All paths lead to war…

Marcus’ hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody’s death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.

Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation’s wealth across a war zone, hiding the gold from both sides. She knows the secret life of commerce like a second language, but the strategies of trade will not defend her from swords.

Geder, sole scion of a noble house, has more interest in philosophy than in swordplay. A poor excuse for a soldier, he is a pawn in these games. No one can predict what he will become.

Falling pebbles can start a landslide. A spat between the Free Cities and the Severed Throne is spiraling out of control. A new player rises from the depths of history, fanning the flames that will sweep the entire region onto The Dragon’s Path-the path to war. I’m sure I’ve touched on this once or twice, but all things considered, I’m rather new to reading fantasy. Or at least to reading it this frequently. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe 90% of the fantasy books I own were acquired in the last three(ish) years or so. Bookstagram had a lot to do with that. Daniel Abraham’s series, The Dagger and the Coin, is the rare example of a fantasy series I started collecting pre-Bookstagram. As I got more & more obsessed with The Expanse series (Daniel Abraham is 1/2 of James S.A. Corey, the pseudonym under which The Expanse is written), I really wanted to explore more of Abraham’s work. But like so many series, it just kept getting pushed off.

Well, not any more! Of course there are plenty of other series I need to be finishing before starting new ones, but that’s a post for another day SO STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH THOSE JUDGING EYES ok thank you

When considering The Expanse, it’s unsurprising that The Dragon’s Path introduces us to multiple POV characters. This is something Abraham clearly does quite well, and this first volume in The Dagger and the Coin is no exception. Ostensibly, there are four main POVs, though there are some deviations from that. And I don’t want to belabor the point with relating this series to The Expanse, but one thing about those books that amazes me is how seamlessly new POV characters are introduced, while sometimes relegating the main characters to nearly background roles. It’s a bold storytelling method, and naturally I’m curious to see if it’s used in this series.

The Dragon’s Path is very much a book one. It isn’t jam-packed with violence & adventure (though there’s more than enough of both), and it’s very deliberately paced without feeling slow. We’re meeting a lot of characters & trying to get a grasp on the scope of this world, which is massive. Some of the characters will feel really familiar to fantasy readers. Captain Marcus West, an older mercenary type character, with a brutally tragic past that helps drive him forward. I really loved Marcus, and even if he’s a bit of a “type”, he’s remarkably well written & authentic. His relationship with Cithrin bel Sarcour, the young girl who seems to be at the center of the plot, was lovely.

Marcus becomes sort of the stern father figure for Cithrin, an orphan & ward of a bank. She’s been forced to flee her home city with a veritable fortune, and Marcus signs on to protect her. And here is where the uniqueness of this story shows. Cithrin isn’t a warrior or a thief or an assassin…she’s a banker. And a fucking brilliant one at that! This is just a really cool spin on things, and putting her front & center shines a light on just how important money is in a time of war.

Geder Palliako is perhaps this book’s most fascinating character. He’s sort of a minor noble, and a terrible soldier who gets by on his name alone. He’s impressionable & inexperienced, and people with much greater power than Geder begin using him as basically a political pawn. But nothing really goes to plan, because Geder seems to have his own agenda. Some seriously fucked up things happen in Geder’s sections of the book, and he is for sure a character to watch as things progress.

I absolutely loved The Dragon’s Path, and can’t wait to carry on with this series. This first book introduces a vast & fascinating fantasy world, compelling major & minor characters, and a really unique spin on the genre overall. Daniel Abraham is a fucking fantastic writer, and I have very high hopes for the remainder of The Dagger and the Coin!