Dragons Deal by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye – review

Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras has come to New Orleans once again in Dragons Deal by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye, and it’s a time for parades, floats, parties, general joviality, and–er–dragons. That’s right, I said dragons. Though Mardi Gras just recently ended for us, if you read the final Urban Fantasy novel in the late Robert Asprin’s Dragons Wild series, Dragons Deal, you can relive Mardi Gras again, or experience it fresh for the first time. Sadly, Robert Asprin died in 2008, but thanks to the efforts of the talented author Jody Lynn Nye, in 201o, the highly entertaining, page-turning conclusion of the series, Dragons Deal, was published. Is it as good as the rest of the series? Does it stand on its own as a novel, or is reading the preceding books necessary to appreciate and to enjoy reading Dragons Deal?

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t had the pleasure to read the preceding books in the series, but from what I’ve read and heard, they’re pretty good reads. As to whether it can stand on its own, apart from the other books in the series, I’d have to say “Yes, it does,” because I read and dug the novel, despite not having read the first two novels. There were some instances where I had to read a little further in order to figure out who certain characters were and their importance to the rest of the novel upon first reading about them, but this was not a major drawback in impeding the flow of the plot for me. There was enough background information provided for me to get into the novel with little effort, and not to be become overly confused as to who’s who.

Now, on to the plot, itself. Dragons Deal continues the saga of the head dragon and owner of a successful gambling operation in New Orleans, Griffen McCandles. He generally takes the shape of a human, and only assumes the shape of a dragon if he’s angry or he wills himself to do so. Because he’s a successful and wealthy businessman, is a full-blooded dragon, and the captain of the Krewe of Fafnir–Etienne de le Fer (a werewolf with some dragon blood in him)–has dreamed about it happening, Griffen agrees to become the king of the parade. After all, who is he to stand in the way of prophecy, and the will of the ghost of a dead voodoo priestess, who tells him it will come to pass?

However, there’s a lot of responsibility involved with being a Mardi Gras king, along with the great honor bestowed. And, there’s a great monetary cost, as well. Griffen has to pay dues to the Krewe of Fafnir to become a member, then there’s the expense of riding on the float (thousands of dollars), buying at least three tuxedos to have them ready for the various parties he’ll be expected to attend, and there’s the expense of throwing his own king’s party, and buying tickets for the three closest women in his life to ride on a float, not to mention the cost of their dresses for the float and the associated parties. Still, because of the honor, the chance that it would also increase his standing in the community, and that he thinks it’d be pretty cool to do it, Griffen becomes the king.

Speaking of chances, the novel is all about chances, as Griffen is the owner of a gambling operation (as I mentioned). Poker is the main game his operation specializes in, and he and his employees try to attract rich people, whether they be locals or tourists, to take part in high-stake poker games. Being the Big Dog, or the Big Dragon, of anything attracts jealousy and the efforts of others to eliminate their competition. This is what happens to Griffen, and a group of dragons attempts to bankrupt him and destroy his gambling operation and his good name. They will stop at nothing to ruin him, not even the murder of one of Griffen’s trusted employees, who is also a dragon, by strangulation.

I really liked reading about the city of New Orleans and all of the hard work that’s necessary to prepare for Mardi Gras, and about the parade, itself. I’ve never been to Mardi Gras, though I’ve visited New Orleans when I was younger. The descriptions of the city, the floats, etc., made the novel come to life for me. No wonder, when New Orleans was Robert Asprin’s home. I don’t know how much of the novel was a collaboration, and which parts of it Jody wrote on her own, but the blend was a seamless one to me, so I’d say she did an excellent job making it seem as if the novel was written by one author.

Also, besides my enjoyment of reading a novel about dragons (one of my favorite fantasy creatures to read about) and the Mardi Gras season, I got an education in poker, and what it takes to run a gambling operation successfully. I have played, but just for fun with family members and friends. I learned a lot of poker terminology, how experienced players read the “tells,” or subconscious gestures or signs players often make when they get a good or bad hand, and these types of things made the novel more realistic to me.

Would I recommend Dragons Deal to Urban Fantasy fans? You can lay bets down that I will, because it’s a very entertaining and page-turning novel. Though it has a more straight-forward sort of plot, lacking some of the humor and puns that many of Robert Asprin’s other series are famous for–like his Myth and Phule’s Company series–it is still a fun novel and a great conclusion to the series.