BOOK REVIEW: The Way of the Dragon by CT Ortega

A perfect Ortega book, with a few new elements tossed in!

I feel very privileged to be able to read all of Ortega’s books. I feel like I’m on this journey with him as he continues to evolve his style and create stories that are fun and creative, but revolve very heavily on strong morals and values. They never have the same setting, and I like that every time I go into a new one of his stand alone books, I know that I’m going to be transported to a new and different location and will learn something.

His newest stand alone takes us to Japan and the land of dragons. Here we find Lei, a teenage boy whose land is suffering from a land drying up of its resources and a mother who is on her deathbed. Enter a crazy lady coming into the village talking about a girl with no eyes, condemning villages prior to a dragon arriving and decimating the village and anyone in the way. Lei sets out with a handful of other villagers in search of proof of the dragon, but has the ulterior motive of going into the Kunlun Mountains and finding a mythical, magical herb that will save his mother.

I’ll be honest, I really didn’t particularly care for Lei for the first 3rd of the book. But, I mentioned my feelings to Ortega, and he wasn’t surprised. Lei is one of those characters who is created to be at his lowest form, then go even lower before he can rise. It’s like he’s a phoenix. He rises from his ashes. He has to face who is before he can become who he wants to be and who he was born to be. But, I just felt the idea of his worthlessness was almost overwhelming. However, once he makes it into the Mountains and the journey begins, I appreciated his accomplishments.

There is so much symbolism that you can pull from this. From the symbolic climb to the top of the mountain and Lei’s self-discovery to his kitchen knife and the sword. And, the whole experience at the Falling River is all symbolic with some foreshadowing mixed in. I love that there is so much attention paid to these literary elements. There is always something to think more about when you are reading and then when you finish. 

I felt that the pacing and chunking of this story was one of my more favorite aspects. It provided moments that forced Lei to face his reality and grow from them. This is partially possible through his interactions with the cast of secondary characters, who, by the way, are awesome! C’los is the clear favorite. He in many ways mirrors Lei’s own personal growth journey. The backstory with C’los comes through slowly and at the right moments to have the intended impact on Lei.

While the Xiee are only mentioned and seen briefly, they are the reason that the dragon is destroying villages and punishing the people. The Xiee are a vicious gang that terrorizes, robs, and kills people throughout the land without and accountability. While this plays into the motivation of going to seek proof of the dragon and this judge and jury concept, it really is more of a precursor to the actual plot. The Xiee are the reason Lei’s mother is on her deathbed, so he has a personal hatred of them, but again no one does anything. I did feel that is worth mentioning here, though because if Ortega wanted to, there could be a story about the Xiee’s ultimate downfall.

Anyways…. Shout out to the creative creatures and encounters throughout their time in the mountains. Aoyin was a little more on the dark side and Bai Suzhen was more on the assisting side (I did have my doubts about this second one, I really thought it was going to be a not very pleasant encounter). There were plenty of references to the world Ortega has created in his series, Warfare of the Gods, to link them all but keeping it separate and unique at the same time

Finally, the themes and morals would be a great book club discussion. Know They Self. This is the driving theme throughout the story. It is mentioned numerous times by many different characters. But, there is more than just that. There is also the power of hope and perseverance, friendship and forgiveness, and redemption and second chances. Ortega’s books always provide a plethora of ideals that you can dig into to find deeper meaning.

Where does this land on my bookshelf?

At first I wasn’t sure where I was going to place it, especially when I was at the beginning and I was not liking Lei very much. But, I loved how the story evolved and how the characters grew. As a result, I will place Ortega’s latest tale on my top shelf. It is a fantastical story with fantastical creatures who all play their roles to see not just Lei develop into who they are destined to be. It is a quick read taking the reader on another journey of adventure and self discovery. I am grateful that I am able to read and review these books. 

The Way of the Dragon is now available!

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