Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Dragons of Janaidar and Elijah is book one in author Robert Dean Holland’s science fiction fantasy Standing Man series. Set on planet Janaidar, Adept Alahna breaks sacred law after confirming a silent coastal erasure that governing councils refuse to confront. Her covert action awakens WuShi, an ancient planetary system bound beneath ritual ground, while a forbidden gate pulls Elijah, a human technologist, into an unfamiliar world as an unwilling safeguard. Authority cracks wide open as Alahna’s intervention pulls rivalries within the Huan Long Shui Sisteren out of the public domain, empowering Kulapti Yenara to seize control through violence masked as doctrine. Seleen, newly tested, bound by loyalty, follows Alahna beyond sanctioned protection as institutions turn predatory. WuShi evolves beyond imposed limits, reshaping planetary power. What begins as prevention becomes pursuit, leaving a world where alliances destabilize while history shifts under choices made outside permission with no return as consequences accelerate past reversal.

Robert Dean Holland’s Dragons of Janaidar and Elijah is an absolute epic of science fiction fantasy, totally ambitious in both scale and execution, written in such a way that signals Holland's full commitment to the reach of his imagined world. The title leans into an interesting dual inheritance; dragons signifying living law on Janaidar and embodied power tied to covenant and memory, while Elijah names the human catalyst whose arrival binds planetary fate to offworld consequence. I love that Holland sets this in a mature technological age disguised by ritual. Ancient machine intelligences persist beneath song and sigil, with the WuShi’s water-bound computation offering a striking example of sentient infrastructure that observes, decides, and intervenes through fluid physics. It is very sophisticated in a society that operates by rank, through councils and priestesses, with daily life shaped by cloisters, river trade, and public rite. Alahna is a great lead, fleshed out in decisiveness under scrutiny, especially when she acts against prohibition to protect lives. The Dragon’s Blood Moon ceremony at the Forbidden Gate—these read as pure cinema. I am so excited for the rest of this series, and Holland now has a new biggest fan. Very highly recommended.