The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn

Making dragon droppings a vital resource is about the only original aspect of this overlong epic fantasy series debut. Ardor Benn is a roguish ruse artist straight out of central casting who gets what he wants through elaborate trickery. He began his career as a Harvester, responsible for collecting different varieties of magic grit, which is ground up from various source materials. His story follows a familiar arc: Ard is hired for a high-stakes job—the theft of the royal regalia from King Pethredote, ruler of the four islands of the Greater Chain—so that part of it can be fed to a dragon and transformed into a special grit. This caper naturally ends up having broader implications for Ard’s world. Unsurprisingly, and disappointingly, he’s paired with another cookie-cutter figure: Quarrah Khai, an accomplished thief who just happens to be a beautiful woman and extremely attracted to him. The setup for the score takes too much time, and Whitesides often pulls his punches, undermining the twists’ emotional impact. This doorstop fails to justify its length. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (May)