Rating: 
Summary: Too much description and details
Review: I love this book because it is a about a woman who wants to be a witch and is not very good at it. And her true love who is a lord who doesn't want to be one and the only living person who has fought and killed a dragon, which he really wishes he hadn't done. It's funny and heart wrench and poignant and lovely. You're missing the best if you haven't read this.
Rating: 
Summary: Not your usual heros
Review: I love this book because it is a about a woman who wants to be a witch and is not very good at it. And her true love who is a lord who doesn't want to be one and the only living person who has fought and killed a dragon, which he really wishes he hadn't done. It's funny and heart wrench and poignant and lovely. You're missing the best if you haven't read this.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: I love this book! I have read and re-read this book over and over. I just ordered the sequel and can't wait to read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: I'm comparing this book with all the other books of her's I've read...and I've read most of them. Here is my take on it and why I gave it only a three stars.Pros:
1) Great idea on dragons and dragon magic
2) Some focus on gnomes which aren't normally a race that plays a lead part in any way
3) Some enjoyable characters that you tend to care about
4) We always like how characters learn of themselves...especially in the area of untapped magical potential Cons:
1) Lot of untapped potential for suspense
2) Lot of untapped potential for increased political intrigue
3) Would have liked more play-by-play action when the dragon and the Dragonbane actually fight.
4) Felt that some of the dragons thoughts/talk wasn't what I expected...too human
5) I have little interest to read the following two books because the ratings are so poor. I would like to enjoy a continuing story but will pass up on the next two books because of this.
Rating:
Summary: Good veteran Hambly
Review: If you enjoyed Hambly's "Witches of Wenshar" - "Dark hand of Magic" you should also enjoy this book. The grittier side of Hambly. You feel and worry for the characters, characters are decsribed and built up without you really noticing (a good sign). It is easy reading, no long and deep descriptions. So if you are looking for a easy read that is gritty, then go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Good veteran Hambly
Review: If you enjoyed Hambly's "Witches of Wenshar" - "Dark hand of Magic" you should also enjoy this book. The grittier side of Hambly. You feel and worry for the characters, characters are decsribed and built up without you really noticing (a good sign). It is easy reading, no long and deep descriptions. So if you are looking for a easy read that is gritty, then go for it.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful and Thought Provoking Tale
Review: Looking only at an outline of the plot, Dragonsbane could easily be mistaken for a yet another tale in the "high fantasy" tradition. It contains most of the standard elements that make such stories popular: heroic quests and battles, contests of magic, and the like. Those elements are executed well, and alone could make for a somewhat entertaining story. However, the tale is anything but high fantasy. The heroes of the story are presented as human beings, with human faults and human needs, and nothing is as simple as the legendary ballads would suggest. As much as anything else, the book deals with difficult choices, past and present, that define who the characters are and who they will become. In particular, I found that I could truly empathize with Jenny, a woman torn between her love for her family and her love of learning. "To be a mage, you must be a mage" to the exclusion of all else, she was taught, and every moment spent on other interests meant that much less power, that much less knowledge that she would never attain. Her struggle (and failure) to truly satisfy both of those desires is one of the central issues of the book. Because of this and many similarly deep examples, Dragonsbane is a book that I have read again and again. Its conclusion brings a tear to my eye every time. Unlike most fantasy these days, Dragonsbane contains characters that are truly well drawn and compelling in their humanity. Those who read fantasy only for adventure and who have no taste for any "good literature" may well be disappointed by a book that focuses more on people than on swords and sorcery. However, for more mature readers who want more from a story than a few fights and lightning bolts, Dragonsbane is one of the very best books in the genre.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest!
Review: The best part of "Dragonsbane" is of course, thedragon. The reader only is allowed to get a close up and personallook into the mind of but one dragon - but he is very well representedand is as real and three dimensional as a mythical creature couldpossibly be. More than just a plot device, he was the most intriguingcharacter in the entire book. Jenny, the not-so powerful mage, threwaway her life of studying the arts to spend time with her lover andtheir two sons. While the novel is written to focus upon herfeelings, her doubts, her jealousy and her indecisiveness, Ipersonally found myself getting sick of her pretty quickly since halfthe time she wanted to stay with John and the other half she wascursing the day she met him (because it kept her from the studies thatseemed so important). John was the Dragonsbane and at first thecenterpiece as he was summoned for his past exploits in killing adragon - the only living man to lay claim to such a triumph. But thebook shifts and we're beaten to death with cliches. The bold andbrash one, the mage that craves power, the evil sorceress sucking themagic from a stone (and the lifeforce of the ones around her),innocent and wide eyed damsel and her 'hero' who is too cowardly to doanything without permission... In closing, yes I enjoyed the book,and as I usually am more critical of novels than most people, my threestar rating would probably be another person's four or atleast threeand a half. Would I read it again? (the ultimate test for any novel)Yes, perhaps in a couple of years, for the dragon and his motives wereclearly put together in an intriguing way and the action sequenceswere well thought out and distinct. Also another thing going for it,is the fact that its a one shot deal, no daunting and intimidating tenpart series looming over the reader as they scramble to finish the endof it up. A single book, a single story, just the way I often likeit.
Rating:
Summary: dragons and more dragons...
Review: The best part of "Dragonsbane" is of course, thedragon. The reader only is allowed to get a close up and personallook into the mind of but one dragon - but he is very well representedand is as real and three dimensional as a mythical creature couldpossibly be. More than just a plot device, he was the most intriguingcharacter in the entire book. Jenny, the not-so powerful mage, threwaway her life of studying the arts to spend time with her lover andtheir two sons. While the novel is written to focus upon herfeelings, her doubts, her jealousy and her indecisiveness, Ipersonally found myself getting sick of her pretty quickly since halfthe time she wanted to stay with John and the other half she wascursing the day she met him (because it kept her from the studies thatseemed so important). John was the Dragonsbane and at first thecenterpiece as he was summoned for his past exploits in killing adragon - the only living man to lay claim to such a triumph. But thebook shifts and we're beaten to death with cliches. The bold andbrash one, the mage that craves power, the evil sorceress sucking themagic from a stone (and the lifeforce of the ones around her),innocent and wide eyed damsel and her 'hero' who is too cowardly to doanything without permission... In closing, yes I enjoyed the book,and as I usually am more critical of novels than most people, my threestar rating would probably be another person's four or atleast threeand a half. Would I read it again? (the ultimate test for any novel)Yes, perhaps in a couple of years, for the dragon and his motives wereclearly put together in an intriguing way and the action sequenceswere well thought out and distinct. Also another thing going for it,is the fact that its a one shot deal, no daunting and intimidating tenpart series looming over the reader as they scramble to finish the endof it up. A single book, a single story, just the way I often likeit.
Rating:
Summary: It is interesting at some parts, but it gets repetetive
Review: The character John relies way too much on the aid of the female mage. Even though he loves her and attempts to rescue her from the clutches of the Ancient Dragonlord, he tears her apart from a love as strong as his, maybe even more. John's tendeancy to act before thinking puts them in many dangerous situations that might have been avoided if he were mentally competent.
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