Dragonshadow

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I'm a long-time Hambly fan, but this one just left me cold. Characterisations that were adequate but without the usual bite, overworked plot and generally disappointing. And I was annoyed to discover at the last moment that there will be a sequel to the sequel. Read it if you're a fan, but wait for the paperback.

Rating:
Summary: As Painful as Real Life - But Still Excellent
Review: I've always considered Barbara Hambley to be one of the undiscovered gems of the fantasy field. She can write better prose than 90% of them, and her plots take hackneyed devices (magic, wizards, dragons, demons) and make them into something unique. Dragonsbane, a standalone from relatively early in her career, is a perfect example of this - the Dragonsbane of the title, John Aversin, is not a noble knight, but a scholar, who slays dragons because he has to protect his people. His wife, Jenny, is a witch who loves him yet feels that their bond only hinders her efforts to become a master mage. Hambley did a wonderful job of exploring their characters, while delivering a thrill ride of a plot.

Now, many years later, she's written a sequel which is very different in tone. John and Jenny discover that a mage has been using demons to enslave dragons and mage alike, and is allied with a rebel army that seeks to conquer the kingdom. The mage manages to capture their son, Ian, and soon he is possessed as well. John and Jenny team up with Morkeleb to stop the plot, but the price is much higher then they could have ever anticipated...

What makes Dragonshadow so different from Dragonsbane is mostly the tone. Dragonbane, while putting its characters through the wringer, basically has a happy ending. Dragonshadows is far different. But the ending does not feel forced. In real life, people don't go through incredibly tramatic events unchanged; they pay a price, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Both John and Jenny literally go through Hell, and they are both intensely scarred by the experience. But while this is painful for the reader, who cares about the characters immensely, it also brings about a deeper and more realistic experience. And there is the promise of a sequel to this book, so even the downbeat ending is not totally without hope. This book is like a trial by fire; painful many times, but bringing a great sense of satisfaction. Lightyears ahead of most wish-fulfillment fantasy, and a great read as well (I finished it in two days!) I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first half of sequel to Dragonsbane
Review: More than ten years ago, Hambly wrote a stand alone novel called "Dragonsbane". Featuring characters trying simply to survive in a day to day medieval type environment and with a main character wearing glasses, it provided the reader with people not following the worn to death dirt path of the usual heroes of fantasy.

"Dragonshadow" takes place a few years later. It appears that a magic user is trying to enslave dragons using the aid of demons. It is not so much whether the protagonists will win or lose the battle, but what they might win or lose in fighting the battle that counts. Once again, wonderful characters. But, until you reach the last page, there is no mention that this is simply the first book in what appears to be a two-book sequel. That is a bit of a downer.

Rating:
Summary: painfully beautiful
Review: Ms. Hambly does it again: gorgeously written passages of description, quirky, bespectacled characters who must give everything to accomplish their goals, and, of course, bad-guys we love to hate. I gave this book four stars rather than five simply out of pique. I hate having to wait for the next book to come out. A warning to those who are unfamiliar with Ms. Hambly's writing: she does nasty, nasty things to her main characters.

Rating:
Summary: I will never read this author again.
Review: Seems Ms. Hambly has noted that a certain bestselling SF authorputs his characters through hell. So, in ( ) fashion, she tries it (almost literally) with two of her most beloved characters, to the ruin of both the characters and her readers joy with the "Dragonsbane" universe.

Martin she is not!

This "follow-up" book (and the next) are as bad (IMHO) as the sequel(s) to "Dune."

And like "Dune", I consider the story "finished" with the first book - and will read no more of either author.

Rating:
Summary: Setting the stage for a legend!
Review: The book Contains the main caracters of the book Dragondsbane. The Story is well told with great attention to details. It is true that the book seems to be missing half the story. I think that this book is just setting the stage for the 3rd book. I can not wait for the 3rd book to be puplished. In any case if you liked the book Dragonsbane you will not be sorry for buying this book.

Rating:
Summary: Half a book
Review: The first book in the series, Dragonsbane, was pretty good. And Ms Hambly generally writes a good book. But, in Dragonshadow, she wrote half a book. Dragonshadow has no ending, and it closes with a notice that it is continued in the next book of the series (Trilogy?). Dragonshadow is depressing. It is, sadly, a book for those who wish to wallow in the filth and misery of demons, those who wish to read of the triumph of evil.... I do hope that Ms Hambly does better in the future. Or she gets dropped from my list of preferred authors.

Rating:
Summary: If you loved Dragronsbane, this will be a brutal letdown
Review: This book ends on a such note of emotional and personal loss and desolation that my first thought was to hope Ms. Hambly's personal life has not taken a turn for the worse. John and Jenny, in Dragonsbane, had one of the best relationships of any literary couple. They were obviously and deeply in love and Ms. Hambly showed that in a skilled and detailed way that always made me want to meet the "John" in her life. At the end of Dragonshadow the relationship is in ruins and there seems little hope for them. Perhaps the promised sequel will salvage something from the wreckage. Dragonshadow, well-written though it is, seems a cruel thing to do to loyal readers in the name of art.

Rating:
Summary: Half a book
Review: This book was great. The characters stayed true from the original book of the series and have developed naturally. The plot grabbed me from the begining and wouldn't let go until I had read the whole thing. I eagerly await the following books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Barbara Hambly delivers again
Review: This book was great. The characters stayed true from the original book of the series and have developed naturally. The plot grabbed me from the begining and wouldn't let go until I had read the whole thing. I eagerly await the following books in the series.