The Dragon's Son : The Second Book of the Dragonvarld Trilogy

Rating:
Summary: MESMERIZING READINGS
Review: Favor fantasy? Then "The Dragon's Son," second by Margaret Weis in her Dragonvarld trilogy, is the story for you? Love to listen? Then Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle De Cuir are the voices for you, lending just the appropriate amounts of other worldliness to their readings. Rudnicki's delivery is resonant, memorable, and De Cuir's equally impressive.

Fans will remember the conclusion of "Mistress of Dragons," a real heart stopper where a violation of the "leave them alone" rule regarding the affairs of men threatened the very existence of mankind.

Hope lies with twin sons. Ven, short for Vengeance, is half man, half dragon. Marcus, on the other hand, was raised comfortably, at court, and appears to be totally human. However, the dragon blood each carries has imbued them with magical powers. Their asset may also be their peril as evil dragons in human form seek to destroy them.

Draconas is their ally and wants to protect them. But, is this possible?

Listen and enjoy.

- Gail Cooke


Rating:
Summary: excellent coming of age fantasy
Review: Dragons would have nothing to do with humans and the Parliament of Dragons enforces that rule very strictly. However, one of the members have gone against the Parliament's ruling and mated with a high priestess, who since dragons can take on the form of a human, did not know who he really was. Two boys were the result of that coupling; Ven is a human from the waste up and a dragon from the waist down while Marcus is raised as the bastard son of King Ildlysisylde.

The two boys do not know about each other; they also are hidden from their father, who plans to rule the world of dragons and humans with his breeding program. He needs Ven for a special role in his plan and it up to Draconis, the Parliament's representative, to make sure the lads grow to maturity because only then will they have a chance of defeating the dragon. Ven has an agenda of his own while Draconis is caught in a trap by one of the female dragons.

THE DRAGON'S SON is a coming of age story of two young men, one living in poverty and the other surrounded by riches. Both share a common destiny if they have the courage to risk their lives to fight the rogue dragon (nobody knows his true identity) when they reach maturity. For now, they must survive and cope with the dragon blood running through their veins. Dragons caused the mess that the world is in and they must find a way to make things right for their own sake and for that of humanity. Margaret Weiss has written an enthralling high fantasy novel that will totally absorb readers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: excellent coming of age fantasy
Review: Dragons would have nothing to do with humans and the Parliament of Dragons enforces that rule very strictly. However, one of the members have gone against the Parliament's ruling and mated with a high priestess, who since dragons can take on the form of a human, did not know who he really was. Two boys were the result of that coupling; Ven is a human from the waste up and a dragon from the waist down while Marcus is raised as the bastard son of King Ildlysisylde.

The two boys do not know about each other; they also are hidden from their father, who plans to rule the world of dragons and humans with his breeding program. He needs Ven for a special role in his plan and it up to Draconis, the Parliament's representative, to make sure the lads grow to maturity because only then will they have a chance of defeating the dragon. Ven has an agenda of his own while Draconis is caught in a trap by one of the female dragons.

THE DRAGON'S SON is a coming of age story of two young men, one living in poverty and the other surrounded by riches. Both share a common destiny if they have the courage to risk their lives to fight the rogue dragon (nobody knows his true identity) when they reach maturity. For now, they must survive and cope with the dragon blood running through their veins. Dragons caused the mess that the world is in and they must find a way to make things right for their own sake and for that of humanity. Margaret Weiss has written an enthralling high fantasy novel that will totally absorb readers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: The Dragon's Son
Review: Kudos to Margaret Weis. As always with any book she writes, Weis draws you into the adventure. She makes you care about the characters, and care not so much for others. This is one of those books that once you're finished with it, you want to pick up the next volume immediately to see what's going to happen next. The only bad thing is you can't because the third volume isn't out yet. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Can these characters be this dull?
Review: Margaret Weis is known for her work with dragons, so it's no surprise that her latest trilogy is yet another one about them. This time, though, she's created her own world and designed her own little dragon society. The first book, Mistress of Dragons, was an excellent beginning, showing us just enough of the world to intrigue us and populating it with some interesting characters to go along with it. Granted, the world wasn't explored very thoroughly, but there was just enough there to make us wonder. However, Dragon's Son continues the few shortfalls that the first book had and gives us a few more, hamstringing the characters and giving us other characters who we don't care about at all. It's a major step down, but it still looks recoverable for the third book.

There are so many things wrong with this book that I'll start with the good stuff to get it out of the way. Once again Draconas is the most interesting character in the book. While he does care about humans, and humanity in general, he's not above using people to further his own ends when the circumstances seem to demand it. He doesn't like it, but he knows it has to be done. He's harsh with the boys when he needs to be, but the sequence where he brings Marcus out of the shell in which he has encased himself demonstrates that he really does care.

That's really about it. Unfortunately, for the second book in the trilogy, Weis has given us a rather dull book with characters that are difficult to care about. Some of the characters from the first book aren't used that much at all (criminally, Draconas really doesn't factor into the book that much, and Edward doesn't have a lot to do either) while others almost undergo lobotomies. Bellona is almost nothing like the warrior she was in the first book. While her grief over Melisande and the resentment she feels about having been charged to take care of Ven is understandable, she doesn't show any signs of the woman she once was. Later, we're told that, deep down, she really did love and care for Ven, but we're never shown it, not even when the story is being told from her point of view.

Instead, we're given three new characters: Ven, Marcus, and a daughter of a thief, Evelina. Ven and Evelina are thoroughly unlikable and Marcus is just dull. Ven has lived his entire life alone with Bellona, only interacting with people during the annual town fair, and even then he stops going from the age of six to the age of sixteen. Thus, he is naïve in a lot of ways, and Evelina takes advantage of that. I saw what was coming between them, and I just didn't care. In fact, I almost thought "good riddance." I don't know if we were supposed to feel sorry for him or not, but I certainly didn't. Evelina is completely amoral, looking out for herself at all times. Yet she inexplicably falls in love almost instantaneously with somebody right at the end of the book. I don't know what Weis will do with this in the third book, but the startling nature of this threw me completely out of this one.

Also, I again didn't really feel like a part of this world that Weis had created. We get some details on a couple of different fairs that Bellona and Ven go to, and we see the underbelly of another city. We also see a hidden city but don't really get too much of a view of it. It just feels like the world is a place for these events to happen, and that's about it. The religion seems based on Christianity (with God, saints, abbeys, monks and nuns), but we certainly don't get an impression of how this religion affects people's lives. It's a shame, really, as I know Weis is a capable world-builder.

The book ends with a wonderful twist that really does have me looking forward to the third book, but part of that is because it seems that Draconas will be featured a lot more in it than he was in Dragon's Son. This twist completely turned around my understanding of what was going on, and I loved it. The book is a very quick read, which helped me get through it despite the dull spots. It also helped that I had a break in the middle where I discovered that the first copy of the book I had was missing a bunch of pages, and it took me a couple of weeks to track down another copy.

All in all, it's worth reading once to continue the story. I know Weis is capable of better than this, and I have high hopes for the third book in the series. It would be almost impossible for her to drop the ball as badly as she did this time.

David Roy

Rating:
Summary: Raising the Sons
Review: The Dragon's Son is the second novel in the Dragonvarld Trilogy, following Mistress of Dragons. In the previous volume, the Mistress of Dragons, Melisande, was kidnapped by King Edward before her heart could be removed and was taken from the Kingdom of Seth with the reluctant assistance of Draconas, the Walker. For a long while, they were chased relentlessly by the women warriors of Seth, but eventually they evaded their pursuers. After they reached a temporary refugee, Edward and Melisande coupled together in sheer relief. Soon thereafter, the dragon in a man's body, Grald, found Melisande alone and raped her.

Draconas sent Edward back to his wife, children and kingdom, then took Melisande away to a hidden village. Bellona, her friend and lover, accompanied the Mistress of Dragons into hiding. Months later, Melisande had began labor with her two sons, one by Edward and the other by Grald, when the warrior women found them again and attacked the cottage where she was giving birth. Draconas saved the two boys, but Melisande was killed.

In this novel, Draconas has sent Marcus, Edward's son, to be raised by his father, but Bellona is fostering Ven, the dragon's son, in a cabin deep within the forest. Every year, Bellona takes her furs to one of the nearby harvest fairs and uses the coin to buy things that they can neither produce nor forage for themselves. When Ven is six, they go to the market at Fairfield. There Ven is attacked by a dog and his trouser leg is torn. Some of the bystanders are sure that they see blue scales through the tears, but a kindly bystander examines the damage and shows that the only thing under the cloth is a bloody, ravaged leg.

Of course, the kindly stranger is Draconas, who has used illusion to hide the scaled leg of the dragon's son. Nonetheless, a nun who witnesses the whole episode disappears shortly thereafter. Draconas soon discovers that she is working with Grald, so he hurries Bellona and Ven out of the fair and back home.

After that, Ven is very reluctant to accompany Bellona to any fair. Ten years passes before he once more goes with her to the fair at Rhun. There he is wined, drugged and rolled for his money. When he goes after the thief, he encounters sex, betrayal, humiliation, and death. He is also found by his dragon father.

In this volume, Draconas is trying to protect the boys from Grald and his accomplices, but is also trying to protect the dragons from any bad publicity. Unfortunately, these goals seem to be mutually irreconcilable. Moreover, his opponents have taken the initiative and he is only reacting to their ploys. Draconas is becoming very frustrated.

The situation is looking very bleak at the end of this segment. Can Ven avoid being dominated by his father? Can Marcus withstand the charms of Evelina? Is Draconas gone for good?

Recommended for Weis fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adventure and suspense in a fantasy setting, but with a touch of contemporary cynicism.(...)

Rating:
Summary: Raising the Sons
Review: The Dragon's Son is the second novel in the Dragonvarld Trilogy, following Mistress of Dragons. In the previous volume, the Mistress of Dragons, Melisande, was kidnapped by King Edward before her heart could be removed and was taken from the Kingdom of Seth with the reluctant assistance of Draconas, the Walker. For a long while, they were chased relentlessly by the women warriors of Seth, but eventually they evaded their pursuers. After they reached a temporary refugee, Edward and Melisande coupled together in sheer relief. Soon thereafter, the dragon in a man's body, Grald, found Melisande alone and raped her.

Draconas sent Edward back to his wife, children and kingdom, then took Melisande away to a hidden village. Bellona, her friend and lover, accompanied the Mistress of Dragons into hiding. Months later, Melisande had began labor with her two sons, one by Edward and the other by Grald, when the warrior women found them again and attacked the cottage where she was giving birth. Draconas saved the two boys, but Melisande was killed.

In this novel, Draconas has sent Marcus, Edward's son, to be raised by his father, but Bellona is fostering Ven, the dragon's son, in a cabin deep within the forest. Every year, Bellona takes her furs to one of the nearby harvest fairs and uses the coin to buy things that they can neither produce nor forage for themselves. When Ven is six, they go to the market at Fairfield. There Ven is attacked by a dog and his trouser leg is torn. Some of the bystanders are sure that they see blue scales through the tears, but a kindly bystander examines the damage and shows that the only thing under the cloth is a bloody, ravaged leg.

Of course, the kindly stranger is Draconas, who has used illusion to hide the scaled leg of the dragon's son. Nonetheless, a nun who witnesses the whole episode disappears shortly thereafter. Draconas soon discovers that she is working with Grald, so he hurries Bellona and Ven out of the fair and back home.

After that, Ven is very reluctant to accompany Bellona to any fair. Ten years passes before he once more goes with her to the fair at Rhun. There he is wined, drugged and rolled for his money. When he goes after the thief, he encounters sex, betrayal, humiliation, and death. He is also found by his dragon father.

In this volume, Draconas is trying to protect the boys from Grald and his accomplices, but is also trying to protect the dragons from any bad publicity. Unfortunately, these goals seem to be mutually irreconcilable. Moreover, his opponents have taken the initiative and he is only reacting to their ploys. Draconas is becoming very frustrated.

The situation is looking very bleak at the end of this segment. Can Ven avoid being dominated by his father? Can Marcus withstand the charms of Evelina? Is Draconas gone for good?

Recommended for Weis fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adventure and suspense in a fantasy setting, but with a touch of contemporary cynicism.(...)

Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: This is the second in the Dragonvarlid Trilogy and I liked this one alot better then the first, Mistress of Dragons. I didn't want to put this one down. Draconas is one of my favorite characters. There really wasn't one I didn't like, except the ones you weren't suppose to like. Weis has out done herself again. I would recommend these books to any one. Lets just hurry up with the third one, I don't mean to rush but I want to see what happens to the brothers.