Dragonstar

Rating:
Summary: A satisfying conclusion...
Review: ...to a harrowing series. Barbara Hambly left John Aversin, Jenny Waynest, and her readers in a *really* tough spot at the end of "Knight of the Demon Queen," released over 2 years ago. It was a long wait for "Dragonstar." Truthfully, I don't think this is Hambly's best work, but still I wasn't disappointed. If you've read the rest of the series, you've gotta find out what happens!

Rating:
Summary: Hambly At Her Best!
Review: All of the things that make Barbara Hambly a classic are present in "Dragonstar": intricate characters that you root for, detailed background settings that suck you in, and an actual plot with enough twists and turns to keep you turning pages well into the night.

This book is not the usual fantasy novel with so-so sword play and hum-drum magic.

Read "Dragonstar" and discover what a truly fine author Barbara Hambly is.

Rating:
Summary: Fini
Review: Barbara left her characters and her beautifully crafted world in general within the clutches of peril at the end of Knight of the Demon Queen. I was happy to see matters resolved and the book take a more upbeat feel as an open conclusion to this series.

Having said that, I would have to say I have had my fill of demon lore. At the end of this novel, Morkeleb has undergone such a stark transformation that I hardly recognize him. For a dragon, being a Dragonshadow means essentially not being a dragon at all. He has abandoned magic and his "dragon ways." In fact, he often appears in human form by the time this final installment comes around, and I feel like I lost an old friend of sorts.

Nevertheless, I am happy to know Caradoc's fate, and my lovely Aohila's as well.

Rating:
Summary: exciting epic fantasy
Review: Dragonslayer Lord John Aversin waits death for the hideous crime of trafficking with demons though his cause was noble and honorable. Still, his fate may seem helpless, but John tries to figure out a way to escape his incarceration before the executioner completes the task of killing him. Perhaps at one time his beloved Jenny Waynest could have saved him through her magic, but she lost that when he chose humanity, specifically her husband, in a previous battle.

The Demon Queen Aohila visits John in his cell informing the condemned man that his spouse Jenny is dying from the poisoned arrows of the gnomes. The dragon comes next and takes John away from certain death even as war between the armies of hell and humanity explodes. Will John find and save his Jenny and if so will they finally comprehend friend from foe in a realm in which magic makes it impossible to delineate who will amiably dine with you while plotting to kill you?

Though a fine recap opens the exciting epic fantasy DRAGONSTAR, to fully savor the tale the audience needs to read previous novels in the series (see DRAGONSBANE, DRAGONSHADOW and KNIGHT OF THE DEMON QUEEN). The story line continues the adventures of John and Jenny yet retain consistency through these two heroes. The action packed story line provides closure to previous threads while containing the belief that good and evil depends on the relationship between the transmitter and the receiver. Barbara Hambly has another winner that will more than satisfy her fans.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Comet comet, burning bright
Review: Dragonstar, by Barbara Hambly, is the conclusion to a series that never should have been. This series is a sequel to Dragonsbane, one of the best books I have ever read. It stood completely on its own and was wrapped up perfectly. Instead of leaving it, years later she started this series. Dragonstar, while much better than the first two books, still limps along unnecessarily, never earning the right to have been created in the first place.

I have read that Barbara Hambly was going through a very tough personal time when she wrote the first two books in this series (Dragonshadow and Knight of the Demon Queen). You could tell this because they were very depressing books. Characters that I had grown to love in Dragonsbane were being put through a ringer that seemed more than just the normal "putting characters through conflicts to see how they come out." Massive doses of mistrust were placed between John and Jenny, wrenching their relationship apart. Meanwhile, the story that she was trying to tell wasn't very interesting and seemed almost cliched at times. There really isn't a new spin placed on the "demons trying to take over the world" concept.

Dragonstar almost seems to have been written as an apology to fans for the gloom of the first two books. Jenny and John are rescued quite quickly in the book, both immediately thinking about what they should have said to each other the last time they saw each other. Both characters apologized to each other profusely in their minds, and then did so again when they finally met. Once they are together, there are numerous references to the pain they have caused each other, and how now that they're together, they will make things back to normal between them. When you take this book by itself, there is nothing wrong with all of that. It's the earlier behaviour that's a bit out of character for them. However, when you read the whole series, the change is extremely jarring.

The only other semi-interesting character is Morkeleb. He's a dragonshadow now, a dragon who has renounced magic. The relationship between him and Jenny, the love that they share (though Morkeleb knows that it can never replace her love for John) is very sweet. Morkeleb has a very un-dragonlike sense of humour as well. In this book, he leads the other dragons in an attempt to help Jenny and John defeat the demons. He does this for Jenny, but you get a sense that he does this for the good of the world as well, which is something a dragon would never do. It's interesting to see the culmination of his transformation from dragon to what lies beyond.

However, the same can't be said of any of the other characters. Especially sad is Gareth, the regent and the man who came to John & Jenny so many years ago (in Dragonsbane) for help in defeating a dragon. In this series, and especially this book, he's a shadow of his former self. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that his "dead" wife has come back to life inhabited by a demon, but even that doesn't excuse how uninteresting he has become. Events happen to him, but nothing seems to really affect him that much. Then, there are the three demon characters; Folcalor, Amayon, and the Demon Queen herself. None of them move much past the moustache-twisting villain. They're evil for evil's sake (not surprising, for demons, but that doesn't make them intriguing enough to read about). When your protagonists have nobody interesting to interact with, it makes for really laboured reading.

The final problem with this book, and this may surprise people who have read my reviews of Hambly's Benjamin January series, is the extremely slow pace of the novel, mainly caused by her excessive description. Usually, I love that trait in Hambly's writing. However, I think what she's writing about has to be of interest in order to make it bearable. In this case, it isn't, and thus the pace grinds to a halt as she's describing things. The action scenes plod because of this, and the lengthy scenes where the plot is "developed" are almost unbearable. The only thing that kept me reading was my loyalty to Hambly (probably my favourite author) and my loyalty to these characters.

The plot is resolved, but an opening is left for a subsequent series of books. I sincerely hope that, if Hambly does decide to give in to the temptation, she really thinks about it first. This series almost destroyed my love for the original. I don't think it could take much more of a beating.

Rating:
Summary: Comet comet, burning bright
Review: Dragonstar, by Barbara Hambly, is the conclusion to a series that never should have been. This series is a sequel to Dragonsbane, one of the best books I have ever read. It stood completely on its own and was wrapped up perfectly. Instead of leaving it, years later she started this series. Dragonstar, while much better than the first two books, still limps along unnecessarily, never earning the right to have been created in the first place.

I have read that Barbara Hambly was going through a very tough personal time when she wrote the first two books in this series (Dragonshadow and Knight of the Demon Queen). You could tell this because they were very depressing books. Characters that I had grown to love in Dragonsbane were being put through a ringer that seemed more than just the normal "putting characters through conflicts to see how they come out." Massive doses of mistrust were placed between John and Jenny, wrenching their relationship apart. Meanwhile, the story that she was trying to tell wasn't very interesting and seemed almost cliched at times. There really isn't a new spin placed on the "demons trying to take over the world" concept.

Dragonstar almost seems to have been written as an apology to fans for the gloom of the first two books. Jenny and John are rescued quite quickly in the book, both immediately thinking about what they should have said to each other the last time they saw each other. Both characters apologized to each other profusely in their minds, and then did so again when they finally met. Once they are together, there are numerous references to the pain they have caused each other, and how now that they're together, they will make things back to normal between them. When you take this book by itself, there is nothing wrong with all of that. It's the earlier behaviour that's a bit out of character for them. However, when you read the whole series, the change is extremely jarring.

The only other semi-interesting character is Morkeleb. He's a dragonshadow now, a dragon who has renounced magic. The relationship between him and Jenny, the love that they share (though Morkeleb knows that it can never replace her love for John) is very sweet. Morkeleb has a very un-dragonlike sense of humour as well. In this book, he leads the other dragons in an attempt to help Jenny and John defeat the demons. He does this for Jenny, but you get a sense that he does this for the good of the world as well, which is something a dragon would never do. It's interesting to see the culmination of his transformation from dragon to what lies beyond.

However, the same can't be said of any of the other characters. Especially sad is Gareth, the regent and the man who came to John & Jenny so many years ago (in Dragonsbane) for help in defeating a dragon. In this series, and especially this book, he's a shadow of his former self. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that his "dead" wife has come back to life inhabited by a demon, but even that doesn't excuse how uninteresting he has become. Events happen to him, but nothing seems to really affect him that much. Then, there are the three demon characters; Folcalor, Amayon, and the Demon Queen herself. None of them move much past the moustache-twisting villain. They're evil for evil's sake (not surprising, for demons, but that doesn't make them intriguing enough to read about). When your protagonists have nobody interesting to interact with, it makes for really laboured reading.

The final problem with this book, and this may surprise people who have read my reviews of Hambly's Benjamin January series, is the extremely slow pace of the novel, mainly caused by her excessive description. Usually, I love that trait in Hambly's writing. However, I think what she's writing about has to be of interest in order to make it bearable. In this case, it isn't, and thus the pace grinds to a halt as she's describing things. The action scenes plod because of this, and the lengthy scenes where the plot is "developed" are almost unbearable. The only thing that kept me reading was my loyalty to Hambly (probably my favourite author) and my loyalty to these characters.

The plot is resolved, but an opening is left for a subsequent series of books. I sincerely hope that, if Hambly does decide to give in to the temptation, she really thinks about it first. This series almost destroyed my love for the original. I don't think it could take much more of a beating.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Dragonstar, the latest book in the Dragonsbane series, returns to the breezy, upbeat style that made Dragonsbane itself so readable (and the lack of which made Knight of the Demon Queen, the third book in this series, so UNreadable). While this novel cannot be said to stand on its own, it is an excellent conclusion to the series. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: Oh, what a relief
Review: I love Hambly's works. I love Dragonsbane, the first book in this series. However, this last trilogy is a gruelling read, and the ending of Knight of the Demon Queen is just brutal.

As this book begins, our characters are quicky rescued from the horrible situations they were in at the end of the previous book. They go on to make all things right, to my great relief.

But should you buy/read this book? I think that depends on what you want from it.

This series (Dragonshadow, Knight of the Demon Queen, and Dragonstar) is not like most of Hambly's other work. If you're looking for a book to transport you to another world and relieve you of the cares of your day, this isn't it.

If you're looking for a story that probes what happens when people are stressed to the breaking point, or how families can find their way back to each other afterwards, this is something you want to read. Fantasy is often described as escapist literature... but whoever does so hasn't read THIS. There's no escape here. There's going through all the hard parts.

You can tell from the mixed reviews here that this isn't for everyone. If you're going to read these, I recommend that you have Dragonstar on hand before finishing Knight of the Demon Queen. These are heavy books. They may save your sanity, or bore you silly. Take a chance on them.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, what a relief
Review: I love Hambly's works. I love Dragonsbane, the first book in this series. However, this last trilogy is a gruelling read, and the ending of Knight of the Demon Queen is just brutal.

As this book begins, our characters are quicky rescued from the horrible situations they were in at the end of the previous book. They go on to make all things right, to my great relief.

But should you buy/read this book? I think that depends on what you want from it.

This series (Dragonshadow, Knight of the Demon Queen, and Dragonstar) is not like most of Hambly's other work. If you're looking for a book to transport you to another world and relieve you of the cares of your day, this isn't it.

If you're looking for a story that probes what happens when people are stressed to the breaking point, or how families can find their way back to each other afterwards, this is something you want to read. Fantasy is often described as escapist literature... but whoever does so hasn't read THIS. There's no escape here. There's going through all the hard parts.

You can tell from the mixed reviews here that this isn't for everyone. If you're going to read these, I recommend that you have Dragonstar on hand before finishing Knight of the Demon Queen. These are heavy books. They may save your sanity, or bore you silly. Take a chance on them.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, better finish
Review: Perhaps my disappointment with this book relates to how much I loved its prequels. Compared to the harrowing, boundary-shattering qualities of Dragonshadow and Knight of the Demon Queen, this is weak stuff. It's very much not a stand-alone novel, and the themes and character developments are simply recap of what we've seen before. It's the end of the series, and so it's all about wrapping up plot threads, but some of the resolutions are disappointing--in particular that with Aohila. Other plot elements seem forced and, though of cosmic scale, lacking in emotional impact. Things just sort of...resolve. Tension is lacking.

As a side point, the copy editing is incompetent, with a misspelling appearing in the very first sentence.

It's not all bad, though. If you take this book as a second half of Knight, an anodyne, it works better. Hambly continues to write about engaging characters, to use gorgeous language, and to ground her settings strongly in material culture.