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FIRST BOOK SPOILER WARNING
In Joust the lands of Tia and Alta are at war. Vetch is a Altan serf to an Tian enemy. He is rescued from serfdom by an Tian dragonrider Ari, one of the highest ranked members of society, and becomes his dragonboy. Ari is unusual in that he raised his dragon ... Read review
Advantages: Thumping good sequel Disadvantages: Once again I had to wait for the next book to be released
...the lands of Tia and Alta are at war. Vetch is a Altan serf to an Tian enemy. He is rescued from serfdom by an Tian dragonrider Ari, one of the highest ranked members of society, and becomes his dragonboy. Ari is unusual in that he raised his dragon from the egg, all others are captured as adults and drugged into submission, so his dragon is the only tame one. Vetch becomes his new dragonboy and learns to care for Ari's dragon. He also learns how ... ...behind the continuing war between Alta and Tia, and along with his new friends, finds a way to ground the Tian dragons forever.
Where Joust introduced us to this new world, the lives of the people within it, and set the scene for things to come. This book throws you to the literary lions. Full of new, appealing characters and many complex situations, it grabs you by the imagination and refuses to let go. The author has manged to keep ... more
This is the second book in the series after Joust, and needs to be read as part of the series, not as a standalone novel.
FIRST BOOK SPOILER WARNING
In Joust the lands of Tia and Alta are at war. Vetch is a Altan serf to an Tian enemy. He is rescued from serfdom by an Tian dragonrider Ari, one of the highest ranked members of society, and becomes his dragonboy. Ari is unusual in that he raised his dragon from the egg, all others are captured as adults and drugged into submission, so his dragon is the only tame one. Vetch becomes his new dragonboy and learns to care for Ari's dragon. He also learns how Ari took the egg and raised his dragon, and he dreams of doing it for himself.
Events allow for this to happen, and Vetch takes an egg and hides it. He then cares for it and the baby dragon that hatches from it, raising it up and training it to carry him in flight. Eventually they are discovered and he makes his escape on dragonback, only to be chased down in the desert by Ari. However Ari feels a kinship with Vetch and hates the continuing war in which he is forced to fight, and so he helps Vetch to fake his death and that of his dragon and arranges help for them to cross the desert and return to Alta. Joust ends as they set out on their journey.
END OF FIRST BOOK SPOILER
Vetch is nearly home. His desert travels are almost over. However he still thinks of himself as Vetch, the name he was given as an Altan serf, not Kiron, dragonrider to Avatre. This is what, and who, he must learn to be as he arrives back in his homeland and makes his way to join the Altan Jousters.
On route to the capital Kiron spots a young woman in distress on the river. He rescues her but is badly injured in the rescue. Her family take him in and nurse him back to health, and once her father learns of his history he arranges an indroduction to the leader of the Altan dragonriders.
Here he finds a welcome, a new home, and willing champions of his new methods of raising and training dragons. He takes on the challenge of creating a new dragon wing, composed of young riders who train on the older, drugged dragons while raising their own dragons from the egg. The members of this group include one of the twin princes of the land, who teaches him more about the rulership and politics of Alta, and the brother of the young woman he rescued. He learns more about this city and land that is now his home. He learns about the Altan rulers, the priests and priestesses of the various gods, and about the Mages who hold themselves superior to all Altans and who seem to have a powerful influence on Altan politics.
He also learns more about the horrifying reasons behind the continuing war between Alta and Tia, and along with his new friends, finds a way to ground the Tian dragons forever.
Where Joust introduced us to this new world, the lives of the people within it, and set the scene for things to come. This book throws you to the literary lions. Full of new, appealing characters and many complex situations, it grabs you by the imagination and refuses to let go. The author has manged to keep it fresh and interesting by moving to another land within the world she created in the first book, thus providing lots of new locations and characters to be woven into the story.
I'm a big fan of Mercedes Lackey. For me her strength lies in the way she makes her characters come to life on the page, and the way she manages to draw me in, so I'm seeing the story played out in my mind. WIth writing like this you don't need films.
Can't remember where I got my copy from, possibly on one of my jaunts to North America, however you can get it from Amazon for £4.23, and I'm pretty sure that Waterstones would stock it too.
Fantastic Storytelling, Will Have You On the Edge Of YOur Seat Right Until The Last Page, Will Have You Laughing, And Maybe Even Crying. A Really Clever Plot That Will Bring You Back To Book Time And Again.
In Places That Narrative Can Be Quite Fragmented, And It's So Frustrating After Getting To Know The Characters So Well It Isnt Such A Happy Ending... (*)
