I’d like to think that I keep up with new released in my favorite genres. But with so many new books released every year a few are sure to slip through the cracks. The Dragon Round by Stephen S. Power is one of them. The book jumped out at me when I was perusing the new acquisitions shelves at the library, but not for the reasons you might think. It wasn’t the beautiful cover design, nor was it the dragon in the title. (While I love dragons, it isn’t a make or break thing for me in the fantasy I read.)

Funnily enough, the author’s name was close enough to an old elementary school teacher of mine to make me do a double take. Even more ironically, the author’s bio in the back of the book states that he lives only a few towns away from me. I’d never heard of this author before, which was odd both because Power is a local author and because his work was previously nominated for a Pushcart Prize. So, I decided it was only fair – nay, my duty! – that I read the book.