Rex Draconis

Under the Dragon Moon

By: Richard A Knaak

Narrated by: Julie-Ann Amos

A world of minotaurs, knights, wizards, dwarves, elves, dragons, and more. A world familiar, yet a world new. A world where gods intrude at their whim. A world created by the author of The Legend of Huma, Kaz the Minotaur, and more with the cooperation and assistance of fans of those works. And a world where a great leviathan is said to watch over gods and the younger races, preparing to judge each as it sees fit. As is its right.

When the Minotaur captain Rath and his fellow survivors manage to escape the piratical wheyr after stumbling across them on an island, they and others discover too late that something ancient came with them.

Now, with humans and Minotaur on the brink of war, an uneasy alliance of characters must uncover the truth about an ancient war once again stirring, a war between two manipulative races using all others as their pawns....

©2017 Richard Knaak (P)2018 Richard Knaak

An excellent short tale!

Here we have fantastic short tale to introduce us to the world of Tiberos and the Rex Draconis Saga.

Julie-Ann Amos gives a surprisingly good performance, though there are a few hiccups.

First, and this is in no way her fault, but I have a serious disconnect with hearing a female narrator for a book heavily skewed toward male characters.

Both main protagonists are male and approximately 75% of the major characters are also male.

Now, Julie-Ann has a solid assortment of voices and accents. She has fairly good vocal inflections and adequate tempo changes.

However, like most narrators, she struggles with creating believable opposite-sex voices. Especially for those that should have deeper voices, such as the minotaurs, wheyr, and other creatures.

Which leads back to the disconnect. It's a little too easy to lose track of who's talking because it often sounds like a female voice when the male main characters are speaking.

Which, again, is in no way her fault. She just wasn't the best choice for these books (in my opinion).

Now, to the story.
Although short (only slightly above novella length), this is an excellent introduction to a world that feels oh-so-familiar while also bringing in enough uniqueness that it doesn't feel like just a copy of Dragonlance.

It makes for an awesome throwback to the classic 80s fantasy that made me fall in love with reading when I was a teenager.

I love the contrasting duality between Rath (with his own brutal form of honor developed by the minotaur people) and Erik (who, as A Knight of Dracoma, has a much more traditional knightly sense of honor), and it was a lot of fun watching their friendship develop.

It carries a similarity to the relationship developed between Kaz and Huma in Richard Knaak's Dragonlance novel, The Legend of Huma, while also being very different.

There are a couple of flashback sequences that I wasn't terribly fond of, however, as they were a bit confusing when they began.

But otherwise this is a fantastically written tale of sufficiently epic scope to really pave the way for what is to come.

I love how the ending came together, and I can't wait to dig further into this series.

I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a bit of nostalgia for 80s fantasy or especially Dragonlance in particular.

Great Story, Quick Read

This is a great story. The action is quick. The author does not get bogged down in describing how green every blade of grass is. Yet, there is enough detail about the world in which the characters live to really enjoy the story. Take a listen and see for yourself.

a must listen

what a great story, and setting. The kind of quality storytelling but we've grown to expect from Richard A Knaak. I can't wait for the next one

Interesting and fast paced

This book drops you right into a tense situation and never slows down. No long winded descriptions or blown up character development. The world unfolds itself in bursts of action. The characters are revealed in their reaction to events. I enjoyed listening and credit the narrator’s ability to give the characters life in a fast paced environment.

A great start to a new world!

As a seasoned reader to fantasy and Richard Knaak this is definitely a great story and a great beginning of the newest of worlds!

okay story

This book was not for me, I didn't find any of the characters engaging. There is not a passage of time in this book,for example a character goes on a vision quest leaves her home and is immediately at her destination. It is a good story if want something to listen to.The narrator was very good,kept me listening.
i was given this book free in exchange for a honest review

World building

Builds a familiar yet different world. Too many characters to keep track of for listening. Would make a better reader. However it is priced right so worth it if your looking for intrigue around dragons.

Loved it!

if you enjoy fantasy at it's best,, then I highly recommend this one. The narrator was awesome.

Good story dragged down by narration

The story was enjoyable, with good world building.

However the narration left a lot to be desired. While the narrator spoke clearly and did different voices for the different characters, she did it all in the same tone. From saying hello to shouting in surprise, the tone and volume was the same, kinda made me wonder just how surprised people were.

Also transitions between scenes could have been done a lot better, I would often be listening then all the sudden realize the scene has completely changed with different characters and all, leaving me disorientated and confused. Something as simple as a sound signalling a scene change would have fixed this.

Great Fantasy World

This was my first experience with Richard A Knaak's work, and I enjoyed it. Considering the length of the story, the world building was extensive. I appreciated that the author didn't spend pages describing the world but alluded to it through having many different beings interact throughout the tale. I liked that one of the main characters was a minotaur. I am looking forward to more books written by this author. Julie-Ann Amos' narration was irregular in that for the first few chapters, her voice seemed muffled as if she was speaking through a blanket or down a tunnel. Once she started using voices for the various characters, her speaking voice became clearer and I enjoyed her performance more. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.