*WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS* 
 The main reason I picked up this book was because I saw the dragon on the cover, and I love dragons. I also hadn't read a good dragon story in a while so I decided to give it a shot. Now, kudos to M.L. Forman for getting it published. I'm sure he will keep writing and eventually produce some great books, but this one left a lot to be desired. 
 Here some of the things in no order whatsoever that bugged me. 
 1. The characters. I love getting to know the characters in books and enjoy being able to relate to them and feel or think what they are feeling or thinking. I was disappointed by this particular cast of characters because they were all flat, static, and stereotypical. For example, take Arconn. Arconn is your typical tall, wise, old elf. He had no real character. Instead, the elf stereotype was what defined him. Furthermore, Alex was perfect. Everything came so easily to him -too easily- and he never really struggled with anything. He wasn't relatable at all, and I found myself wishing Calysto couldn't call him back from the wall. 
 2. The dragon fight. After they defeat the dragon I was thinking, "That's it? This whole book they've been making a huge deal about this horrible, dangerous dragon, and that's it?" This terrible dragon hasn't been defeated by anyone, and suddenly this inexperienced kid swings his sword around and kills him. I was a little disappointed to say the least. The fight with the dragon was so... easy? 
 3. Nothing bad ever really happens. Sure Alex disobeys orders, runs off after the horses, and single-handedly slays a troll, but he doesn't even get a true punishment for disobeying orders. He does get a punishment, but it's not a bad punishment to him. He never suffers any negative or lasting consequences for his actions. 
 4. The world-building. I found his world very bleh. Every place seemed pretty much the same. Although there were a few interesting things like the geebs and magic bags, the rest of the world was bland and boring. Why couldn't the author have included a race of hula-dancing pig-men or something? At least that would have been interesting. 
 5. The laughter. The word 'laugh' was so overused in this book. I understand one of the characters is constantly happy and merry, but Forman could have found other ways to express Skeld's and the company's light-heartedness. Although, why they were all so happy all the time when they were about to face a terrible-not-so-terrible dragon was beyond me. 
 6. Dialogue. The dialogue felt awkward and forced most of the time. Especially because of the consistent smiling and laughing every other sentence. 
 7. The company always gets along. Seriously. No one has any big disagreements or gets really angry or frustrated with each other. No one gets greedy or jealous or anything. No one even gets seriously ill or injured. Yes, Tayo does almost die in the dragon fight, but never fear! Alex heroically saves him, and Tayo is even happier -or should I say happy?- than before. 
 8. Alex receives much more respect and credit than he deserves. Alex is treated essentially as a wizard warrior, even though he is not actually a wizard and is only on his first adventure. So, he's had a lot of luck, and he's obviously a little talented. But he receives much more respect than he actually deserves. 
 There are other things that bothered and annoyed me, but this list is getting too long, so I'll stop right here. 
 I will probably not be reading the next book in the series. If the library has it I may read a part of it since I've heard it gets better, but I will definitely not be buying it.