The Dragon Sorcerer is a 2003 fantasy adventure novel written by John Gregory Betancourt and published by I Books.  The story follows pirate and rogue Fel Blackmane who, after stealing treasure from the powerful Countess Alna Savina, must deal with the powerful Dragon Sorcerer who is hot on his heels with an army of unstoppable monsters.

Positives:

• Good characters
• Good story
• Writing is entertaining
• Good humor

Negatives:

• Story lacks depth
• No clear message
• Lacks character development

Plot: The story follows famous pirate Fel Blackmane who is known for pulling off an impossible stunt once every year. This year he plans on selling a ton of treasure back to their owners at an unique fair. Unbeknownst to him a powerful woman, Countess Alna Savina, has quite a grudge and an intrigue and hires an assassin known as the Dragon Sorcerer to kill our hero.

The story is pretty fast paced and is quite entertaining. For those who’ve enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean series probably will feel as if they’re reading something from the mythos. It is pretty entertaining though it lacks much depth or any interesting twist. The conclusion is good and is quite hopeful leaving readers to feel as if Blackmane is well off into another grand adventure. (3 out of 5)

Characters: The main protagonist is Fel Blackmane. Blackmane is the Jack Sparrow of the story and honestly the guy is awesome.  Loved the relationship between Fel and Ool.  Ool is just an awesome supporting character.  The man is a perfect contrast to Fel although he has that same daring and dashing personality.

Countess Alna Savina is the main antagonist and holds a grudge against Fel for him stealing from her previously. I liked how she has this extreme hatred for him but at the same time an odd attraction.  I would’ve liked to have seen something develop between the two but it would be out of character for Blackmane.

The Dragon Sorcerer was a pretty interesting character although there isn’t much backstory given on him. He’s just awesome with his army of monsters though I wished he had more to his personality. Especially when Blackmane got the better of him.

Having said that, despite the lack of depth the characters are pretty solid. (3 out of 5)

Writing: John Gregory Betancourt does a really good job with the story.  The writing is fun with a lot of humor and witty dialogue. The writing is well paced, nothing really seems like it drags. The characterization is written well enough to make the characters feel unique. The action is handled well enough to be entertaining and there is a surprising amount of suspense. However, the story does lack interesting twists, meaningful undertones, and deep character development except for possibly Sabina. The writing and storytelling is good enough to maintain the sense of adventure without being too complex. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, The Dragon Sorcerer is a good read though it didn’t reach its full potential. Three of the biggest problems is that the book doesn’t actually dig deeper. There aren’t any good developing arcs for the characters, no strong plot twists, and no real message to take away. However, despite these little nitpicks, I really enjoyed the characters, the story was well paced, interesting and entertaining, liked the dialogue, and I appreciated the writing. The Dragon Sorcerer gets 3 out of 5.