Book Review: Tales of Scales by Michael Miele

Print: https://www.fenrispublishing.com/product.php?id=1120

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You might like this book if you:
-Are a fan of dragons (duh)
-Are looking for quality PG-rated writing
-Enjoy a lot of variety in your anthology stories
-Love magic and whimsy
-Support the right to organized labor

Tales of Scales is a dragon-themed short story anthology with nine whimsical short stories and one novelette. The stories, of course, all revolve around dragons and are creatively very distinct--a cyborg dragon builds a spaceship to find his lost mentor, a dragon hunter falls in love with the dragon he’s pursuing, a horde of kobolds unionizes against unfair working conditions. The anthology is even suitable for all ages, making this a treat for fans of dragons everywhere.

For me the real highlight of the book is how it explores a variety of dragon types, showing how versatile dragons are both as characters and worldbuilding elements. In one story a dragon might be hyperactive, friendly, and live in watery caves. In another, the dragon might be more like a magical animal feeding a furnace with its heat. There are also a few traditional intelligent dragons for good measure, particularly in stories focused on non-dragon main characters, such as kobolds. It showcases how fun dragons can be in storytelling. As someone who reads a lot of straight-faced literature, it was refreshing to read something with this level of lighthearted magic and whimsy.

I must highlight the novelette in this anthology in case you want to read it specifically for that. The Unionization of Kobolds follows such a clever concept—that Kobolds, tired of being neglected and treated unfairly by their dragons, would form a labor union for better pay and working conditions. Even just hearing the concept made me smile and want to read this anthology as soon as possible. It’s just so endearing. The story also features a great cast of characters and a surprising amount of worldbuilding to show how the kobolds function as a workforce and the challenges they come up against. I will say I wasn’t expecting the story to be an adventure. I thought it would focus primarily on the unions promised by the title, but it only did so in the last eighth or so of the story. So, tailor your expectations a bit so you aren’t thrown off like I was.

Fans of other stories about benevolent dragons such as Dragonheart and Axinstone will certainly enjoy this anthology. It’s a must read for dragon fans everywhere.