Rating: 
Summary: Awesome Book! - But don't skip the prequel.
Review: This book was awesome. I wanted to let people know that before anyone starts reading the books to the dragon crown series, you need to get Dark Glory War, which is the prequel to the series.That book provides a lot of character development that is not covered in Fortress Draconis. But back to the book on review, this book is great. I found it to be slower at first because of all the character development needed, but I think it helps in the long run. It makes the next book (When dragons rage) a lot better, and a lot more action occurs later. Anyhow, great book! Everyone should read it, but get Dark Glory War first.
Rating:
Summary: Good Gooood Book
Review: This is a great book! Fortress Draconis which comes after The Dark Glory War (which is really hard to beat) is as good as its predecessor. Lots of twists and turns. And interesting characters. A really great fantasy adventure novel with a fantastic cliffhanger at the end that will have you waiting anxiously for the second book in the trilogy. There isn't a single boring page. Which says a lot since a lot of authors tend to get caught up in writing about every single leaf-on-a-tree in their descriptions. Well, that doesn't happen in Fortress Draconis. This is a very enjoyable, smooth flowing read.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic Battles, Hot Chics
Review: This is a superb addition to the story first started by "The Dark Glory War" which was also by Stackpole. The story takes place 20 years after Dark Glory War. Most of the heroes and heroines of that book have been killed or captured by Chytrine and now work for her as her evil lieutenants the sullanceri. All except for Tarrant Hawkins who now style himself as Kedyn's Crow. The Vorquelf Resolute is still his companion in their never ending quest to defeat Chytrine. Fortress Draconis introduces the next generation of heroes and heroines. The first is Will, a skillful thief who is prophecied to defeat Chytrine. Next up is Princess Alexia of Okranel a.k.a. the "Gold Wolf". Okranel was a human kingdom recently captured by Chytrine. Kerrigan Reese is the most powerful mage the nation of Vilwan has seen in centuries. Unlike the other two champions, Reese is still quite naive and ill-experienced. Together with the heroes of Dark Glory War, these champions will engage Chytrine's forces in many epic battles big and small in far-ranging places as Okranel, Fortress Draconis, Vilwan, Wruona, and even in the Dimandowns. Stackpole is a master in depicting realistically the realities of battle. It could be quite graphic at times, but then, that is the reality of war. Stackpole also understands well the tactics and strategies of war. The battle technology is reminiscent of our pike and musket era. Soldiers still wear steel armor and wield swords but siege cannons, mortars, and even matchlock muskets make an appearance. There is ofcourse, the quite entertaining use of magic in combat and in healing. The world Stackpole paints is quite enchanting. There are many intelligent species. They include elves, Grykmes(flying elves), dwarves, Zsusk, gibberers, vyaelens, temereces, dwarves, dragons, etc. The lifestyle of the people seem like that of the period before the Industrial Revolution with magic. The main characters are well-fleshed out in my opinion. The notable female characters are ofcourse quite beautiful. Even the evil queen Chytrine is quite a hottie. I have two minor criticisms though. The first one is regarding the food supply. Chytrine's forces are always portrayed as being numerically superior yet her territories are in the frozen northern areas. I doubt Okranel and Vorquelf could suffice to feed the massive Aurolani host. Secondly, Chytrine has so far been the first to come up with gunpowder, siege cannons, mortars, and muskets. Where does she get her R&D from? Why are they so much more superior to her enemies'? These minor quibbles aside, this book is a highly entertaining 500+ pages and is a must read. I can't wait for the next book in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Cliffhanger
Review: This was a very good book, particularly if you read the prequel. The only problem was that it left the reader hanging at the same place as did its prequel and left many questions unaswered. It teases the reader into thinking that some things may be resolved but they are not. Of course that is probably the authors intent, but it is a tad annoying.
Rating:
Summary: can't rate this one high enough
Review: While I doubt that I'll be able to fully appreciate this book till after the other two have been released and the Draconcrown cycle completed I still say that this is Michael Stackpole's best work to date. It happens 25 years after the events of The Dark Glory War as stated in reviews above, the one above this one have some parts that are completely incorrect. While not getting answers to all the questions that book left and there were a ton of them those, you do get some more information to base wild assumptions off of. What happens to some of the characters while not completely unexpected does come as a shock. The first three hundred pages of the book appears to slowly set up the plot for the entire series and at times is a little slow going, but once all the story lines merge you find you have a book that you regret coming to the last page of. My only hope is that there won't be a near two year wait for the next like there was between DGW and this book. For humor it even has a little something in the about the author section with Mr Stackpoles answer to this request. "Yes I know write faster" At last he can't write fast enough because I wanted the next book the moment I put down Fortress Draconis. A great read, you're only disappointment will come when you find out that you can't immediately continue the story.
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