constellations are present. When he sees another blue planet where the outline of continents and oceans are clearly visible, he knows he Is far from home. Unfortunately, life in this new world is hard for Andy. He encounters elves, gnomes, orcs and dragons. He is captured and sold into slavery. He sees the worse this new world has to offer him. He learns the power of magic and how it can be used for evil. He is imprisoned and tortured when he tries to escape. The black dragon, Karegar, that is imprisoned in the cell next to him becomes his lone companion. He and Andy devise a plan to regain their

Becoming the Dragon is the first novel in the series and the purpose seemed to be to provide the background information and history for the subsequent novels. It accomplishes this task. The novel provides a very thorough and entertaining preview of what we can expect from this series. The writer created a dangerous, exotic world and gave enough detailed description of the scenery to allow the reader to become a part of it. The characters are all well-written and dimensional. Karegar the dragon and Jagira the elf are humorous substitute parents for Andy. Although they are technically not married, they interact and converse like an old married couple. I thought it was a unique twist that the author created a world where the orcs, elves, gnomes, dragons and humans all live together.

If I had any negative criticism about this book it would be that the storyline feels rushed. This is a short novel that needed to be longer to slow the pacing. There needed to be more time spent getting Andy and the reader acquainted with what life in the new world would be like. Once Andy arrives in the new world the pace of the novel increases very quickly. New characters and places are introduced at whirlwind pace. It is difficult to keep all the characters and their side stories