DNF: The Curse of the Thrax by Mark Murphy (Melissa’s review)

The Curse of the Thrax (Bloodsword Trilogy #1)
written by Mark Murphy
published by Mark Murphy

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange  for an honest review.

Where I stopped reading: . . . about halfway through . . .

Why I stopped reading: So I’m stuck in a hotel room with my two-year-old for the next few days, which means he’s watching a lot of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood while I binge read.  It also means I’ve got very little patience for, well, anything.  So, about halfway through the book (when my patience and the size of our hotel room seemed to be shrinking by the minute) I realized that although I LOVE the concept (it’s a post-apocalyptic old-world-is-new-again type of thing), I didn’t really care for (or have time for) the plethora of dalliances Jaykriss & Marda stop for —  archery contests, fishing trips, jaunts into caves and the like.  I tried skipping ahead a few chapters to, um, “get to the good part,”  as it were, but it didn’t help.  I mostly blame my tiny hotel room (and the tiny person who is currently hiding in the closet soiling his pants) – I’d probably have been much more likely to finish the book if I had, you know, a few hundred more square feet.  Sorry, Mark Murphy.  It turns out external forces actually DO influence a person’s reading of a novel.  =(

 

What others have rated this book: According to Goodreads, the average rating for The Curse of the Thrax is 4.73 stars. It looks like a majority of readers gave this book 5 stars. There was 1 4-star review on Amazon. At Barnes & Noble, there was one 3-star review. Just because I didn’t finish this book doesn’t mean you won’t.

About the book – from Goodreads: Jaykriss is a typical teenager. He’s bored with school, the girl he loves doesn’t even know he’s alive, and he and his mother disagree—a lot.

Not everything is typical in Jaykriss’s life, however. Glyndich the Great, Jaykriss’s warrior father, died fighting a dragon—and in doing so lost the Bloodsword, a treasured heirloom that is the family’s symbol of power. 

Jaykriss lives in the Godswood,a tiny village deep in the forest near the ancient Priestbain, the fortress home of the Godswood priests. The priests rule the Godswood through their close relationship with the all-powerful Dark King. Jaykriss and the rest of the villagers just barely get by, surviving day-to-day despite nefarious plots by the priests, constant threats by groups of half-human mutants—and, of late, by the Thrax itself, an enormous dragon once thought to be extinct. 

But one day, all of that changes. 

On a routine hunting trip, Jaykriss and his best friend are chased by the Thrax. Terrified, they seek refuge in a forest cave hidden behind a waterfall. The cave shelters an eccentric hermit, a refugee from the Dark King, whose home is filled with books and devices from ancient times. The hermit teaches Jaykriss that all is not as it seems in his world. The mutants and dragons are actually relics of a biological disaster that ravaged the planet years before. The Dark King, revered as a god, is a vicious ruler who will do anything to stay in power. Jaykriss realizes that although he is not a warrior like his father, he can use his instincts and intellect to confront the Thrax, recover the Bloodsword and save his family. He may, in fact, be The One who Leads, prophesied to save the entire human race. But is Jaykriss ready for his destiny–or will it consume him?