He has plenty of allies to call to his side when he's overpowered. I suppose it's easier to be nice to someone when you know you can do just about anything to them and get away with it. Somehow, that never poses much of a problem for a literal apex predator like Julian. Other people aren't as easily convinced about his rightness. They even agree with him after the end of the story, albeit after some dangerous hijinks ensue. Julian, a twenty-four year old and incredibly sheltered dragon, drops his 'just be nice and it'll all work out' mentality in among a bunch of centuries and even millennia-old dragons, and somehow they don't die of laughter. Sometimes characters go completely against what they're characterized to be in order to aid that desired result. Time after time, the story contorts to prove him right. Unfortunately, this seems to be the message this author wants to send. Instead, he is maddeningly self-assured in his sugar-sweet, 'if we all just held hands the world would be so perfect, but alas no one knows how to be really nice but me' mentality.

He also sticks with Marci, the most interesting character in the story, so he has good taste.ĭon't get me wrong, he wasn't written as an annoying person.

And - oh yeah - he just happens to be superhumanly swift and strong. It's important to note, the main character Julian has a lot to recommend him. Unfortunately, the main character annoyed me. The storyline has some great twists and turns, and the setting and supporting characters create a great mix of assumed backstory and ambience. I had no trouble recalling a character who appeared briefly at the beginning of the book, even when I was near the end. Best of all, they were remarkably distinct from one another. The dynamic interactions between the characters made them feel lifelike, and the intrigue added enough mystery to keep them interesting. The supporting characters were also fantastic. They were well explained without a ton of exposition. Magic has returned and woken up all the magical creatures who were just resting their eyes a bit. I loved the magic elements to this story.

Rachel Aaron sets her scene on near-future earth. There's an interesting and complex world. I really wanted to like Nice Dragons Finish Last more than I did. Review - Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron - 3 stars

Nice dragons finish last