Edwards - Book Reviews

***** - Excellent
**** - Good
*** - Okay
** - Bad
* - Terrible
+ - Half-star

Dragoncharm
Graham Edwards
Voyager
Fiction, Fantasy
***
Dragoncharm

DESCRIPTION: The magic-wielding Charmed dragons and the nonmagical Natural dragons have always had an uneasy coexistence, but lately the balance has been changing. The Charmed dragons have gone into hiding, and the Naturals let fear and superstition foment into hatred. One night, the Natural dragon Fortune receives an unexpected visit from a Charmed dragon, Cumber, who invites him to the lairs of his magical kin. What he finds, instead of the fairy-tale world he has dreamed of, is a twisted nightmare. The magic that the Charmed dragons rely on for life has been corrupted as great changes sweep across the world. As the hatred of the Natural dragons and the madness of the remaining Charmed dragons erupts into lethal violence, Cumber and Fortune find themselves thrust on a quest to the former capital of the Charmed dragon world, a quest on which the survival of both their kinds might hinge. Meanwhile, Fortune's lifelong friend Wood starts on a journey, himself - on the side of their enemies.

REVIEW: The plot of this book was painted in such broad, sweeping strokes that it was hard to keep track of just where our protagonists fit in. So grandiose was the nature of their quest that they went places and did things without being able to describe why to the humble reader. The end result is a story about decently-written characters in a reasonably well-crafted world that still left me wondering just what the heck happened and why. I see that there is a sequel, Dragonstorm, but so lost was I by the plot that, even if I might wonder what happened to some of the characters, I don't think I want to wade through another story to find out.

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Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - A boy buys a dragon's egg at a magic shop)
The Flight of Dragons (Peter Dickinson, Fiction - Speculation on how a hypothetical, biologically plausible dragon might live)
Dragonhenge and The Stardragons (Bob Eggleton and John Grant, Fiction - The mythic origins of dragons, and their interstellar future)
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Dragons: The Greatest Stories (Martin H. Greenberg, editor, Fiction - A dragon anthology)
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The Halfblood Chronicles (Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, Fiction - Raised by the hidden race of dragons, a half-elf girl may fulfil a prophecy to topple tyrannical elf lords and free enslaved humans)
Bitterwood (James Maxey, Fiction - With humans enslaved by dragons, a legendary dragonslayer fights back)
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Dragon's Bait (Vivian Van Velde, YA Fiction - Accused of witchcraft and condemned to death, a girl seeks revenge with the help of the dragon who was supposed to eat her)
Dragon Keeper (Carole Wilkinson, YA Fiction - In ancient China, a slave girl finds herself charged with protecting the last of the Emperor's dragons)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede, YA Fantasy - Tired of being a proper princess in a fairy tale world, headstrong Cimorene runs away to live with dragons)
Here, There be Dragons (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - Short stories about dragons)
The Pit Dragon Chronicles (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - A slave boy on Austar IV steals a hatchling dragon from his master)

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