Dragon's Winter Book

Elizabeth A Lynn's fantasy output is small but much prized. Her "Chronicles of Tornor" trilogy appeared 1979-80, beginning with Watchtower--a World Fantasy Award winner. Dragon's Winter, her first novel in 13 years, is a singleton story set in a medieval world where a few rare people are sorcerers or shapeshifters. A lord who can shift devastatingly into dragon form has twin sons, one inheriting the dragon ability, the other being "only" a sorcerer who's intensely jealous of his elder brother. So he makes a pact with darkness to gain greater power, steals the talisman that focuses brother Karadur's shapeshifting talent and flees to an evil northern stronghold from which he harasses the realm with unpleasant beasties. Eventually there must be a confrontation. This story seems simplistic, but Lynn's characters have vivid personalities and she's not afraid to let the most likeable of them meet ghastly fates. The sorcerer-brother himself undergoes monstrous transformation and the atrocities of his sadistic henchman will haunt readers' dreams. Meanwhile, Karadur faces the possibility that achieving dragon shape may lead to the madness that eventually overcame his father--who had to be destroyed to save the land. A tough-minded fantasy yarn with moments of real power. --David LangfordRead More