SUPERNATURAL: Heart of the Dragon – A Book Review

The saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ never seems more applicable, than when referring to Supernatural. Whether it’s marketing for the CW show, or the novels that take place between the episodes, that saying applies. They even made fun of it in the show when mocking the covers of the Carver Edlund books, which were based on the lives of Sam and Dean Winchester, the main characters of ‘Supernatural.’ That being said, no matter how the cover makes you feel, this was an awesome book!

Heart of the Dragon is the 4th Supernatural book, and the third to be written by Keith R.A. DeCandido. Each of these novels take place between episodes, and they all begin with letting you know right where we are in the story. This book in particular takes place right after Changing Channels in season 5. The apocalypse is coming, and Sam and Dean are still refusing to be worn by Lucifer and Michael to the prom.

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The Story for SUPERNATURAL: Heart of the Dragon

We kick off in 1859. We meet a demon and learn the origin of the Heart of the Dragon. Keeping consistent with the show, there are no real dragons in this book, and Bobby doesn’t need to phone Hogwarts. That’s not until next season. We then go back and forth from 1969, 1989, and 2009. Every 20 years this thing resurfaces and begins to kill. The boys are determined this time around to end it for good. Especially after Castiel is insistent that this “monster” would help hell in their war against heaven.

The flashbacks however, aren’t just other hunters fighting this Heart of the Dragon. In 1969 it’s a bald grouchy man along with his wife and daughter. In 1989 it’s a grouchy dark haired hunter named John who leaves his two sons with another salty hunter while he takes care of business. Then of course in 2009, it’s the salty hunter babysitter and the boys (now grown) determined to finish this.

Check out my review for my first Supernatural convention hosted by Creation Entertainment.

Overall Grade: 8.5/10

If you love the show, then these books are worth grabbing. They take you to places that would be pretty difficult for Vancouver to look like. The author’s other books have taken place in New York City and Key West, while this one is in San Francisco. In addition to fun settings, he really knows these characters. You can hear Sam and Dean in the dialogue.

I also loved the flashbacks. It was a lot of fun seeing how the Campbells hunted with no internet. Or seeing Bobby deal with a young Sam and Dean bickering as all siblings do. In the books you also get some explanations or elaborations on certain behaviors the boys have. For example throughout the show, despite everyone having a GPS on their phones by the time the show ended, you still see the boys bust out actual maps. Heart of the Dragon gave us a little history on Sam’s love of maps as a kid, and how that came to be.

All in all, if you love reading and you love Supernatural, grab one of these novels. I’ve only read the first 4 (Nevermore, Bone Key, Witch’s Canyon, and Heart of the Dragon), but I have already ordered more.

We’re Always Covering Supernatural

For more on the Supernatural books, click here. However, if you need more Supernatural content in general make sure to follow us here at Nerd Initiative as we celebrate Supernatural September for their 20th anniversary. You can also follow myself at Hops GEEK News, as we document my co-host’s first time watching. Below is an interview we did with Jeremy Adams who wrote 3 episodes of Supernatural, including Scoobynatural! Cheers!

For more from Lauren, check out ‘Hops GEEK News.’

Have you read any of the Supernatural books? Let us know your thoughts!