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Title | The Saint of Dragons
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Author | Jason Hightman
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Cover Art | Vince Natale
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Publisher | Eos - 2004
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First Printing | Eos - 2004
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Title | Samurai
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Author | Jason Hightman
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Cover Art | Vince Natale
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Publisher | Eos - 2006
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First Printing | Eos - 2006
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Category | Urban Fantasy
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Simon, Aldric, Alaythia, Kyoshi
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Main Elements | Dragons
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Website | jasonhightman.com/
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 The Saint of Dragons
The ancient dragons — of the time of the legendary Saint George and earlier — have never disappeared entirely. Instead, they've moved undercover — and into human society. Now one lonely schoolboy is about to learn where the dragons have gone...
Educated at boarding schools, Simon St. George has never met his parents. When a ragged-looking man shows up claiming to be his father, Simon is skeptical, and when the man kidnaps him, he's indignant to say the least.
Then the man claims to be a descendant of England's Saint George and a career dragon fighter. Why should Simon believe any of this nonsense? But what if the man is telling the truth? What if the dragons know he's out there?
Rich with the dragon lore of legend, the saint of dragons continues and enlarges on the tale of the centuries-old conflict between dragons and humans that rages even today
Samurai
Dragons. Masquerading as regular men and women, they walk unnoticed among their victims. But there are those who can see past the serpents' disguises. Simon St. George and his father, Aldric, the last living descendents of the legendary Saint George, drive fear into the hearts of the western dragons whom they hunt.
In the Far East, the St. Georges must face a new threat of Asian dragons, aided by the samurai, a group of warriors bound by a pledge to rid their land of the creatures. As the dragons stealthily prepare for an international annihilation, the two groups must join forces to save mankind.
Brimming with unforgettable dragon lore and exotic adventure, Jason Hightman's riveting sequel to The Saint of Dragons delves deeper into the raging war between humans and dragons.
They looked interesting on the surface but I had a few issues reading these young adult novels aimed at boys. First, the characters were very annoying, and more often than not annoyed with each other, which was even more annoying. Secondly, the dragons were just plain evil, and I usually don't like two-dimensional villains...but somewhere along the way that turned to amusement as the author tried to outdo the evil, vileness of the of previous dragon with the next one. You know, like dragons that run a hospital just so they can torture the patients, that kind of thing. Or dragons that like taking care of their pet beetles in their mouth. At times I felt the sadistic nature of these creatures went a little far given the target age group, but then again, it's a kind of cartoon violence I guess. And it was an interesting idea that a dragon's fire can take a life of it's own, and cannot necessarily be controlled by the dragon, perhaps even turning on him. Or the fact of more than one dragon in one place, not only do they hate each other, but it messes with their magic. Or that you can detect a dragon by finding hotspots of human despair and natural disasters.
I get the feeling Hightman was planning on writing at least one more book, since there was a kind of cliffhanger on this one when it was pretty straightfoward to end it properly, but after a 12 year gap I doubt it will be coming.
So I'm not a huge fan of the books, they weren't terrible but they certain weren't great and I won't be keeping my copies to read again some day, but on the other hand, just for the sake of a different take on the dragon mythos, they were still worth a quick read.
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