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Title: The Dragon’s Den
Series: The Metaframe War #3
Author: Graeme Rodaughan
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 219
Words: 85K
This is where I DNF the series and add Rodaughan to my list of Authors to Avoid
This read exactly like some mindless action video game, with “missions” and “side missions” that don’t make ANY sense if you give them more than a cursory examination.
In the previous book the Leader of the Order of Thoth (one faction of super humans who are fighting against the Vampires) was kidnapped by the Vampires and this book was all about the main characters trying to rescue him.
Once again, the author just doesn’t know how to write effective, mature leaders. The guy who Anton (the main character, The Chosen One) is following is as effective a leader as one of the Minions from the Despicable Me movies.
He doesn’t lead, he doesn’t plan, he doesn’t do anything other than say obvious things like “Ok, we have to rescue the boss” or “Ok, we have to attack the vampires”. When Anton goes off the rails, he doesn’t corral him in any way. At the end, when his wife dies, he just gives up and Anton takes over as leader. We’re not talking about some jamoke with an office job here. This is supposed to be a guy who has successfully fought vampires for possibly decades. And he is a complete and utter joke.
In this same area, the other leaders are as much a joke as he is. There is a military guy working for the Vampires who totally gets outsmarted by Anton, in a helicopter duel. Then the kidnapped leader, while being corrupt, is also monumentally stupid and every decision he makes is bad. And finally, a group of Super Assassins from the Red Empire (another faction of super humans fighting the Vampires) are led by a guy who decides that keeping his word to a Vampire General is the thing to do even when she turns him and his entire team into vampires. They literally become the thing they were created to destroy and they don’t instantly kill each other in a death pact? That’s stupid. That’s beyond stupid, it’s 100% asinine.
Now we come to the biggest reason that I am stopping the series. Anton Slayde, the main character. He’s reckless, impulsive, anti-authority, selfish, self-centered, ignorant (which I can forgive, because ALL teenagers are ignorant, it’s why they have to be taught) but worst of all, he’s stupid. He’s beyond even asinine stupid. I’m debating whether it’s worth it to list all the things that led me to that conclusion.
1) His best friend is captured while allowing the rest of the group to escape the clutches of Shadowstone (the human military wing of the Vampires). So Anton insists on rescuing him with no real plan and puts everyone in jeopardy all over again.
2) His “plan” to rescue his friend involves hijacking a super tank and driving around the compound shooting stuff while looking for his friend, forcing the group to back him up or risking him being captured as well.
3) When that rescue doesn’t happen, he decides he still needs to rescue the guy, this time from an armored convoy that has four military equipped helicopters attached to it. He jumps out of the tank and onto the prison truck, once again forcing his team mates to follow or risk him being captured too.
4) All of this happens WHILE the leader of the Order is captured and being interrogated by Vampires. What’s the best way for a Vampire to interrogate a human? To turn him into a vampire of course, which then means his loyalty is now to the Vampires. Does Anton consider ANY of that, at all? Nope. Operational security, secrets, codes, it can all go take a flying leap because Anton has to rescue his friend, WHO VOLUNTEERED KNOWING THIS COULD HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!
5) Anton’s real goal is to kill the Vampire, General Armitage because she killed his parents. He can barely face a regular vampire, but fully expects to just waltz in and kill the most talented Vampire ever? He’s seen her in one fight, where she killed his mentor, who was about 100 times a better fighter than Anton. He has no idea of her style of fighting, her weaknesses or disposition. He knows nothing but is convinced by Plot Armor that he will be The Chosen One, to kill her.
6) I’m getting myself worked up, so I’m just going to stop.
I have a strict “No Stupid People” policy when it comes to the characters I read. I don’t mind if a minor side character is stupid, that just makes them fodder and I’m ok with fodder in my books. But for the main character to be like this, that’s only ok for 12-15 year olds. Anton is not in that age bracket.
The series has been toe’ing that Line of Stupid ever since book one, but it crossed it completely in this book. So I am done. I simply don’t care how the story ends because Plot Armor will overcome everything and I won’t read more Stupid.
★★☆☆☆
From the Publisher
Synopsis – click to open
IT’S A TRAP! – Anton Slayne knows it’s a trap. One laid for him by his most powerful opponent – Chloe Armitage, rogue general of the Vampire Dominion.
The chase is on. Agents of the Red Empire and the Vampire Dominion have abducted Ramin Kain, the Head of the Order of Thoth. Anton and the Mirovar force team are the only ones in a position to act. They know Ramin is bait, but have to rescue him before he’s forced to reveal everything he knows to the Order’s sworn enemies.
Will Anton and his friends in the Mirovar force team rescue Ramin Kain, or will Chloe Armitage discover the secrets of the Order of Thoth, destroy the Mirovar force team, and enslave Anton to her will?
