Last Dragonlord Book

Part of the point of genre fantasy is for each writer to bring something inventive of their own to the party in a form that can breed the merely repetitive and the completely underimagined. Joanne Bertin's first novel demonstrates that it is possible to invent interestingly simply by taking a little thought--her hero is one of a caste of were-dragons, whose extended lives have made them perforce judges and arbitrators in a feudal world where to be outside the standard rules of advancement and kinship is to take a giant step towards impartiality. Linden is the Last Dragonlord because the youngest--and he is still waiting for the female soultwin who will complete his aching heart. When she does turn up, it is in the aggressive form of a tough woman sea-captain, and at an inexpedient time--not least because she has to be coaxed through her first change. A complicated regency dispute in a rich kingdom is a front for the machinations of a vicious magician; a high-strung court lady, whose beauty and snobbery are only exceeded by her courage, is playing her own game. This is intelligent derivative fantasy, and a promising start from a new author. --Roz KaveneyRead More