Kept hidden by the United States government for decades, the Site is a place where magic is real. But that doesn’t mean that everything happening there is sparkly.
Welcome to one of the July 29th stops on the blog tour for The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex by K.R.R. Lockhaven with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for 6 more reviews and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex
The Self-Proclaimed Greatest Dragon in the Multiverse
by K.R.R. Lockhaven
Published 1 April 2021
BookBaby
Genre: Humorous Fantasy
Page Count: 375
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Kept hidden by the United States government for decades, the Site is a place where magic is real. But that doesn’t mean that everything happening there is sparkly. Soul-sucking policies and layers of stifling bureaucracy threaten to take all the fun out of magic.
Harris, a newbie Conjurer, starts his first day of work at the Site bursting with excitement: he’s been brought on for an extremely big project happening the very next day. In a triumph over its habitual inefficiency, the Site manages to carry out its plan and conjure an actual dragon to be used by the military.
The dragon (Zoth-Avarex, the self-proclaimed greatest dragon in the multiverse) immediately eats the person next to him, snatches a “princess” from the ranks of the Conjuring Department, and flies away to the Space Needle. There he manipulates the media, outwits the Site’s bumbling management, demands sixty-three billion dollars’ worth of treasure (because Smaug was said to have had sixty-two billion in his hoard), threatens to destroy the city—and installs a couple of food trucks.
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Excerpt
After being led to the building, Harris took out his new rune-drawing wand, focused his will, and drew summoning, protective, and binding runes in the air, being extremely careful to get every detail right with every flick of the wrist. His drawings, once complete, became floating images of light in the air, like faded neon signs.
Then, in an even, monotone voice, Harris said, “Xop, I call you to this world.” Xop was one of the few names of minor imps that Harris thought he remembered seeing listed in one of his books.
From the air in front of him, something popped into existence with a literal popping sound. A furry flying creature appeared, flapping its wings and seeming thoroughly confused. It looked like a light brown baby sloth, except that it had bat-like wings that were covered in a fuzzy brown fur. A little puppy-dog nose stuck out just a bit between playful brown eyes surrounded by a mask of darker brown fur. It was almost too cute, as if some writer was trying way too hard to create a clichéd adorable animal companion. It was the second cutest being Harris had seen that day.
My Review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads
I was granted complimentary access to The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Goddess Fish Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
Hidden in plain sight, right in the middle of the USA, is a place where magic exists, dragons are real, and the fae are up to date with all of our memes. If you love tongue-in-cheek nods to all of the tired old tropes in science fiction & fantasy, Douglas Adams style absurdist comedy, and the occasional Rickroll, you’re going to laugh your way all through this book!
This book is absolutely full of references to all your favourite works. Some are more overt, like acknowledging that Westeros is a real place and our friendly neighbourhood dragon character is a cousin of Smaug (and someone wants to do a pub crawl in Middle Earth.) Others are more subtle, like an orientation training quiz question that opens with the premise that you know the name of the wind, or when said dragon character says “you tickled a sleeping dragon” and “I am the one who knocks.”
On one hand, I really loved the non-stop train of references and fourth-wall-breaking trope moments. On the other hand, some of these things are very much of this decade and won’t necessarily land for the average reader in the not too distant future. Is everybody still going to know what a Rickroll is in 2031? I mean sure, Rick Astley’s never gonna give you up, but will we eventually let him down? I want that to still be funny when my daughter’s old enough for this sort of novel but I’m not 100% convinced it will be.
Overall this is a very fun read and I absolutely recommend it to every SFF reader with a healthy sense of humour!
About the Author
K.R.R. Lockhaven lives with his wife and two sons in Washington State. Together, they conjured a bearded dragon named Sandy who rules over a hoard of sand and devours crickets by the dozens. When not writing or raising kids, he works as a firefighter/paramedic.
Website | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
The author will be awarding a $50 Amazon/ or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| July 15 | Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile | ||
| July 22 | The Faerie Review | July 22 | Sybrina’s Book Blog |
| July 29 | Kit ‘N Kabookle | July 29 | Westveil Publishing |
| August 5 | The Reading Addict | August 5 | The Avid Reader |
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Thanks for hosting!
Thank you so much for the wonderful, thoughtful review! I loved your Rick Astley reference. I hope not to let him down, too 🙂
Sounds like a good read