Fortress Draconis (The DragonCrown War Cycle, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: one generation after the prelude novel [no spoilers]
Review: "Fortress Draconis" is the first novel in The DragonCrown War Cycle series approximately one generation following "The Dark Glory War" prelude novel. It is a spectacular book filled with creative battles, detailed descriptions, and interesting characters.

One could understand the novel without having read the prelude, but the continuing characters have a history and the small details will be lost on those who don't invest the time. There is mystery on other individual fates from the prelude novel, hopefully to be resolved in the future novels. It is curious to note how countries and people change and/or remain the same over the 25-year difference.

I found the novel better than the predecessor in all things. It has imaginative magic and great encounters. Two youngsters, Kerrigan and Wilburforce, are interesting to follow as they mature with the events unfolding, likewise Alyx with her unusual background. General Androgans and Dranae are intriguing enigmas while Resolute and Kedyn's Crow form an awesome fighting duo with personal limitations.

I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre and look forward to reading the future novels.

Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: one generation after the prelude novel [no spoilers]
Review: "Fortress Draconis" is the first novel in The DragonCrown War Cycle series approximately one generation following "The Dark Glory War" prelude novel. It is a spectacular book filled with creative battles, detailed descriptions, and interesting characters.

One could understand the novel without having read the prelude, but the continuing characters have a history and the small details will be lost on those who don't invest the time. There is mystery on other individual fates from the prelude novel, hopefully to be resolved in the future novels. It is curious to note how countries and people change and/or remain the same over the 25-year difference.

I found the novel better than the predecessor in all things. It has imaginative magic and great encounters. Two youngsters, Kerrigan and Wilburforce, are interesting to follow as they mature with the events unfolding, likewise Alyx with her unusual background. General Androgans and Dranae are intriguing enigmas while Resolute and Kedyn's Crow form an awesome fighting duo with personal limitations.

I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre and look forward to reading the future novels.

Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Awful.
Review: Alright ,if you want a book about sex and violence,go ahead .If not ,go for someone else.In the beginning basically all that happened was action.They solve every problem involving the enemy with action.Also ,as soon as Wil meets a woman,he falls in love with her .Unrealistic ,isn't it?I looked ahead a bit ,still fight fight fight.Even Eddings awful Belgariad is better than this .If you want really good stuff ,try Terry Brooks ,Robert Jordan,or maybe Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman.Don't waste your reading on this.

Rating:
Summary: As good as the previous novel....
Review: and I thought that equaling Dark Glory War would be difficult. While Stackpole is an acknowledged master of first-person narratives, I enjoyed this novel's multi-character storyline. The introduction of a wide variety of characters expands the overall plot quite nicely. The disparate nature of these characters drives the story and will keep you hooked to the last page. I only have one complaint with the character situation: the identity of Kedyn's Crow was too obvious. It should either have been blatantly revealed earlier in the novel, or hinted at much less.
There are plenty of battles in the story, but character background and development seemed to dominate amidst the fighting. The setting of these events is described succinctly; it is enough to give you a general picture without being tediously unnecessary. The overall mythology/history of this new land is consistently engaging. Altogether, any fan of character-driven plots, fantasy, well-described battles, or just good stories should seek this at their local bookstore immediately.

Rating:
Summary: How much is that dragon in the window?
Review: Fortress Draconis is a sequel to the military fantasy novel, The Dark Glory War and is book one in the Dragoncrown War Cycle. This book, however, is epic in scope and much more character-driven then the previous book. It's a good start to the series, marred only by one of the main characters being an incredible bore.

The Dark Glory War was a very interesting set-up for this story. It ended on a final note that, if you wanted to stop reading, you could have. However, it did entice you to get the next book. This is that book, and it is a lot better than the previous one. First, Fortress Draconis is not simply military fantasy. It is much deeper than that, and the emphasis is not on violence, blood flowing, heads flying off, and battle tactics. These things are in the book, so it's still not for the squeamish. But Stackpole adds scope to the plot, making it have a much grander feel. I really appreciated that.

Secondly, he adds deeper characterization to the mix. The story has a number of viewpoint characters, so we learn details about more than just the narrator. Alexia, Will and Kerrigan are the main viewpoint characters, though we do see some sections from minor viewpoints as well. This was a great addition, as one of the problems with The Dark Glory War was the fact that Tarrant was the only person I felt I knew after reading that one. Stackpole also does a better job of characterizing the people of whom we don't see the viewpoints. I get the feeling that he didn't care as much about the characterization in the first book because of the type of book it was, but this time he seems to have worked a lot harder at it.

The only failure in this aspect of the novel is Kerrigan. He is the ultimate innocent, formed by his wizard mentors to be the most powerful wizard that has been seen in quite awhile. However, he has been sheltered and thus doesn't know very much about life. When we first meet him, he is felled to tears because he has a cut. I see what Stackpole is trying to do with this character, but unfortunately it doesn't work for me. He is boring, and the book screeches to a stop whenever he's the viewpoint character. He's arrogant, but he also whines a lot when things don't go his way. When his not knowing how to act results in a death, he whines some more. It's an understandable reaction, but the way Stackpole writes him, I felt more annoyance at him than sympathy for his situation. He does get a bit better as time goes on, and I can tell Stackpole has some big plans for him. Hopefully, this upward cycle will continue and he won't be as annoying in the next book.

Stackpole's plotting and writing are really nice as well. I liked the choices that he made. One of my complaints about the previous book was that Chytrine was actually made a character in the last section of the book and I felt she was too simply written. This time, Stackpole seems to have taken a lesson from Lord of the Rings. She is not on-screen at all, except as seen in the distance. In LotR, we never see Sauron, and I think that's a good thing. In this case, Chytrine becomes an ominous presence and not a character to roll your eyes at. I was very impressed. Instead, we see the "heroes" of the previous expedition to destroy her, and we see how they have been corrupted. If the reader is familiar with them from having read the previous book, there is a sense of tragedy in this as well, and it really works. The prose is not outstanding, but it services the plot well. There are no glowing passages, but there are also no clunkers reveling in their purpleness.

Thankfully, there is no need to have read the previous book, as most of the information a reader needs to understand what is going on is included in this book. Some of the revelations will mean more (such as Crow's secret, which I will not reveal even though other reviews have, which ruined it for me), but that's not a big thing.

The only other minor problem with this book is that it still feels a bit like a fantasy role-playing game set to novel form. The party of heroes is even a classic party from one of those games: a wizard, a thief, and three fighters. Healing is done by the wizard, so there's no need for a cleric. Thus you get the feeling you could follow along in your game if you wanted to. However, that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of reading this book. It manages to lift itself beyond the typical role-playing fiction by providing interesting characters (except Kerrigan, of course) and intriguing situations. If you don't mind a little blood spilt and some severed limbs, then you can't go wrong with this one.

Rating:
Summary: How much is that dragon in the window?
Review: Fortress Draconis is a sequel to the military fantasy novel, The Dark Glory War and is book one in the Dragoncrown War Cycle. This book, however, is epic in scope and much more character-driven then the previous book. It's a good start to the series, marred only by one of the main characters being an incredible bore.

The Dark Glory War was a very interesting set-up for this story. It ended on a final note that, if you wanted to stop reading, you could have. However, it did entice you to get the next book. This is that book, and it is a lot better than the previous one. First, Fortress Draconis is not simply military fantasy. It is much deeper than that, and the emphasis is not on violence, blood flowing, heads flying off, and battle tactics. These things are in the book, so it's still not for the squeamish. But Stackpole adds scope to the plot, making it have a much grander feel. I really appreciated that.

Secondly, he adds deeper characterization to the mix. The story has a number of viewpoint characters, so we learn details about more than just the narrator. Alexia, Will and Kerrigan are the main viewpoint characters, though we do see some sections from minor viewpoints as well. This was a great addition, as one of the problems with The Dark Glory War was the fact that Tarrant was the only person I felt I knew after reading that one. Stackpole also does a better job of characterizing the people of whom we don't see the viewpoints. I get the feeling that he didn't care as much about the characterization in the first book because of the type of book it was, but this time he seems to have worked a lot harder at it.

The only failure in this aspect of the novel is Kerrigan. He is the ultimate innocent, formed by his wizard mentors to be the most powerful wizard that has been seen in quite awhile. However, he has been sheltered and thus doesn't know very much about life. When we first meet him, he is felled to tears because he has a cut. I see what Stackpole is trying to do with this character, but unfortunately it doesn't work for me. He is boring, and the book screeches to a stop whenever he's the viewpoint character. He's arrogant, but he also whines a lot when things don't go his way. When his not knowing how to act results in a death, he whines some more. It's an understandable reaction, but the way Stackpole writes him, I felt more annoyance at him than sympathy for his situation. He does get a bit better as time goes on, and I can tell Stackpole has some big plans for him. Hopefully, this upward cycle will continue and he won't be as annoying in the next book.

Stackpole's plotting and writing are really nice as well. I liked the choices that he made. One of my complaints about the previous book was that Chytrine was actually made a character in the last section of the book and I felt she was too simply written. This time, Stackpole seems to have taken a lesson from Lord of the Rings. She is not on-screen at all, except as seen in the distance. In LotR, we never see Sauron, and I think that's a good thing. In this case, Chytrine becomes an ominous presence and not a character to roll your eyes at. I was very impressed. Instead, we see the "heroes" of the previous expedition to destroy her, and we see how they have been corrupted. If the reader is familiar with them from having read the previous book, there is a sense of tragedy in this as well, and it really works. The prose is not outstanding, but it services the plot well. There are no glowing passages, but there are also no clunkers reveling in their purpleness.

Thankfully, there is no need to have read the previous book, as most of the information a reader needs to understand what is going on is included in this book. Some of the revelations will mean more (such as Crow's secret, which I will not reveal even though other reviews have, which ruined it for me), but that's not a big thing.

The only other minor problem with this book is that it still feels a bit like a fantasy role-playing game set to novel form. The party of heroes is even a classic party from one of those games: a wizard, a thief, and three fighters. Healing is done by the wizard, so there's no need for a cleric. Thus you get the feeling you could follow along in your game if you wanted to. However, that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of reading this book. It manages to lift itself beyond the typical role-playing fiction by providing interesting characters (except Kerrigan, of course) and intriguing situations. If you don't mind a little blood spilt and some severed limbs, then you can't go wrong with this one.

Rating:
Summary: Stackpole continues to impress
Review: Fortress Draconis lives up to the promise of a great tale started in The Dark Glory War. It is a book that stands alone however, not requiring you have read the prequel to understand this storyline as it takes place 25 years after the original. I did read the Dark Glory War first, however it was a year or so ago, so after reading Fortress Draconis I read it again and enjoyed the foreshadowing present in the first book that I didn't catch the first time.

Michael Stackpole is one of my favorite authors now. I first ran into his work in the X-wing novels of the Star Wars universe, then moved on to his fantasy novels and work in Battletech because I enjoyed his writing so much.

If you haven't read anything by Mr. Stackpole, give this one a shot and you'll be hooked. If you enjoy Robert Jordan (as I do) give this book a read as the world here is just as rich and deep, with the action coming even more quickly and the plot twists being just as good.

Rating:
Summary: Good start
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would encourage anyone looking for a nice light read to pick it up. I disagree with the assessment that one must read "Dark Glory War" prior to this one. I did not and understood the plot very well. I did pick up Dark Glory War in the bookstore AFTER I read Fortress Draconis and in all honesty, it did not seem as interesting nor did it appear to be as well written. I want to stress that Stackpole is not trying to imitate Tolkein or here with this story, although the usual Tolkein plot devices are there. It is very action oriented and the characters are very predictable and seem to be very typical of the types of characters that pop up in these books. There's the "Orphaned Thief who is really a Subject of Prophecy", a "Mysterious Long Lived, Wise, White Guy with a Beard" who provides guidance a la Gandalf, there's also the "Buxom, Sword-Wielding Babe" who fills out her breast plate, yet can hold her own. Best of all, there's plenty of bad guys, to include those wonderful types that seem to exist by the millions, even though they are extremely easy to kill. Juar like Orcs. The Prime Bad Guy is actually a Bad Girl, but her gender is more or less ignored by the book. She has Nazgul like assistants who do all her duty work, one of whom talks in clever rhyme.

Like I said, not a bad read, lots of fun, one can hope this won't turn out to be another Wheel of Time series and last until we all die of old age. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Good start
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would encourage anyone looking for a nice light read to pick it up. I disagree with the assessment that one must read "Dark Glory War" prior to this one. I did not and understood the plot very well. I did pick up Dark Glory War in the bookstore AFTER I read Fortress Draconis and in all honesty, it did not seem as interesting nor did it appear to be as well written. I want to stress that Stackpole is not trying to imitate Tolkein or here with this story, although the usual Tolkein plot devices are there. It is very action oriented and the characters are very predictable and seem to be very typical of the types of characters that pop up in these books. There's the "Orphaned Thief who is really a Subject of Prophecy", a "Mysterious Long Lived, Wise, White Guy with a Beard" who provides guidance a la Gandalf, there's also the "Buxom, Sword-Wielding Babe" who fills out her breast plate, yet can hold her own. Best of all, there's plenty of bad guys, to include those wonderful types that seem to exist by the millions, even though they are extremely easy to kill. Juar like Orcs. The Prime Bad Guy is actually a Bad Girl, but her gender is more or less ignored by the book. She has Nazgul like assistants who do all her duty work, one of whom talks in clever rhyme.

Like I said, not a bad read, lots of fun, one can hope this won't turn out to be another Wheel of Time series and last until we all die of old age. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Must buy
Review: I was introduced to Michael Stackpole through his endeavors in the Star Wars Universe. After enjoying his XWing books and I, Jedi, I quickly gobbled up some of his fantasy works such as Hero Reborn, Once a Hero, Talion: Revenant and Eyes of Silver. In my opinion Michael Stackpole is an excellent writer who keeps the pages turning and who kept the lamp next to my bed lit late into the night as I kept reading, unable to put the story down.

With Dark Glory War, prelude to Fortress Draconis, we saw the rise and fall of a generation's heros through the eyes of a man destined to suffer no matter how much good he does.

In Fortress Draconis, 25 years have passed, and a full fledged war is being waged against the forces from the north and the people of the southlands. The next generation's heros emerge to, hopefully, complete the task started by their predecessors. Powerful magics meet new and powerful sciences, a multitude of races gather to battle an ever-present threat and a vague prophecy begins to unravel. And in the center of it all stands a man who is a bridge between the heros of the past and the heros of the present, who has no family and no nation to call home; a man who's honor compels him to fight, not only for the liberation of a land he's never set foot upon, but for the memory of who he once was.

If you like your fantasy deprived of the cookie-cutter format, then you'll like Michael Stackpole and his DragonCrown Saga.