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Dragon Queen
Second book in the Ancient Mirrors Tale series

by Jayel Gibson



      Jayel Gibson's latest effort in her Ancient Mirrors Tale series is called Dragon Queen. It is a reworking of her first two books, Into Abaddon's Abyss and The Dragon Queen, which were released through a different publisher in 2005. Now, with Synergy Books, Gibson has combined these stories into a fluid tale that fills in the history of her first Synergy publication, The Wrekening, which came out last year.

The resultant combined story in Dragon Queen is an epic undertaking, revealing Gibson's skill at elaborate world building. An avid role-playing gamer, the author drafts characters and cultures that are multi-layered and intricate. The quests and adventures are straightforward and many. Some of the characters and storylines were crafted in collaboration with Sean W. Anderson who also is a gamer.

In 581 pages, Gibson presents detailed maps, a glossary, and a story in three parts. The first two sections are from Into Abaddon's Abyss and comprise the majority of the book. The book presents the calling of the Ancients, then the Guardians, and finally the creation of three races.  The story centers on Yavie, a Guardian, who discovers that she has a destiny as heir to the throne of the Dragon Queen, and who has made some powerful enemies.

I enjoyed Dragon Queen, though I found the story almost as complicated as War and Peace. There were a lot of characters and several different worlds to keep track of. At times, the story read more like a narrative history. At other times, it presented small pieces of a broader panorama, as if someone were picking up the threads of an established world and showing me this little piece and that little piece. There was a sense of the well-trod expanse of a game with which I was not familiar..

Though I was interested in the characters, I'm not sure I felt enough empathy for them because the plot wasn't clear where it was going with them, even after a hundred pages. Later, the story did pick up, but still there was that sense of history unfolding instead of a story being told. This may be because I'm not a gamer, and I needed something more to carry me through the story.

Still, Dragon Queen is grand fantasy. Look for The Wrekening and the third book, Damselflies, which comes out in November 2007.

The Book

Synergy Books
May 1, 2007
Trade paperback
1933538465 / 978-1933538464
Fiction / fantasy
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Janie Franz
Reviewed 2007
NOTE: Reviewer Janie Franz is the author of Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!and co-author of The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book and The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book. Coming Soon: The Ultimate Wedding Workbook.
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