The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas | book review

【 THE ADAMANTINE PALACE 】

Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
Author: Stephen Deas
Published: March 2009
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 369 (paperback)

Gosh, I absolutely adored this. I’ve had this book on my shelf for the longest of times and have been so hesitant to pick it up because the average rating on Goodreads just isn’t that great. Because, excuse me, this is brilliant? I don’t know how this isn’t on everyone’s list for dragon-loving fantasy readers.

This is compared to Game of Thrones for how epic and pacy it is – and I whole-heartedly agree. I couldn’t put this down from start to finish and dang, it’s so satisfying having a book about dragons where dragons are actually forefront and centre.

Like seriously, if you want roaring, stomping, fire-breathing dragons, this has it. If you want brave, crazy and epic dragons riders, this has it. And if you want giant dragons circling the skies above castles and diving out of the air to land – or swooping in to practise military formations, this has it.

This is a world of dragon riders and secrets, of political intrigue and monarchical backstabbing. There is so much to be enjoyed within its pages. From the very first page, we are thrust into a world of spiky characters who all have secret hidden agendas. I wouldn’t even say that a single character is likeable – which makes this feisty and awesome.

Because every character really does hold their cards close to their hearts, they come across as some degree of devious. What I think is really clever about this, is that your eye is drawn again and again to the ‘bad’ character of Jehal, the Viper. And yet, the emphasis on his conniving ways allows other mischievous deeds and ill intentions to seem not quite so bad. Like, Shezira is almost painted as the good guy, right? But when you think about it, she’s kinda super mean. Motherly affections are certainly nowhere to be seen.

And I say it again: I also REALLY enjoyed how present the dragon aspect is. I emphasise this point, because I found it quite unique the way that Deas actually incorporates this. The shifting POVs throughout the book help to build up tension because it heightens the danger of the rogue dragons – why? Because no one is safe. You feel at any moment the character you’ve been happily following along might be killed or eaten. It’s one of the rare times that such fluid POV usage really works to a book’s favour, rather than making things confusing.

I’d like to also nod to the repeated reference to Lai’s Principles – which felt like a fantastical version of The Art of War. I don’t know, it was just a nice, realistic touch – a way to parallel this fantastical world to the real world, in how military tactics are recorded and taught.

I’ve dived right into book two and I have every intention of ploughing on with the rest of the series after that. I’m really hoping that we’ll get down and dirty with the politics of the realms as the series goes on, because that map is huge and I just know that Deas has more planned for this us.

This was truly an unexpected rare gem of a find for me. I cannot believe the low average rating and sincerely hope that if you love fantasy, kings and queens, and dragons as much as I do, that you’ll give this one a crack. It’s a whirlwind of scheming, excitement and chaos.