Diagnostic Examination: The Price of Power (Dreams of Dust and Steel #1) by Michael Michel

The Power of Price (Dreams of Dust and Steel #1) by Michael Michel
Publisher: Chainbreaker Books
Publication Date: April 2, 2025 (first published January 31, 2023)
Format: Hardcover, 500 pages
Genre: Fantasy – Epic / Dark
POV Style: Multi
Map Included: Yes – Helpful

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🚑 Triage Score
Score: 3.5 / 5 — 🩹 Outpatient Care

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🧾 Patient Intake Summary (Spoiler-Free)

Prince Barodane could not hold back the darkness. Not even in himself. He laid an innocent city in its grave and then died a hero.

In his absence, war whispers across the land.

Power-hungry highborn dispatch spies and assassins to the shadows as they maneuver for the throne, while an even greater threat rises in the South. Monsters and cultists flock to the banners of a mad prophet determined to control reality…and then shatter it.

Destiny stalks three to the brink of oblivion.

A dead prince that isn’t actually dead. Barodane buried his shameful past in a stupor of drugs, drink, and crime, and now, he’d rather watch the world fall apart than wear a crown again.

An orphan with hero’s blood who is forced to make a harrowing choice: betray her country or sacrifice her first love.

And a powerful seer who has no choice at all–her grandson must die.

If any of them fails to pay the price…

The cost will be the world’s complete annihilation

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🦴 Musculoskeletal System — Worldbuilding Skeleton

• Diagnosis: 3 — Stable Framework

Clinical Notes:
This is an epic fantasy. We have 5 different main character POVs we follow around, whose stories take place at 4 very different locations. Each of these locations all do feel very distinct form one another. There is a map, it is massive, so I assume we will continue to explore more of it as the stories progress. We do have politics, not too complex and is easy to follow, and this mainly in Ishoa’s story. We learn the history of the Ironlights, and the Scarborn, but again easy to follow and don’t get bogged down on pages and pages of uncessary details.

This clearly has the framework of epic fantasy, but unlike other epic fantasy novels, I was able to read through this without having to stop to constantly look back at the map to see where I am, and to look in the character index to remind me of who someone was. Had just enough going on, particularly with the characters, to make me immersed in the story.

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🫀 Cardiac System — Character Pulse

• Diagnosis: 4 — Strong Pulse

Clinical Notes:
Hands-down, this is the greatest strength of the story. This is a character driven fantasy, and this is where it excels.

Barodane and Ishoa were my favorites.

Barodane, because you know he used to be this badass Prince, and obviously kick some butt, but here he is, just wallowing in this self-pity because of some ridiculous sin that we don’t know about yet.

Ishoa, because 1) who wouldn’t want a pet anjuhtark, aka ice tiger, and 2) she is young and optomistic, you are always cheering for her, so when she does make a mistake, the innocence of it hits you in the heart.

Then there is Thephos. With him, we are learning about Unturrus and how the Awakened are created. Based on how things ended with him, I do expect him to be quite important in the next installment.

I would give a little more about the main characters here, but to speak about the characters, would also be to tell you what the plot of each story line is, so ready below in the next section.

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⚡ Nervous System – Adventure/ Quest Adrenaline

• Diagnosis: 3 — Moderate challenge

Clinical Notes:
Again, this is a character driven fantasy novel. In the sense that the plot is basically our character’s development.

There are 4 story lines:

1: Barodane and Garlenna (Mostly Barodane, but sometimes Garlenna too). 3rd-person POV. The plot is Barodane, the Made Price, now known as Kord, trying to drink and drug away his sorrows to forget his horrific past in the slums of Digtown, when Garlenna, his former/current knight who had sworn her life to him, shows up to try to bring the Mad Prince back to the Ironlights to save the kingdom. However, plans go astray for both when a neighboring young lordling shows up and decides he wants to take Barodane’s (I mean, Kord’s) drug’s supply, no matter what.

2: Ishoa: 3rd-person POV. She is the last of the Ironlight blood, but also too young to take the throne, and the voters are becoming inpatient on waiting for her to come of age. Her grandmother, Belara Frost, the Ice Maiden, decides to enroll her in the Trials, to become the youngest to ever complete in them. If she succeeds, her future throne is safe, however there are several families who would not what that to happen. One of them being the Scarborns, specifically the Warnocks family, who also happened to be her first love’s, Lodaris’, parents

3: : Grandmother: 1st-person present POV. The Arrow of Light is coming, and the only one who came save them is her grandson, Akyris. She must teach him and train him if he is to be ready; teach him the ways of The River, to destroy the Arrow of Light.

4: Thephos: 3rd-person POV. Mad at his father and sad with life, he decided to make the journey to Untrurrus. Yes, this where people go to become Awakened, but Theptos is hoping this is where he will go to die.

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🩸 Circulatory System — Political Blood Pressure

• Diagnosis: 3 — Elevated

Clinical Notes:
Ishoa’s chapters are obviously heavy of the politics – I mean, she in entering the Trials to make sure she doesn’t lose her future throne, and there are a number of political “allies” that do not want that to happened – but the politics are not difficult to follow. There are only a handful of houses you needed to know, and a few major players from each. This is a not a case where we have a bunch of named side character of no importance. The author gives us the important players and plot points and goes on to the main focus: how Ishoa’s is growing and adapting to all these pressures around her.

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🧬 Genetics — Magic System DNA

• Diagnosis: 3 — Functional

Clinical Notes:
Magic is not a major focus of the story. The people who have magic are called “Awakened”. The extent of these powers, how they can use them, how they get them, what the rules are – all this is really unknown to the reader in the first book. All that we do know about them, is that one way is for people travel to Unturrus, go through some trial, and have the possibility to become an Awakened – or become a failed version called a Ruptured.

The is also this place the called The River and The Void. It’s place where your conscious goes from physical body. Is it magic? Yes? No? Not clear yet. This is main focus of Grandma’s chapters and her training with Akyris. We learn a little bit about in this place in the first book.

Magic is definitely there is this world, and based on the ending of this book, how this magic system works and its importance to story, I feel is going to grow as the series continues.

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🔥 Trauma Response — Climactic Trauma

• Diagnosis: 3 — Severe Impact

Clinical Notes:
Barodane’s definitely has some gruesome and bloody fights – and where I feel calling this a “dark fantasy” is appropriate. Very good pacing throughout – with a very intense ending. Liked Ishoa, very emotionally attached to her, with an action-packed ending too. Grandmother’s story line was not almost the most intense, but it did keep me captivated each time and had a very good twist that I did not see coming. Thephos’ chapters, some kept me engaged, and some a skimmed over.

Overall though, Barone and Ishoa chapter’s were faced paced

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💊 Prescription

Recommended For:

• Character driven story lines
• Epic fantasy that won’t give you a headache trying to under the politics, lore, and history
• Moderate-Fast paced
• Map!
• Index of characters!

⚠️ Known Side Effects:

• The fights and scenes in Barodane’s and Garlenna’s chapter can be gruesome
• Light on the worldbuilding

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📝 Long-Term Prognosis

Closing thoughts:
It was nice to read an epic fantasy that is fun and easy. I do believe there was a lot of room left for more worldbuilding: more into the politics of the Ironlights and Scarborn, more history on the Socthea and Barodane’s military battles, even more exploring and letting me see and describing Digtown and what the castle that Ishoa lives in looks like. Would I have like that? Sure. But it wasn’t needed though. Not every epic fantasy needs to have level of details of The Wheel of Time or ASOIAF. Sometimes when you try to immerse readers in world you created, by exploring the politics and history and culture, you end up filling pages with needless details that bore and take away from the story. This story knew exactly what is was, characters first, and it focused on that, and through hearing those character’s stories, this world came alive enough to make it unique and make me want to keep reading chapter after chapter.

I also need mention: I have no idea why this was self-published/independently published novel. If you have read enough of non-traditionally published, you’ll know what I am saying: there is always some aspect of the writing or story that make it stands out. But for Michael Michel? I have no idea. I hope it was just a personal decision that way he could have more control over his stories, because if there were publishers who turned this down… shame shame shame on them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. Excellent character development, and as I’ve been saying, this is where the the story shines.

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📊 Fantasy Lab Results

System	Diagnosis
🦴 Worldbuilding Skeleton	3 – Stable Framework
🫀 Character Pulse	4- Strong Pulse
⚡ Adventure/Quest Adrenaline	3- Moderate Challenges
🩸 Political Blood Pressure	3- Elevated Pressures
🧬 Magic System DNA	3 – Functional
🔥 Climactic Trauma	3 — Severe Impact

Reading Difficulty : 3 — Moderate Cognitive Load
Map Dependence: Helpful
Commitment Level: Moderate Series (4–6 books)
Treatment Plan: Continue Immediately

Final Diagnosis: 3.5 – Strong & Stable

– DJ, Bookworm M.D.