Synopsis:
DRAGONS, ASSASSINS, AND NINJAS!
They call themselves my found family, but they slaughtered my kin. Now, I will pay back the murderers in blood tenfold.
Their ruin is a mirror they polished themselves. They took me as a child and hammered me into a weapon.
They taught me the art of how to slip through a room like a shadow at noon, how to dress a face in lies until no one recognizes the man beneath. They taught the small, hands-on how to hide poison, how to slit a throat before the man can make a noise.
Most dangerous of all . . . they taught me patience. They taught me to never quit until the job was completed.
So let them sleep in their castles and whisper of safety. Let them keep their cleverness and secrets. I already know their sins. When darkness comes—and it will—I will be the thing beneath the floorboards, the breath on their necks, the quiet that becomes the scream. I will return what they took, multiplied by the cruelty they practiced.
Their hands built the blade.
Their choices sharpened it.
Their blood will be the prize.
Review:
If you’ve seen any of the John Wick films, you know what I’m talking about when I say that at times, they stretch the believability just a bit. You are shown just how good of an assassin that John Wick is, but at a certain point the numbers have to catch up, right? Like is he really good enough to be responsible for each of the over 400 credited kills (according to Reddit), without getting killed himself before the end of the fourth movie? Nearly 100 per film, yet he survives countless falls, hits, attempted gun shots, etc. Without classifying them as “fantasy” films, it does feel like they are a little hard to take seriously in a “grounded” world. Well, with One-Fifth Dragon, author Shami Stovall conveniently solves some of those issues by placing the entire revenge story in a fantasy world. It’s very successful at what it does and is a very enjoyable read, especially if this genre is up your alley.
Right off the bat, I’ll give the world-building top marks here. It’s an Asian-coded fantasy world with clans and ninjas, but there are dozens of clans who all get powers based on the ancient god-creature that serves as the clan’s ancestor. While the nature of the clans themselves invites some more questions, the inventiveness for some of these powers is really impressive and makes the action and fight scenes even more creative for the characters and the audience.
In One-Fifth Dragon, we follow Wraith, a ninja who was adopted into one clan after most of his own wa wiped out years before. He was created since then to be the perfect killing machine, until he finds out the truth of his original clan’s genocide. From there, Wraith goes on a methodical mission of vengeance, letting many of his clan walk away, but exacting revenge on only those who truly deserve it.
Now, the powers and clan dynamics offer some fun changes to the story, but overall One-Fifth Dragon is very linear. Stovall makes Wraith the only POV and, apart from a few flashbacks, we stay with him and his thoughts and feelings the entire time. It keeps you with the feelings of betrayal and revenge, but doesn’t let the story zag much in the end. One-Fifth Dragon is hugely successful at what it does and if that’s what you’re going for, you’ll probably love this book.
I was also treated to the audiobook version of One-Fifth Dragon, narrated by Phil Thron. First off, I love Thron’s voice and would absolutely sign up for another book read by him. With that in mind, this was the weakest part of the book for me. Wraith is supposed to be just about 20 years-old, fairly young and brash. Thron’s voice belies that age and makes the main character sound mature and wizened at probably the ripe age in his mid-50s or so. Again, there are tons of books where his voice would settle me in quickly for what the book was, but I just didn’t feel this book and narrator were good fits.
Overall, I enjoyed One-Fifth Dragon by Shami Stovall and the revenge story at its heart. Along the way, Wraith has to decide who his real clan is and there are some fun and delightful elements of found family throughout as well.
Thank you to Tantor Media for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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