The Dragons of the Cuyahoga

This is a world where ten years previously a portal opened in Cleveland, Ohio. Now magic works in the city and creatures of myth are around. Kline Maxwell is a political reporter in a city where television does not work well. When a dragon falls dead from the sky Kline is assigned to the story even though it is not a political story. Kline begins and soon finds himself involved in far more than he bargained for. Kline finds himself caught up in City and Federal investigations as he digs deeper into the story. Did the dragon die by accident or was murder involved? Kline uses his investigative skills and contacts to get to the heart of the matter and keep alive. Twists and turns abound in this hard-boiled detective story. S. Andrew Swann has done an excellent job of combining magic and classic detective styles. The author never uses magic as a cheap out. Instead, the story holds together like the best of thrillers and mysteries. But there are enough spells, elves, dragons and whatnot to please any fantasy fan. Check it out.

Kline Maxwell is a reporter on the Cleveland press, in a Cleveland that is home to the Portal, magic and all the strange inhabitants from the other side who have immigrated to Earth since it opened. When a Dragon suddenly drops out of the sky Kline's investigation - despite his dislike of "fuzzy gnome" stories - leads him to believe he is dealing with a murder and a layer of politics he never uncovered when solely concentrating on the human element of Town Hall. This is a decent mystery story, clearly written with likeable characters that makes me want to read book 2 in this series, THE DWARVES OF WHISKEY ISLAND.

This story was a very enjoyable read, the premise of Cleveland being blanketed by a magical portal and having to cope with the affects of this was an interesting method of introducing magic in to the urban setting of Cleveland. A reporter sent to look into the death of a dragon quickly discovers there are dark plots at work behind the dragon's death--and quickly winds up in over his head. There are some unexpected twists and turns, startling betrayals and underhanded motives at play. If you enjoyed Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books, this story will probably appeal. Melisa Michaels' paranormal mysteries dealing with a female detective duo and elven invegstigations are fairly similar in style. There is more focus on the unfolding events and the mystery itself than on the more emotional or romantic elements that some other urban fantasies contain. Those looking for a strongly magical plot may be disappointed. The author's use of fantasy is fairly matter-of-fact and more like his SF roots. I did feel there were a few plot threads left hanging--but it was all in all a good read. It has the earmarks of a possible series, and I wouldn't be surprised to see our reporter hero back again.

S. Andrew Swann has written a number of good novels. Most of his books are science fiction, but he has also written horror novels under the name S. A. Swiniarski and a science fiction novel and a "mainstream" novel under the name of Steven Krane. I recommend nearly all of his books.The Dragons of the Cuyahoga is his second fantasy novel, and I think it is a good deal better than his first one, God's Dice (the only one of his books I was disappointed with). I had a lot of fun reading this one; part of the charm is that Mr. Swann can take fantasy elements and treat them with the same matter-of-fact and logical consistency as science fiction elements. He also used this talent to good effect in his first vampire novel, Raven (written under the S. A. Swiniarski name). Another thing I liked was that the motivations of the "supernatural" characters, rather than being cloaked in mysticism, are understandable and logical from the reader's point of view -- such as why dragons like gold so much.The only fault I can find is a trivial one: if you are at all knowledgeable about firearms, you may find Mr. Swann's mistakes about them distracting. Don't let that distract you; The Dragons of the Cuyahoga is a good read.

Swann's off-the-wall crazy mixture of the mundane world with worlds too strange to view unafraid reminded me of the finest classic Philip Jose Farmer. Swann moves from the fallen, jaded world of a Great Lakes city to a world forever changed by the invasion of magic. A dragon dies -- spectacularly! I loved all the magical creatures, but my favorite was the dragon keeping careful track of her stock market investments. And the fate of a certain lap-top computer tickled me -- maybe because of my ambivalence toward that particular techno-magic in our own world.To complement to his crazy critters and engagingly cynical but vulnerable hero, Swann is an expert at keeping the plot galloping. I read the novel in one giant gulp and looked around hoping for more.