There Will Be Dragons

Written by John Ringo

Narrated by Tim Fannon

Paradise Lost

In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise—and then, in a
moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere people who have never
known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive.

But scattered across the face of the earth are communities which have returned to the natural life of soil and
small farm. In the village of Raven’s Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the
problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former
lover and his only daughter struggle through the Fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around
a wounded lion.

But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past
is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not
all he once was. …

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980049630

John Ringo

John Ringo is author of the New York Times best-selling Legacy of Aldenata (Posleen War) series, which so far includes A Hymn Before Battle and nine sequels, the technothriller series starting with Ghost, a dark fantasy titled Princess of Wands, and many other novels for Baen. A veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Ringo brings first-hand knowledge of military operations to his fiction.

Reviews for There Will Be Dragons

[jason7klim · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm writing this review after completing the entire series. Very well written, relatable characters and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was sad when it was over even though I liked the ending.

[dlmorrese · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From the cover and short blurb, I thought this would be a witty mix of fantasy and sci-fi. It isn't. It's mostly a military fantasy with a bit of unlikely tech rationalization in the background to explain the monsters and magic. It wasn't really my thing, but others may like it.

[music09-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An interesting take on a post apocalyptic world. Generally such stories take place in the present timeline and deal with the aftermath. This story is set far in the future and deals with the origin of the apocalypse, as well as the aftermath.

[closetwryter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good story. Took a while to get going but very worth it. I love the characters and an engaging, though a little forced, plot.

[cailyncara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really liked this book. Catching all the little references and details keep me re-reading this book. Loving the Distopian society based on the SCA's skilled tradesmen. As a recreationist in my spare time this book makes me laugh and engages me with the little details that Mr. Ringo has added.

[hjjugovic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book using DailyLit's email program, and really enjoyed it. An idyllic technology-based society suffers a failure of technology and has to rebuild their society while fighting a civil war against a tyrannical and insane leader determined to change the world "for its own good." Fascinating political, military, and societal themes, guaranteed to appeal to any urban homesteader or survivalist. The only time I feel the story slows down is the military training sequence, but I enjoyed it because it was so spot-on for my own basic training experience. There's a Heinlein kind of feel to sensibility that I miss in many newer works. This story stand alone, but I will be reading the sequels. Recommended.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The opening salvo in a so-far four-part series, There will be dragons doesn't exactly open with a bang (no pun intended!). A pampered, petted, soft and sedentary society where crime basically doesn't exist and neither does conflict; where food is plentiful, transportation is easy as a whim, and if you want to be a zebra, a unicorn, a dragon, or even a cloud of nanites, it's possible. With a monitoring Mother computer to keep everyone safe and a thirteen member council to monitor Mother, everything should be serene and peaceful.... Except suddenly it isn't. The Council takes sides and goes to war, dragging the peaceful world along. For a population with no power except that commanded by the Council, no roads, no food supplies, and no survival skills to speak of, life is suddenly very, very difficult. The only hope? Small and scattered groups of reenactors. This is the story - mainly - of Raven't Mill, a tiny dot on the surface of the Earth, and of Duke Edmund, Daneh, Rachel, Herzer and Bast. If they can't hold out, humanity as we know it is pretty much doomed.

[sarah_rubyred · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Dull. There may be dragons but I sure as hell will never find out.I didn't get past the child-rearing passage. I think that Mr Ringo may be himself useless at child rearing but he would be surprised at the amount of men that can and do do it successfully - and don't find it as tedious as I find this book. (Sorry, I know this is fiction but it just got me).

[erasmusrob · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As with most of Ringo's work, I enjoy the story and the concept, as long as I don't let myself get annoyed by his preachiness. After centuries of ultra-high-tech peaceful society where everything is made possible through sophisticated nanotechnology (technology sufficiently advanced that it *is* indistinguishable from magic in many cases), a violent disagreement breaks out in the Council to (barely) runs the world. Each faction immediately begins to consume the power available to them, which is to say almost all of the world's power. Instantly, civilization falls. The rest of the novel deals with a community of people who had been reenactors and actually had physical resources to survive--and later, thrive--in this not-so-brave, not-so-new world. Much emphasis on the nobility of the warrior, who places self between danger and community, as is not uncommon in Ringo's work. Once you get past some of the more aggressively right-wing rhetoric, an enjoyable escapist tale.

[worldsedge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First book in what appears is going to be yet another series of doorstop sized fantasy books. Overall, not too shabby, if you can ignore some rather glaring plot issues. As in: why would the (supposed) genetically engineered Elves have pointy ears? Why would they restore women's periods but not the physics that allows projectile weapons. Also a bit heavy on preaching in at least one area: second amendment rights, of all things. Utopia crashes, the mass of humanity reduced to feudalism, genetic modifications, Then again, when the next book comes out I'll be on the look out for it. And I may go back and look for some of his other works. So, overall I couldn't have found it too bad.