Customer Reviews

The Dragon Chronicles

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a British book that I stumbled across, and fell in love with. It is supposed to be an actual copy of the 1500 year old journal of Septimus Agorius, Supreme Wizard to the court of Malacan. The wizard is told to record his journey by request of his king on his death bed. The story is full of magic, prophecies, and a dangerous amulet that the world must be protected from. The storyline is very interesting and hair raising at times.

Technically the design and layout of the book makes it appear is if this book is an ancient book. The cover looks like brown leather with gold lettering, and has a realistic looking image of metal hinges and locks. It even has the dragons scratch marks. The pages are made to look like ancient parchment, (they are not really parchment but it is a nice effect) and the text is a nice old fashioned script or font. The artwork is colorful and stunning. There is much variety of art here in addition to the full page paintings of dragons, there are blueprints of ships and weapons, photos of ancient artifacts, and what appears to be fossilized baby dragon that has been imprinted on a page.

5 stars!

Buyers should know that the various editions of the book are substantially the same. In an effort to get what I thought was the "original" book, I ordered a British copy, published by Pegasus Publishing in 2002 and 2003. I also bought both the Courage and Running Press editions. I was hoping the British edition would have (as other reviewers have described) pages like parchment or old vellum, text that looks like handwritten script, etc. It didn't. Still, all three editions are beautiful; it's just my expectations which were unrealistic.

This is a fantastic book, you really are convinced that it is a copy of an actual journal writen centuries ago. All the pages are made to look like old parchment.
The story is of how an old loyal wizard is commanded by his dying king to seek and destroy a number of evil dragons that threaten the peace of the kingdom.
The colour pictures art great and ther are lots of interesting things sketched by the artists that the wizard took with him to record his quest.
It is a super looking book, all old and weathered like. It looks great on the shelf with my collection of dragon models.

This is a really great book.
It is like a really old diary kept by an old wizard that records his adventures when he is sent off by the king to search for dragons that are causing trouble in the kingdom.

Because he takes Artists with him the book is crammed with colour paintings and sketches of the adventure. There is even studies of things like dragon claws and eggs and stuff, the weapons they use to kill the dragons and dried body of a 'dragonette' a kind of miniture pirhana type dragon that attacks in swarms!

Part adventure part encyclopaedia,The Dragon Chronicles is an exciting and unusual book. It will be enjoyed as much for its narrative thrills as for richness of its illustrative detail.

The book appears to be a reproduction of an old journal that turned up for auction in a London sale room. It purports to be the diary journal of an old wizard, who to comply with the wishes of his dying king, sets off to find a group of malevolent dragons who are threatening the stability of the land.

The book looks and feels like something that has been lying in a vault, forgoten for centuries. The pages are like old vellum and there are dozens of brilliant coloured paintings and sketches of dragons, weapons and specimens, like dragon eggs that were supposedly produced by various artist who accompanied the wizard on his journey. There is even a dried pressed speciment of a dreaded "Dragnette" a kind of flying piranha!

Thoroughly enjoyable yarn for any age (why should kids have all the fun)

I purchased this book in December of 2004, but it wasn't shipped to me until April 2005. Apparently in the mean time, the book was republished in a very different format. Previous reviews describe the book as having a cover that "looks like leather with metal hinges and locks". They also describe the pages as being "made to look like parchment" or "are like old vellum", and "the text looks like ancient hand written script". One reviewer said the book contains "a dried pressed specimen of a dreaded 'Dragnette' a kind of flying piranha". Overall the book "looks and feels like something that has been lying in a vault, forgoten for centuries".
This was all true of the original version, but is no longer true. The cover is now a standard hardcover (very servicable, but hardly looking like leather with metal hinges and locks). The paper is smooth, glossy paper - high quality, but not parchment. The "hand-written script" has been replaced with a standard computer calligraphy font that looks nice, but does not look hand-written at all. Finally, there is no longer a dried speciman of a Dragnette. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with the book when it arrived. I guess the publisher found they could not make money selling the original version. (The originals are probably collector's items now.)
On the positive side, my 13-year old son liked the story, and the pictures are stunning as others have said. It is a good book, just not what it was originally.

This book deserves five stars. If you love fantasy, you'll love this book. It's written as if it's an authentic reproduction of an actual wizard's journal. The artwork is spectacular, and the entire book is extremely well done. In the book the actual author isn't listed (Malcom Sanders is just one of the artists), so it makes the book seem even more authentic. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age who loves fantasy. Top of the line.
~L. L. Luther

What a collectors item! part adventure story, part encyclopedia. fasinating material. I started to believe its genuine. Worth it for the great atrwork alone

Really captures the imagination. An exciting yarn, incredible colour illustrations plus interesting specimens of dragon remains etc.
A real collectors item, whether its a reproduction of a genuine document (as claimed) or not???
Some of the imagery certainly looks believable.

This is a great story of dragons and adventure accompanied by spectacular pictures. Not much else to tell.