Oliver of the Silver Hand is a story by S. Marie Diegutis. It is a short story and prequel to the Dragon Hatcher series. This short story combines commonly known myths and legends such as Merlin and dragons, along with the author’s own characters. This gives the story an interesting feeling of originality while using the wizard we all know from Arthurian legends. This short story is certainly an entertaining one.
Short stories can be a little difficult, particularly when they are attached to a larger series. An author has to connect it to the larger story, while also giving us enough information in the single short story to stay interested, instead of just wanting to skip it and go pick up the novels it’s attached to. Thankfully, with Oliver of the Silver Hand, Diegutis keeps you interested. Tidbits of information are given to us, though enough is left out to make the reader want to pick up the series when it is available. I know I will be looking look for this series when it comes out.
As touched previously, the story uses the Arthurian character Merlin. This is done well and interestingly using lessor known stories about the magic man having a sister, which ties him to Oliver, the main character as his brother-in-law. The Merlin in this story is certainly not limited to the wise and carefully guiding character we are used to, he’s a bit of a drunken playboy in this story. An interesting take on the character and worth reading. As for the other characters of the story, they are equally worth reading about, though of original creation.
As stated before, Oliver of the Silver Hand is a prequel, so there are questions left out that make one want to read the rest of the series. Such as more about the dragons and their various abilities, as well as some of the main character Oliver, who even so early in the series seems to have a huge history that could be fun to learn about.
Over all, Oliver of the Silver Hand is worth reading, and should be picked up by fans of fantasy. Hopefully, the rest of the series will be as entertaining as it’s prequel!
I got my copy of Oliver of the Silver Hand on Reedsy Discovery! https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/oliver-of-the-silver-hand-a-fantasy-short-story-prequel-in-the-dragon-hatcher-urban-fantasy-series-s-marie-diegutis#review