Customer Reviews

Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bones of the Dragon by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is the first novel in a new six book series titled Dragonships. I scoured the internet for the names of the names of the other books, but was unable to find any information. Fans of the fantasy genre will no doubt recognize Weis and Hickman from their Dragonlance Chronicles fame. However, this duo has collaborated on many wonderful series such as; The Deathgate Cycle, Sovereign Stone Trilogy, and The Darksword Trilogy. This series marks another foray into the genre. Here are my thoughts on this novel.

This book actually has a couple main plots woven together to create a larger story. Some of the plot lines include; the gods of the Vindrasi are no longer answering prayers and seem to have disappeared, the theft of a holy relic of the Vindrasi people and what they have to do to get it back, there are also a couple separate political sub plots as well, an of course there is the requisite love interest storyline as well. In all, the plot of this book is well laid out with just enough action to keep things going. Ms Weis and Mr. Hickman do a good job of introducing the reader to a new world and how it works. There were a few things I would have liked more information of, but in the interest of word count I can understand why they were either omitted or edited. My one complaint about the plot of this book is that it felt entirely too much like plots from their previous books. For instance, the disappearance of the gods (i.e see the Dragonlance Chronicles plot), a missing holy relic (i.e. Discs from Dragonlance) and a couple other instances. Now, I understand this is its own book, but comparisons are going to be drawn between the two regardless. I just wish there was more done to separate the two stories. Looking at this book purely by itself, it was an enjoyable read.

The characters in this book are both endearing and frustrating. There are several characters who play prominent roles in this book, and will most likely continue to play those roles in future novels, characters such as; Skylan, Garn, Aylaen, Treia, Kahg, and Wulfe. The most endearing of those characters is by far Wulfe. He is a character I instantly connected with and wanted to know much more about, he also has the tinge of mystery tied in as well. Garn was another character I enjoyed. Fiercely loyal, almost to a fault. Oddly enough, I did not care for the main character much at all. Skylan just seems to be to nice of a fit. What I mean is that he is very young, but already the war Chief of his tribe and his actions are very inconsistent. Several times during the book characters make a point of explaining how reckless Skylan is. However, he seems to act in two different manners. One is as a young man not familiar with things, brash and reckless. But other times, he seems to act like a wizened elder. The dialogue for the characters was well done and for the most part I felt that each character spoke with a unique voice. There was also a substantial amount of character development for the main characters which was nice to see. Skylan was the only character was not able to connect with on some level, the rest of the characters were well done and complimented the story very well.

A couple criticisms about this novel:

1 - As I said above, I wish pieces of the plot did not have the feeling of `been there done that'. A couple plot elements just seemed too much like elements in other books by these two authors. In fact when I first read about the gods I inwardly groaned. I understand the adage don't fix what is not broke, but I am left to wonder if it could have been done a different way.

2 - The inconsistent actions by Skylan. To me, he really seemed like two separate characters by how he acted. He does have some nice character progression, but there is something about him that just didn't work for me. Actually, now that I think about it, I have a lot of the same feelings for him as I did for Sturm Brightblade.

Some things I liked about this novel:

1 - The uniqueness of the setting. I loved the Scandinavian/ Nordic feel of this novel. The rugged terrain, how people survive, etc. The world worked really well. I would have liked to learn a little more about it to start with, but this being the first of six books we will most likely learn more later.

2 - Wulfe. I really can't say enough good things about this character. I really enjoyed his plight, his story, and his actions. This is what a character should be. Although, he does have the tendency to steal every scene he is in. But I was completely okay with that.

3 - As readers have seen time and time again, when Ms. Weis and Mr. Hickman get together, their prose, storylines, and characters can create a certain magic. That is again the case with his book. I have always enjoyed the even flow of the prose these two authors produce and this book is no different.

Starting a new series is always taking a chance, however when authors have such a good track record as these two there was little doubt I would not be entertained. This is a solid fantasy novel and has tings in it that will please almost all fans of the genre. Readers looking to dabble in the genre could very easily pick this book up and not be lost at all. If you enjoyed the Dragonlance novels I firmly believe you will enjoy this one as well. In fact, if you didn't enjoy the Dragonlance books, I would still suggest giving this one a read because while there are similarities there are enough differences as well. When all is said and done, I am glad I picked this one up and will eagerly be looking forward to the next installment.

Like most Weis and Hickman fans, I started with Dragonlance (and the Legends trilogy to be more specific). Having read Bones of the Dragon, I have high hopes that this could be their best series since. BTW, why are you reading this review? Read the first chapter available from Amazon and decide for yourself!

The world of the Vidrasi is both similar and different from other W&H series.
SIMILARITIES
1. The gods are present and affect lives on a seemingly mortal by mortal basis.
2. Dragons, who doesn't love these powerful, intelligent, and opinionated beings? In this book, they operate on both the physical and spiritual planes which raises some interesting possibilities going forward...
3. Warriors, priestesses, and magic (oh my).
DIFFERENCES
1. Gore. There's more gore in this book than in any of their previous work, but it is a big part of the culture of the Vindrasi.
2. Lack of humor. I didn't miss it when I was reading, but another reviewer pointed it out and I have to agree, there aren't many 'haha' moments (unless you like laughing at Skylan).
3. Fae magic. My favorite character in this book was Wulfe who is the son of a fairie and a human. His story is intesting and unbelievable to the Torgun, but it has a lot of possibilities in the future books.

Thanks for reading my review, if it helped, please be sure to click YES!

I enjoyed the book until the remaining pages started getting thin and nothing was getting wrapped up. My fears were realized when the book ended without any major plot line being completed. And this is not like, "we completed the first quest, 4 more to go." It's more like, "we still need to do the original quest but look, another obstacle was put in our way." As it is, I guess that sometime in 2015 or so we (really I mean you because I will not invest any more time in this series) will be able to find out what actually happens. I was very disappointed in the (lack of) ending.

I'm a huge fan of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, both together and on their own, but this book was horrible. Deeply horrible, to the point where I wish I'd never even seen it, because now I think a lot less of these writers.

For one thing, it is painfully bulked up. Remember all those long appendixes in The Death Gate Cycle that were cool to read after the book? And how you could skim through the duller parts to get to interesting little tidbits of history that really wouldn't have added much to the book, but are cool to know after the fact?

Yeah. Imagine if those *weren't* appendixes, and you had to slog through an average of two per chapter. Things slow down painfully every time one pops up. Of course, everything else is pretty slow as well, so I guess it's all fair.

The biggest problem in the entire book was the main character. Now, I'm not one to demand that the main character is always perfect, and always makes good decisions, or even has to be a particularly nice person. I mean, I liked the original Dragonlance books, plus The Death Gate Cycle, plus The Rose of the Prophet, *plus* the Star of the Guardians! I think I can put up with a certain amount of antihero, and a certain base level of immaturity in a main character.

But Skylan is just a mess. Idiotic, spoiled, selfish, *painfully* stupid, lacking any empathy or even ability to notice details (small details, even. like that his best friend and the girl he wants to marry have been in love FOREVER, and the girl in question has been doing everything short of lobbing bricks at his head to get him to notice that she is really not into him. sadly, this does not stop him from making several very disturbing attempts to get into her pants, bordering on date rape). And somehow he is beloved of the gods. I know that life isn't fair, but *COME ON*! (probably the only part I really enjoyed in this book was when a god made fun of Skylan to his face. it was a long time coming, and it was sweet, sweet payback)

The story lurches from one crisis to another, but after the first few it is honestly hard to get invested in them. Characters careen in and out of the plotline with no rhyme or reason, and even less believability. (yes, you heard me. in a fantasy book where a dragon incarnated from a ship, I was having major believability issues with how characters were introduced. it stunned me as well.) Weis and Hickman introduced a number of characters early on who I looked at and thought, "Oh, neat, we'll see how this person develops and changes over the course of three books --- oh I see they are dead now. And now Skylan is whining about how now he has to lie his way out of it. I really hate that guy."

Too many elements at work. Too many characters reduced to cardboard cutouts to focus attention on Skylan and his needs. Too much peril that never went anywhere. Too many boneheaded decisions that had bad results for everyone but the person who most deserved it (yes, Skylan again). Too much "Oh the gods are dead our prayers are not being answered, oh wait yes some of them are. Wait they are totally not. Yes, some are. Just kidding. Let's have a tangent that takes forty pages and does nothing."

Have Weis and Hickman been reading George R. R. Martin? Because they have picked up the absolute worst of his habits.

Don't buy this book. If you must, get it out of the library, but you'll regret ever opening it.

for fans of the dragon lance chronicles you are not getting the same writing as you would get in the chronicle books. what i mean is the pace, action and magic are far from what you have come to expect from the two great authors of fantasy. this is the first book in a news series, so i expected the character build up and and story line to be the start. i was not disappointed with the book but i expected what almost all readers if weiss and hickman do, a generally faced pace book that gets to the core of the story and characters. that said it does and it does to slow for my liking. the action is not so much there but like i said it is the first book and that is what you get in first books of a series. the battles are their but few in my opinion. some people like few battles but was expecting more from a band of viking raiders and norse mythology which this book is close too. i am no historian to say the least but reading this book from these writers i got spoiled to the dragon lance chronicles just i expect other readers will also agree with me, or not.
i expect that i will not read part two unless i can get is for five bucks. i hope i made this easy for others if not then oh well i tries. and that being said this is my opinion. good bye.

Here is a book you really have to be a nerd to want to read, there's no way around it. Dragons, sorcery, orcs, ghosts...I'm a nerd, I admit it! I love that stuff, and I loved The Death Gate Cycle by these two authors, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. But I'll be completely honest when I say that this was one of the most disappointing books I've ever read. No beating around the bush, this book was pretty terrible. But book two, Secret of the Dragon, is coming out this week and I'm going to buy it anyways. So I guess this review will have to explain two things: why the book was so bad, and why I'm going to risk wasting my time with the second one.

1- Bones of the Dragon had so much potential. Orcs show up in one of the human villages claiming superiority and demanding submission. Their argument...the Orc Gods went to war and slayed the human Gods, leaving humankind with no other choice but to fend for themselves in a world that doesn't want them anymore. I mean come on, nerd or no nerd, that's a pretty good synopsis. But the execution of it was such a miserable failure.

Battle scenes where boring, the storyline was totally predictable, the descriptions were choppy, and the characters were difficult to get into. Characters are a big deal to me, and I found that I didn't like any of the ones in this book. The main character is a moron, completely unlikable and I couldn't have cared less if he'd fallen off a cliff from sheer stupidity at the end of the book. Even the other, secondary characters lacked depth. The one's that actually have a shred of good sense are so cliché I was rolling my eyes half the time.

I actually found myself skipping paragraphs in this book. Couldn't handle just finishing sentences that were in front of me. Where I come from that's called blaspheme, but there was no way around it. Chapters became so dull and slow, you could have skipped a good 15 or so pages every now and then without ever missing anything important.

Any morals in this story? Anything worth taking back with you into everyday life...the only think that come to mind might be, "Don't hang out with self-centered, stupid people." Wow, that's profound.

If you're looking at starting a nerd series, don't start here. If you've heard good things about Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and wanted to give them a shot, don't read this book. Read the Death Gate Cycle.

2- I've contemplated getting rid of this book. I've thought not to waste my time trying to read on past the first volume of this highly anticipated series, but I'm going to give the next book a shot anyway. Why? Well, call it stubborn, but other books from these authors, like Fire Sea or Hand of Chaos have left a taste in my mouth that I still crave every once in a while. The Death Gate Cycle didn't actually get good 'till the end of book two and it didn't get really good until the third book. So, I have hopes for redemption on behalf of this duo. They have the skill, the storyline has potential, if they tighten up a few things here and there, such as character development and description, they might grab my interest again. If not...well, I guess that will be the end of my fellowship into the realms of Dragon Lance for many years to come.

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I've really enjoyed some of Weis and Hickman's previous work- particularly the Death Gate Cycle, loved all of those- so I thought I would give this one a try. The first flaw is that the main character is dreadfully unlikeable, and I know in a way he's supposed to be, some people might even say that's the point, but when it gets to the point where I'm heartily wishing for him to die so another character (ANY other character) can take over, that's bad. If I don't care about the main character or what happens to him, what's the point of reading the book? And instead of growing to like him as the novel progresses, I actually went from being okay with him at the beginning to disliking him more and more intensely as I read on. Unless they're villains, this is pretty much the opposite of how main characters should develop, right? The second gripe I have with this book is that the plot reaaaally takes a while to get anywhere. I grasped what the overall plot of the series was going to be within the early part of the book, and then everyone [...] around doing pretty much nothing to accomplish the overall goal for the rest of the novel (that I read, I must admit, I gave up about a hundred pages from the end). I kept skipping ahead to see if *anything* was going to happen anytime soon. Basically, you can tell Weis and Hickman want to milk this franchise for as many books as they can get.

The mythology of this book was good, and there were some good twists and turns in the story. This, however, was not enough to keep me going when combined with the dragging pace and unlikeable lead. Maybe someone more optimistic would be able to keep going in the hope that the main character will improve and things will get moving- I, however, was unable to.

Three stars is just right here: this one was right in the middle, for me. I am a fan of Weis and Hickman, though not a fanatic, so I was excited about a book that had both vikings and dragons. Yet it took me a bit longer than usual to finish the book, and despite the exciting plot elements -- which abound -- it felt like it dragged at times. I read some of the critical reviews of this book here, and I was trying to think of problems I saw, flaws I could pinpoint, but I couldn't do it. But I also can't rave about the book, because there is something missing, some intangible element that would make this a great book, which it isn't.

The basic theme is an interesting one: what would you do if your gods abandoned you? Perhaps even -- died? The story is played out in a character several reviewers had trouble with: Skylan Ivorson. I had trouble with him, too, but only for the reason I was supposed to: Skylan is an idiot. He is a beautiful young man with flowing golden locks and piercing blue eyes; he is the son of the chief of his tribe of the Vindras people, and their war chief, as he is the greatest warrior. Skylan has been blessed by the gods, and he knows it. So throughout the first half of the book, Skylan assumes he can do anything, have anything he wants, and his patron deity, Torval, will help him to get it, since he honors Torval with every conquest, every victory (all of which -- coincidentally, of course -- honor Skylan as well). So Skylan, who is one of the point of view characters (and a very well-written one, since he is a fool but not a bad guy and that is how his narrative voice sounds), has very little patience with people who want to do things differently, who want to think instead of charge ahead, who want to negotiate instead of fight. He has especially little patience for the woman he loves, because she keeps being coy -- because she is actually in love with his best friend, Garn, the smart one; an open secret which everyone in the village has figured out. Except Skylan.

So when ogres invade, telling the Vindrasi that their gods have lost a war in heaven and died, Skylan wants to kill them all, and eventually he gets his wish -- though that, of course, is the question: do the Vindrasi succeed in driving off the ogres because their gods are not dead, but supporting them in their struggle? Or is it the greater fighting ability of the Vindrasi, combined with the might of the dragon who takes their side? We are not sure.

This is really only the beginning of the story; the Chief of Chiefs of the Vindrasi is an atheist, and (coincidentally, I'm sure) an incredible scumbag who betrays his people for the sake of his cowardice; he is dealt with in a very surprising way, and it leads to a whole new plot line that I wasn't expecting. I suppose if I had an issue with this book it was there: I didn't really like the direction Skylan went, or the choices he makes. But that can't be a criticism of the book, since I wasn't supposed to like either one. I did really enjoy the magical creatures in the book, the druids and the Fey and the giants, especially -- though I didn't care for the dragons, which was certainly a problem, as they are rather important to a book called "Bones of the Dragon," first in the Dragonships series. They seemed too pat, too easy, almost too mythical; their origin story and their reasons for helping the Vindrasi are less interesting than if they had simply been left as a question mark, their motives and history mysterious. I would also criticize the women in the book, who are shallow and silly and evil, except that I liked the Owl Woman character enormously, and the girl Aylaen, whom Skylan loves, is great, except for the way she and Garn deal with their love triangle problem, and for the way she acts at the end of the book.

I liked the book, but not really enough to want to read an entire series on the same story line. Especially not one that delves deeper into the dragons' story. In all honesty, after all the years I've been reading fantasy, I think dragons are pretty well played out. The most interesting dragon story I've read recently has been Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, and the most interesting thing about it is how the dragons are taken out of a traditional fantasy setting and plopped into the Napoleonic Wars. But Eragon? Yech. This book is far better than Paolini's, but still not good enough to make me want to read three more just like it.

As a fan of Weis and Hickman I tried really hard to like this novel. I enjoy the viking/norse style world and the concept seemed very interesting. The main character of Skylar was just plain unlikeable and I never really got into the ponderous story about the gods of the Vindrasi disappearing. I have heard that the second book of the trilogy is much better, but I am afraid they have lost me with book one.

This book was pure agony to read as it contradicted itself every few pages, involved one dimensional characters that were impossible to like, and was written so badly my partner thought I was sick from all my cringing.
The only this this book is good for is to light a nice fire so you can read another book that might actually keep you entertained.