Review: One-Fifth Dragon

One-Fifth Dragon by Shami Stovall
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a 2-star review. I made it through 10% of the book. Chapter 4. Then I entered the Dorothy Parker book throwing Olympics.

Pretty good start. Generic Asian/Japanese-inspired culture focusing on ninjas. Various clans with unique magical abilities. Some early examples of how those abilities interact and compete.

The student is learning from the master. The master is a bit young to be a master and (until now) too young to accept a student. They are assigned this student who has been poorly trained up until now by a different master.

They go on a training mission to assassinate someone from a dominant clan. The student encounters trouble. The poor training becomes evident. Perhaps the student's attitude is wrong as well. The master saves the student. The targeted clan experiences many deaths. The student and master get away.

And then ...Record scratch.... they go to an inn where the student seduces (partially) the master across several pages of narrative. It turns out that the main clan had adopted the master many years ago. The master has a unique form of magic, but no one wants to marry them. The student came from a clan that had been almost wiped out. The student was similarly adopted by the main clan. They want someone to breed with the master. The student agreed (despite serious risks) and everything possible to consummate the arrangement while they are on the run from committing an assassination and multiple murders.

The master...again a very stoic person...resists temptation with the obvious implication that when the cultural rules permit it, they will be actively participating.

4 chapters in!! No serious character development up to that point. Bubbly student. Stoic master. Rough sketches of the culture. That's it. A good start, but only a start. Let's get our freaky-deaky on!

I'm not a romantasy fan. This smacks of romantasy in so many ways. I've read Peter V. Brett, N.K. Jemisin, and Robert Heinlein - each of whom have extended sex included in various works in ways that are carefully integrated into the plot. It isn't the sex that is the issue. It is the romantasy trope of making the entire story about a romantic relationship.

Couple that with the fact that the entire scenario as written would be "problematic" in any other setting. One person makes a secret deal to have sex with another person. That second person was already feeling manipulated and vulnerable. And their sexuality is bartered away without their consent.

Rhetorically chucked across the room and started something that I hope will be better.

2-stars only because the writing was pretty good. Grammar/spelling were solid if not perfect. It has the bones of a good story early on.


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