Title: Insanity in
a Nutshell
“The Dragon Society” by Olufunmi Olayinka
Reviewed by B.
Smart
7/18/16
12:15 p.m.
What would you do
for unlimited wealth and prosperity? Would you be willing to sacrifice your
health, your sanity, or perhaps someone you love? In The Dragon Society by Olufunmi Olayinka, the characters join a
secret society in hopes that they will become rich beyond belief. Dr. Steven
Attah wants nothing more than to practice medicine and be able to provide for
his family, and his friends want more or less of the same stability in a world
of uncertainty. But are the characters willing to pay the ultimate price,
including a lifetime membership to a dangerous cult?
From the very
beginning, author Olufunmi Olayinka’s novel is laborious to read due to the
author’s tendency to wander into random tangents and then catapult the reader
back into the story without warning. Olayinka seldom lists details that
actually contribute to the advancement of the plot or character arc, and the
sentences are sometimes incredibly jumbled; they do not flow smoothly, and their
order of progression does not follow any logical sequence. Furthermore, the
characters do not act like real people; they are robotic and caricature-like,
and nearly everything they say is a trope or a cliché. Likewise, the tone of
the piece is formulaic, stiff, and forced, and it reads almost like a scientific
journal.
The reader is told
about the world instead of shown the setting through evocative prose. As a
result, the descriptions are surface level, and the author often uses incorrect
words to explain things or express ideas. Additionally, Olayinka overemphasizes
the action even when it is either already implied or previously stated, yet she
does not clarify concepts that require immediate explanation. The grammar
mistakes, syntax issues, tense inconsistencies, and comma misuses are prolific
and distracting; they completely throw the reader out.
As a thriller and
as a mystery, it fails—it is predictable and cumbersome.
I
give “The Dragon Society” 1 out of 5 stars.
Cheers,
B.
Smart
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