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DRAGON AND PHOENIX Fresh from their adventures in The Last Dragonlord her are the inhabitants of Dragonskeep once more - handsome Linden, beautiful new recruit Maurynna, lively Lleld and their friends harper Otter and the jilted Raven. This time they have to set free a dragon which has been held prisoner for over a thousand years in order to keep a phoenix in stasis and keep the land of Jehanglan under the rule of the Phoenix Emperor. Jehanglan is an exotic place akin to classical China and it is imperative to the rulers to keep the status quo or the warring tribes will overrun the land and all will be chaos again as before. Our intrepid band must go forth in disguise as traveling entertainers (the only foreigners allowed into Jehanglan) and set all to rights. If you loved the Pern tales of Anne McCaffrey you will also enjoy this tale of weredragons and their adventures. Bertin has created a well-realized world and populated it will likeable heroes and hissable villains who lead thrilling lives. I felt a map would have been handy at the front to show how all the places connect together - it was a bit confusing at times. Also in places I felt that the pace flagged a bit and the whole novel could have been a bit shorter but these were comparatively minor faults which did not detract much from my overall enjoyment of the book. One to lose yourself in and I look forward to the next in the series Bard's Oath. I also hope that sometime soon Joanne Bertin will step back in time 600 years and tell us all the tantalising tale of Linden's own early years, snippets of which are doled out here and there. |