Dark-Readers: Chasing Embers Blog tour: The review

Title: Chasing Embers
Author: James Bennett
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: 8th September 2016
Synopsis: Behind every myth there is a spark of truth . . .There's nothing special about Ben Garston.
Or so he'd have you believe. He won't tell you, for instance, that he's also known as Red Ben. Or that the world of myth and legend is more real than you think.
Because it's his job to keep all that a secret.
But now a centuries-old rivalry has resurfaced, and the delicate balance between his world and ours is about to be shattered.
Something is hiding in the heart of the city - and it's about to be unleashed

Review:

First up the cover was really doing this for me. I know we go on and on about not judging books by their covers but I feel like at times I know when i'm going to be drawn into a book just from the cover. It made me want to pick this up...then Dragons, so it kept going from there obviously..

This is the kind of book that I like. There is a great mix of the magic and the modern and all the rules that go with them, I also really liked that this was a new series and i had to establish all the history because it creates a different feel to something that I'm say four books into and feel a part of. It was also quite a nice touch that the folk lore and fairy tale that we all know was all mixed in to the histories..there was King Arthur...there was Gods, and this really lovely way of describing things, for example "They sprang up wherever the Fay set foot, like forest vines trailing in their wake, surrounding them in mystery". Woof that bit of imagery game me chills. Bennett has his style down and he really creates his own voice here.

Ben was built as this bad ass character. Rough around the edges...been in a few fights...seen a few things and this made him compelling. You knew you were in for a ride with him... I nearly added 'or on him' but that sounds weird...but he isss a dragon so it's sort of a legit thing to want to say so I said it anyway....and I've gone off on a tangent. Back to the book...Like any character he has a lot more to give because he cares which gets him into trouble and he has an underlying purpose...and if you annoy him he's gonna come through your window like a tone of dragon!

There was this great terminator moment that was thrown in so casually every now and then...Ben arrives all dragon, then there rises this man completely in the buff like no ones business. Because why not eh! All these little references and the ways that the mythology was incorporated into the book really worked, There was even a little story ( with pictures...clearly it doesn't take a lot for me) that I felt was a really fun moment in the book, adding those layers of depth that I look for.

I'm looking forward to more adventures with Red Ben..and i'll probably spend a lot more time thinking what it would be like to be a man dragon mythological beast...