Saturday 18 February 2023

Greater Treasures Expanded Edition - Karina Fabian - A DragonEye, PI Story

Greater Treasures
A DragonEye, PI Book 5.0
Revised and Expanded Edition
Karina Fabian
Laser Cow Press
ISBN 9781956489095
ASIN B0BR4N9HT9


First I want to note this is a new revised and expanded edition of this book, if it was a text boom it would be the Second Edition. I read and reviewed the first edition a few years ago, but love Karina’s writing so much I picked this up the day it released and read this new version. She is a master at crafting entertaining and humorous tales. She specializes in Science Fiction, fantasy, and faith based stories. This is the 35 book I have read or reread by Karina Fabian. I really love her style, her sense of humour, and the variety of stories she writes. This is a rewrite of the second stand alone piece set in the DragonEye PI series, and is currently listed as book 5 in the series. I have encountered Vern previously in anthologies and other stories. And I state again that this is another wonderful tale set in this world.

First some comparisons:

Original Edition 2016, description:

“Inside the loosely-defined offices of the Dragon Eye Private Investigations Agency, draconic gumshoe Vern d’Wyvern and his better-looking partner, Sister Grace McCarthy, are jolted out of their video comas by a knock at the door.

She’s a timid little thing in designer rags, an uptown dye job, and a pair of legs that would do anybody’s mama proud. Her brother’s in trouble, and if Dragon Eye tops her list of available options, so is she. This job won’t pay stale beans, but business has been molasses-slow. When you’re contemplating which bodily fluid to sell next to make ends meet, you take the work you get.

It’s a cakewalk, a routine tail, until Grace catches a poison dart in the back—a dart meant for Vern. Something bigger than a wayward sibling is afoot, and with his partner’s life in the balance, Vern races against time to solve the mystery, find the shooter, and obtain the antidote.”

Second Edition 2022, description:

“Newly revised and enriched!

Being a detective in the border town of the Faerie and the Mundane worlds isn’t easy, even for a dragon like Vern. Still, finding the wayward brother of a teary-eyed damsel in distress shouldn’t have gotten so dangerous. When Vern’s partner, Sister Grace, gets poisoned by a dart meant for him, Vern offers to find an artifact in exchange for a cure. However, this is no ordinary trinket – with a little magic power, it could control all of mankind.

Will Vern sacrifice the fate of two worlds for the life of his best friend?”

First Edition Chapters:

Dragon and Nun 
Dart in the Dark 
Junior & the Fat Man 
Fall Drake 
Faerie-Go-Round 
Santry 
The Roman Lance 
The Lord’s Gift

Revised Edition Chapters:

The Tail that Wasn’t Mine
A Shot in the Dark
Dead Ends and Half-Truths
Junior and the Fat Man
The Fall Drake
Faerie-Go-Round
Cranking Up the Heat
Despredatores and Desperate Pleas
It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses a Life
The Greater Treasure
More Trouble For Your Favorite Drake

For those not familiar with the DragonEye PI series, Vern is a Faerie dragon currently stuck on our side of the barrier. He is a Private Investigator he fights crimes both human and Fairy. But in this tale things go very sideways pretty quick. He is on the hunt for the spear that pierced Jesus’s side, and soon his partner is in the hospital. 

This story is now listed as book 5 in the series; it was the second when I originally read it. Fabian has been expanding the series and the first 2 novels published are now and of print and awaiting rewrites, and my understanding is they will end up as volumes 8 and 9 possibly. When I read the first edition I thought that it was so well written it can easily be read on its own. And with how the order and shape of the series keeps changing they can be read in almost any order. This is a very well written story in an awesome series. Vern is a great character. A dragon defeated by Saint George and stripped of most of his powers, now working for the Church working off his debts, in order to get his powers back. He needs to walk a tight line between working off his debts and getting what he wants. There are several groups interest in the artefact. All with different reasons and not all being honest with Vern, and black mailing a dragon into  doing your will could have serious consequences for your health and wellbeing. 

Vern must weave his way through the half-truths, the lies, and the building rally against the fairies to get to the truth. To find out how he solves the case and if he saves his partner you will need to read this excellent story.

Fabian has written or I should say rewritten an excellent story. So give it or one of the other DragonEye PI stories a try, I am sure you will be entertained. A great read in an excellent series.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!


Dex Hollister Series:
The Old Man and the Void
Dex's Way
...

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator Series :
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator
I Left My Brains in San Francisco
Shambling in a Winter Wonderland
…

DragonEye PI Series:
DragonEye PI Novels:
?.0 Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (Revised edition)
?.0 Live and Let Fly (Revised edition)
...  

DragonEye PI Short Stories:

DragonEye PI Original First Editions:
Live and Let Fly
...

Space Traipse Series:
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 1
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 2
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 3
Space Traipse Stories
…

Mind Over Series:
Mind Over Mind
Mind Over Psyche
Mind Over All
Hearts Over Mind
…

Edited by: Karina Fabian:
Infinite Space, Infinite God I
Leaps of Faith
Infinite Space, Infinite God II
...


Contributed to:
Firestorm of Dragons
The Zombie Cookbook
The Book of Tentacles
Twisted Fayrie Tales
FRIGHTLINER: And Other Tales of the Undead
Mother Goose is Dead
Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary
Image and Likeness Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body
Corrupts Absolutely? Dark Metahuman Fiction
Weird Noir
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Novels
Manifesto UF
Avenir Eclectia
Planetary Anthology: Jupiter
Planetary Anthology: Pluto
Planetary Anthology: Luna
Planetary Anthology: Uranus
FlagShip Science Fiction and Fantasy v2i5
My Little Book of Headdesks
To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity
...










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