"The wind called; he leaped to meet it.” -- The Last Dragonlord
This week's feature is (gasp) a book that has, in my opinion, been lost between the cracks. This is still a positive review, but at least give me credit for varying the medium.
The Last Dragonlord is this wonderful marshmallow fantasy about weredragons and Platonian souls. Fun to read, too.
Our protagonists are Linden Rathan and Maurynna Kyrissaean, but your first question is probably "What the heck is a Dragonlord?" So here's the basic idea: a long time ago, wild magic caused a number of human and dragon souls to be split in half. Now I don't know about you, but I for one don't think being cut in half would be a whole lot of fun. Neither did these souls, so they put themselves back together, albeit backwards. Instead of one human and one dragon, you get two half-human / half-dragons. Dragonlords. Among other small things, Dragonlords are extremely strong, tough, and perceptive, enjoy riding sentient horses, live for a very long time, and (as an afterthought, of course) can transform into huge fire-breathing dragons.
Due to a number of blue-blooded deaths, the kingdom of Cassori is without adult royalty and the Dragonlords are called upon to judge which noble will take the crown until the young prince Rahn is old enough to rule. Our friend Linden is one of the three chosen to go. He has been the "Little One," the youngest of the Dragonlords, and the only one without a soultwin (remember how each Dragonlord is the result of a swap of half-souls? Well, each Dragonlord also longs to "join" with the Dragonlord made of the other halves) for many many years. Maurynna Kyrissaean is a sea captain who is friends with Linden"s oldest human friend (a bard names Otter) and is an avid Dragonlord fan. Anyway, an ancient organization called the Fraternity uses powerful blood magic in a nefarious attempt to gain control of a new Dragonlord and is foiled (which is clearly as surprising as Rosebud or Luke's parentage).
This is a fun book. It's no Hamlet or Lord of the Rings, but if you're looking for a bit of easy reading, this is the novel for you. The writing is brisk but vivid, engaging but highly accessible. Perhaps the best word to describe the book is "satisfying." A few words of warning: you'll find a very strong romance "subplot" entwined within the overall conflict, which has the potential to alienate some, but for the most part it is tasteful and well done (I usually just feel embarrassed when moments such as these come up in literature or film, but not here). Also, there are a number of sex scenes in the book but they are almost always "fade to black"s and to my recollection there is only one bit that is it all explicit (and it's rather PG-13). Finally, some of the concepts are more than a little cliché, but some slack can be cut (after all, fantasy stories almost have to be trite just to be called fantasy and this is Bertin's first novel).
Characters: 3.5/5 wine-colored birthmarks (The characters felt believable and fairly complex, but they are mostly stock and our allegiances with virtually all of them are too clear for them to be masterpieces).
Setting: 4/5 grandfather trees (A rollicking Mediterranean world full of life).
Magic System: 4/5 gratuitous explosions (Although the soultwin concept is a tad hackneyed and the blood magic nothing new, the synergy and continuity of the magic in the book is very enjoyable. You get the feeling that 'this is how the magic should be').
Satisfaction: 5/5 mile-wide smiles (I put down this book with a firm sense of contentment).
Story: 4/5 pints of stock solution (Most of this we've seen before, but for fantasy, it ducks and weaves all over the place and it doesn't really feel as cliché as it could).
Re-Readability: 5/5 Llysanyins (The fun of the book is in reading the book rather than surprises and unexpected twists. If anything, knowing what was ahead made the book that much more enjoyable because I was anticipating more).
Overall (not necessarily determined by the above categories): 4/5 standing stones (It's just a great way to spend some hours).
The Last Dragonlord is this wonderful marshmallow fantasy about weredragons and Platonian souls. Fun to read, too.
Our protagonists are Linden Rathan and Maurynna Kyrissaean, but your first question is probably "What the heck is a Dragonlord?" So here's the basic idea: a long time ago, wild magic caused a number of human and dragon souls to be split in half. Now I don't know about you, but I for one don't think being cut in half would be a whole lot of fun. Neither did these souls, so they put themselves back together, albeit backwards. Instead of one human and one dragon, you get two half-human / half-dragons. Dragonlords. Among other small things, Dragonlords are extremely strong, tough, and perceptive, enjoy riding sentient horses, live for a very long time, and (as an afterthought, of course) can transform into huge fire-breathing dragons.
Due to a number of blue-blooded deaths, the kingdom of Cassori is without adult royalty and the Dragonlords are called upon to judge which noble will take the crown until the young prince Rahn is old enough to rule. Our friend Linden is one of the three chosen to go. He has been the "Little One," the youngest of the Dragonlords, and the only one without a soultwin (remember how each Dragonlord is the result of a swap of half-souls? Well, each Dragonlord also longs to "join" with the Dragonlord made of the other halves) for many many years. Maurynna Kyrissaean is a sea captain who is friends with Linden"s oldest human friend (a bard names Otter) and is an avid Dragonlord fan. Anyway, an ancient organization called the Fraternity uses powerful blood magic in a nefarious attempt to gain control of a new Dragonlord and is foiled (which is clearly as surprising as Rosebud or Luke's parentage).
This is a fun book. It's no Hamlet or Lord of the Rings, but if you're looking for a bit of easy reading, this is the novel for you. The writing is brisk but vivid, engaging but highly accessible. Perhaps the best word to describe the book is "satisfying." A few words of warning: you'll find a very strong romance "subplot" entwined within the overall conflict, which has the potential to alienate some, but for the most part it is tasteful and well done (I usually just feel embarrassed when moments such as these come up in literature or film, but not here). Also, there are a number of sex scenes in the book but they are almost always "fade to black"s and to my recollection there is only one bit that is it all explicit (and it's rather PG-13). Finally, some of the concepts are more than a little cliché, but some slack can be cut (after all, fantasy stories almost have to be trite just to be called fantasy and this is Bertin's first novel).
Characters: 3.5/5 wine-colored birthmarks (The characters felt believable and fairly complex, but they are mostly stock and our allegiances with virtually all of them are too clear for them to be masterpieces).
Setting: 4/5 grandfather trees (A rollicking Mediterranean world full of life).
Magic System: 4/5 gratuitous explosions (Although the soultwin concept is a tad hackneyed and the blood magic nothing new, the synergy and continuity of the magic in the book is very enjoyable. You get the feeling that 'this is how the magic should be').
Satisfaction: 5/5 mile-wide smiles (I put down this book with a firm sense of contentment).
Story: 4/5 pints of stock solution (Most of this we've seen before, but for fantasy, it ducks and weaves all over the place and it doesn't really feel as cliché as it could).
Re-Readability: 5/5 Llysanyins (The fun of the book is in reading the book rather than surprises and unexpected twists. If anything, knowing what was ahead made the book that much more enjoyable because I was anticipating more).
Overall (not necessarily determined by the above categories): 4/5 standing stones (It's just a great way to spend some hours).
posted by Lexi Archer | 1:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home