Rating: 
Summary: Barbara at her best
Review: Dragonsbane is easily Hambly's best book to date (26 November 1997). She woos us into her universe, which admittedly is not difficult since there are few new artifacts to engage our attention, but she also manages to woo us into the interior spaces of her characters where we are allowed to see the kinds of choices that people make every day and every lifetime. The book is full of choices -- Jenny Waynest gives up mastery of magic in order to have a relationship with her lover and her sons -- and those choices are constantly called into question, both by the characters themselves and by the situations into which the characters are drawn. Jenny knows that her life could have been very different had she chosen to pursue her magic despite its severe demands; only the dragon is able to confront her when he sees clearly into her heart and mind and asks: "Do you cling to all the little joys because you are afraid of the great ones?" Dragonsbane falters as most Hambly books do: the author is so enamoured of language that the well-drawn tapestry of scene and mood sometimes looks more like the over-busy, tassled throw rugs my Aunt Geneva used to embroider, applique, and give away to all the grandkids. Sometimes, a simple image does the trick. But the great strength of the book is that it is not overwhelmed by the artifacts of the genre. The story is clearly about people, not about magic, and Hambly is able to use the artifacts to seduce us into a story where dragons love gold for its singing of their names. Dragonsbane is the most accomplished, most polished, and most poignant of Hambly's work.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual and Engaging Characters
Review: As a published fantasy writer myself, and an avid reader ofthe genre -- Dragonsbane is my favorite. John is a farmer, a seekerof knowlege who is responsible for a land on the edge of survival. Jenny his mate, is a half-trained wizard. Together they killed a dragon, and the son of the King has traveled all the way to their outpost to ask him to come and kill another. It is in the character of Jenny, John, the prince and the dragon they are trying to kill that puts this above the ordinary sort of fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Hambly - A Fantasy writer of Excellence!
Review: Dragonsbane gives us a dragon of real quality. You can almost hear the timbre of his voice and the scrape of his wings. The heroine Jenny has all the hallmarks of any person - bitterness and love, envy and generosity in equal measure. Their story is not told in excrutiating detail but the detail you get is evocative, tantalising and constructive. This is a book that you can reread and find yourself once again caught up in their lives. This is a real world and these are real people - just open the page and go there!
Rating: 
Summary: Innovative in its approach to an old theme
Review: Dragonsbane is a story about a witch (Jenny Waynest), a celebrated dragonslayer (John Aversin) and a black dragon named Morkeleb. Without revealing too much of the story, it's enough to say that it follows a standard formula for a dragon / fantasy book, but does so in a rather illustrative and original fashion.
Rather than give us a one-dimensional baddie dragon which is merely a prop set up to be dispatched by the main characters, Hambly proceeds past this and reveals a depth to the black dragon that I have not yet seen duplicated in other fantasy stories involving such mythical creatures. Needless to say, the characters in this novel are very well developed, as well as the artful descriptions of the story's tapestry-so well described at times, we often feel we're really there. This is a talent Barbara brings to her works and is what distances herself from the usual sci fi / fantasy writer "me-too-izm."
Some may find her long winded descriptions tedious, claiming that she wastes valuable space at the beginning of this novel with filler, but I welcome it as building a solid foundation of character study and depth. If you pay attention, you'll no doubt increase your knowledge of medieval culture as well.
If you prefer traditional "sword & sorcery" type novels with mounds of action and little depth, pass this by. If, however, you prefer more to your fantasy than warriors, warlocks and mindless monsters, check out Dragonsbane.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, but...
Review: Dragonsbane. The bane of Dragons in the land is Lord John Aversin, the only living man who's slain one. This is all well and good, except the book isn't about him. This book is written entirely from the mage Jenny Waynest's POV. DOn't get me wrong, this isn't a first person novel, but we never get a viewpoint other than Jenny's. In some ways this is good. It allows for excellent character development within Jenny herself, which we get. Unfortunately, this style of writing also leaves most of the other characters pretty mono-dimensional. Halfway through the book, we know how John is going to react to this crisis, we know that Gareth wants to help out but is convinced he is too cowardly. We know Trey is sweet and sincere. And to this novel's detriment, none of these characters really evolve over the course of the novel. In many other ways, though, this is a very good book. I've read a couple of Hambly's newer books, and it seems to me that instead of getting better, her writing style has diminished over the years. In her newer works, the action is unclear and indistinct, and the passages are often extraneous and boring. Not so in Dragonsbane. I never felt lost as to who was doing what, even when the dragon was flying around in combat with a giant monster and spells were flying all over the place. And it doesn't spend time describing every excrutiating detail of our heroes moving south. Although at first it seems a little jumpy, it is really much to the novel's benefit that the author keeps the book on the action, and doesn't feel it necessary to write a thousand page book. As to the plot and pacing, the entire book was extremely well paced, flying right along, but the reader isn't quite sure where exactly the plot is heading until most of the way through the book. Now on to the real stars of the book -- the dragons. God's Grandmother! Finally here are some believable dragons with believeable motives. This book finally explains why dragons are drawn to gold. And the physics of the dragon itself are more clearly defined and better than any dragons which I have read before. There were, however, a couple of little irkers. First, the constant talking about the spectacles. Okay, we get the idea that the characters are wearing glasses already! Sheesh. And also, how many times was "The key to magic is magic; to be a mage you must be a mage" repeated in this novel? Talk about overkill. Still, overall it was a very fun read with some awesome action scenes. I'd recommend picking this one up.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites!
Review: I absolutely adore this book...it's one of the first fantasy books I ever read, and I still pick it up again and again. Jenny's struggle between love and power strikes a chord in any person who reads this book. As an avid fan of any book about dragons, I must say that Hambly's image of them is the one that most closely parallels my own, and I always enjoy this book every time I pick it up. Now that there is a sequel, I look forward to exploring this world that Barbra created in more depth.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful... Just awful
Review: I actually believed there were no truly awful books. Well Barbara you proved me wrong.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully told story.
Review: I agree with Smoore...that the story is compleeing and Hambly giving us dragons that don't hoarde gold for greed, but because it sings to them. I have had my copy since it was first published and it is still one of my favorites...though she has written many others which have captured my heart as well!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest!
Review: I almost didn't buy this book when I saw its cover back in the eighties because I was afraid it was going to be one of those "damsel in distress" fantasy novels. But then, I saw a review that tempted me, so I bought it... This has become my novel to reread every year. My first copy became so dogeared, I had to buy more. It's the book I push off on friends and other readers. The book I say I wish I had written. It's adventure, romance, intrigue and magic, all written in the Hambly style. It made me an undying fan of Hambly's work. If I was ever stranded on a desert island with only one book to read, this would be it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest!
Review: I almost didn't buy this book when I saw its cover back in the eighties because I was afraid it was going to be one of those "damsel in distress" fantasy novels. But then, I saw a review that tempted me, so I bought it... This has become my novel to reread every year. My first copy became so dogeared, I had to buy more. It's the book I push off on friends and other readers. The book I say I wish I had written. It's adventure, romance, intrigue and magic, all written in the Hambly style. It made me an undying fan of Hambly's work. If I was ever stranded on a desert island with only one book to read, this would be it.
| 
