11) The Dragons of Babel by Michael Stanwick

A war dragon of Babel crashes in the idyllic fields of a postindustrialized Faerie and, dragging himself into the nearest village, declares himself king and makes young Will his lieutenant. Nightly, he crawls inside the young fey's brain to get a measure of what his subjects think.

Forced out of his village, Will travels with female centaur soldiers, witnesses the violent clash of giants, and acquires a surrogate daughter, Esme, who has no knowledge of the past and may be immortal.

Evacuated to the Tower of Babel - infinitely high, infinitely vulgar, very much like New York City - Will meets the confidence trickster Nat Whilk. Inside the Dread Tower, Will becomes a hero to he homeless living in the tunnels under the city, rises as an underling to a politician, and meets his one true love - a high-elven woman whom he dare not aspire.

I have mixed reviews on this novel. First of all, it wasn't what I expected. I did anticipate the integration of our world with a fantasy world, but not quite to the strange meld of this book. My criticism (and this may well be directed as my own misunderstanding or misreading) is why have this blended world, a world like ours with Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts and Marlboro cigarettes mashed up with strange creatures. What is the reasoning behind such a blend other than it is the mythical city of Babel? To be honest, I got lost some point midway - a bit disoriented and directionless. The events, though well written seemed a little disjointed and I could not see where they were going until maybe the end. I believe if the book was a little longer, these pieces could have been put together more smoothly. Also, the ending was incredibly abrupt leaving me less than satisfied.

Stanwick is an incredible writer, and I don't want my words to detract that. I feel that this book had a lot of potential coursing beneath it and certain aspects simply prevented this book from being as good as it should have been. I have to admit I was a little weary of the sexual content that pervaded throughout the end. I felt distracted from the real story. Yea a little humor is fine (I liked the beginning where the main character runs into a group of female centaurs - their characterization was top notch as well as unique), but enough is enough.

This book is the sequel to The Iron Dragon's Daughter and I have a feeling that maybe if I read that book first, I may have gotten a better notion of this particular book.

So - my final verdict is - read this book. It has something to offer that no other books ever will. Sure, it is not a perfect product and I probably won't reread it, but it was still worthwhile to have done so.