Gena Showalter - Heart of the Dragon

While I said after The Darkest Angel that I had stopped reading Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series, I also mentioned that I was beginning a new series from Showalter based on the myth of Atlantis just to see what it was like because I was intrigued.

Heart of the Dragon is the first in Showalter's Atlantis series focussing on the long forgotten city of Atlantis and its inhabitants which include dragon warriors, vampires, and nymphs to name a few.  Dragon warriors are meant to protect Atlantis from intruders so their secrets are not divulged, especially the two that are selected to guard the two entrances to Atlantis.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Paranormal romance lovers

Favourite Characters: Grace - she humanised Darius

Favourite Part: She was poised on the periphery of a vision, gazing down at a bloody massacre.  Men, women and children were lying motionless in pools of their own blood.  The boy - Darius - knelt over one of the children.  A little girl.
[...]
He remained kneeling and gazed up to the crystal dome.  He slammed a fist into the dirt and howled, the sound more animal than human, more tortured than any child should ever have to endure. - Page 175

Good Points: Passionate scenes; the concept; twist to an old story

Bad Points: Everything seemed to go quickly; extremely sex obsessed

Heart of the Dragon focuses on Gwen Carlyle, a young woman from New York searching for her brother who she hasn't heard for a while after he's been in the Amazon rainforest searching for clues that point to Atlantis; as well as Gwen, this book also focuses on Darius en Kragin, a shape-shifting dragon warrior who is also the Guardian of the Mist in Atlantis, ensuring that no one gets into Atlantis by any means necessary.  Unfortunately, Gwen walks through the mist, entering Atlantis; Darius is stunned by her arrival, allowing her to get further into Atlantis, but he then takes her as his prisoner to ensure the secrets of Atlantis don't make it out to the outside world.

Much like Showalter's Lords of the Underworld, the premise of the series is a passionate affair between a human and a being from another world which is what draws me to her books.  I love the passionate scenes that occur between Grace and Darius as well as Alex and Teira because it shows another side to their characters during the fighting and the horrors that occur in their lives and humanises them as we read them go through the lulls and climaxes of passion.  The intense feel I got from reading these parts really engaged me and I was able to picture it so vividly which I found impressive as some books that try to do the same as Showalter fall flat and I am left feeling underwhelmed.

I adore the concept of Atlantis being found through a portal that is guarded by this hulk of a man who is clearly not human because it's different from other paranormal books I've read where those of a paranormal persuasion are either the only inhabitants in the book or blend in the book might as well not be classed as paranormal.  The way Showalter has decided to write the story, with a different non-human being the focus of a separate book (with the next being a part-goddess part-prophet) is interesting as more can be learnt about the individuals kinds that live in Atlantis rather than trying to develop such an elaborate world in one book.

The myth of Atlantis is well known, with it being a mythical island which was sunk into the sea by the gods to punish its inhabitants but was a phenomenal place before its destruction as described by Plato and has been the basis of a number of films and TV shows, including the recent BBC series, Atlantis starring Mark Addy and Jack Donnelly.  However, Showalter has put her own twist on the story by including other mythical stories such as vampires and nymphs and making them creatures that were banished to live in Atlantis which is under the Earth's crust.  This makes her series interesting because it fits with the myth that the gods destroyed Atlantis as the inhabitants were gaining immortality and were therefore abominations but she has updated it so that the story is set in the modern day and her audience can connect with it.

I found Grace to be my favourite character because she humanised the dragon warrior, Darius, who was emotionally inept at their first meeting because he has desensitised himself to everything so he can protect Atlantis to the best of his ability without distraction.  However, when he's around Grace, he begins to feel things that he hasn't felt since the death of his family centuries before which was the last moment he was almost human; Grace brings out his human side, meaning he has the capacity to feel and eventually love her.

One of the downsides in this book for me was that parts seemed to go past extremely quickly; Darius is supposed to be a dragon warrior but there is hardly any mention of the fighting to protect his home except from a few sentences.  I would have found it interesting to see him in action against those that have invaded his home because it would have brought something else to the story, other than the passionate scenes between the characters.

While I spoke previously how much I loved the passionate scenes between Grace and Darius as well as Alex and Teira, I actually thinks there's a time and place for this kind of thing; in this book, Grace and Darius seem to be wrapped around one another at some of the most inappropriate moments.  At one point Darius is out of Atlantis, trying to get Grace back, which will inevitably weaken him and they start to entangle themselves around one another.  A similar moment occurs between Alex and Teira just after Alex has had the living daylights kicked out of him and Teira is holding him close to her so to comfort him and they start to get up close and personal; following this, Alex starts to think about staying in bed with Teira once they're safe and doing a number of things to keep her there.  Really people, I'm all for lust, sex and all these lovely things but there is a time and place for these moments and while you're searching for your brother or trying to fight for your life is not one of them unless you know for certain that the odds are not in your favour and it's your dying wish to live on and make love to the person you love.

She was poised on the periphery of a vision, gazing down at a bloody massacre. Men, women and children were lying motionless in pools of their own blood. The boy - Darius - knelt over one of the children. A little girl.
[...]
He remained kneeling and gazed up to the crystal dome. He slammed a fist into the dirt and howled, the sound more animal than human, more tortured than any child should ever have to endure. - Page 175

I adored this part because it explains so much about Darius's character, about what happened to him before he became a Guardian of the Mist as I find a character's past interesting especially if it affects them so much in the present as it does Darius, even if he doesn't want to admit it.  This part also shows Grace that Darius truly does feel, he's not just some soldier and she can begin to connect with him and develop a relationship with him as she can understand him slightly.

The next in this series focuses on a different couple, a male human this time with a supernatural female that inhabits Atlantis which I intend to read eventually after all of my other books are read so it may be a while before this series pops back up on this blog.

Predictions

1. More fighting amongst the residents of Atlantis

2. Passion filled moments between the inexperienced and the experienced
3. Darius makes a minor reappearance along with Gwen

Other Books By Gena Showalter