The Dragon’s Banker

Read Time: 3 Minutes

The title is The Dragon’s Banker. The blurb talks about dragons. There’s a dragon-person on the cover. Naturally, I expected a fair amount of dragon. This was more, dragon-adjacent for the most part with a main course of accounting and finance.

Not a criticism exactly, just something worth knowing going in.

The Dragon’s Banker follows Sailor Kelstern, a merchant banker in a world on the verge of replacing the standard precious metal currencies with fiat money issued by the crown. While there are dragons, elves, dwarves, wizards, and all the usual fantasy trappings, much of the story is focused on business deals, trade routes, financial manoeuvring, taxes, audits, and the challenge of converting a dragon’s hoard into the new economy without losing too much of it along the way. It’s basically an empire-building story wrapped in a fantasy setting.

Sailor Kelstern is tasked with helping a dragon convert its mountain of metal wealth into this new paper money. When a dragon asks you to do something, well I guess you always have the option to decline and get a permanent tan. The idea was solid, and looking back now I am finished listening, I enjoyed the various schemes, trading companies, and business ventures come together. There is also a decent amount of competition and sabotage from cut-throat rivals trying to undermine the whole operation before it can get established.

The main problem for me though was that it all felt a little dry. As mentioned, I did go in expecting a lot more dragon. But I think part of issue I had with it was the narration.

I did not realise before purchasing that the audiobook was narrated by the author. I bought it based on my enjoyment of his other series, My Big Goblin Space Program, and didn’t actually listen to the preview. It is not a bad performance by any means, but I could not shake the feeling that the book would have benefited from a more experienced narrator. The various character voices tend to blend together, and the delivery never quite adds the extra energy needed to lift some of the drier material.

The included bonus story, Forego Quest, was a fun poke at fantasy tropes. It is completely unrelated to the Dragon’s Banker, and follows The Chosen One, capital letters fully deserved because he is literally the chosen hero for every prophecy, quest, and world-saving adventure imaginable. I wouldn’t say hilarious, but amusing enough, so it ended up being a fun little addition.

Overall, this is a perfectly solid fantasy novel with a unique economic focus. If the idea of trade routes, financial systems, and business strategy in a world of dragons sounds appealing, there is plenty to enjoy here. Just go in expecting more banking than dragoning.

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