Customer Reviews

The Dragon Quintet: Five Original Short Novels

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

 

 

"Dragon Quintet" is an odd mix of stories only slightly linked by one thing: all feature a dragon, or at least a dragon-like, creature, and most of these stories are dark to out and out black-spirited.

The sole uplifting story of the lot, "Joust" by Mercedes Lackey, is good, interesting, and very representative of Ms. Lackey's style. However, I'd already read the novel version of "Joust," which oddly beat this collection to the press by at least a year. Four stars for that.

The next best story was by Elizabeth Moon, and is in her "Paksenarrion" universe but does not feature paladins or elves. Instead, this features dwarves, a dragon, and two very put upon villagers. I liked the villagers very much, and appreciated a return to this universe, one of my all-time favorites. Still, it's a rather dark tale, and I'd rather have had a happier ending. Three and a half stars.

The third best story was by Michael Swanwick. I liked the story up until the end, where Mr. Swanwick basically ruined it by tossing off a fable-type ending that didn't make a goodly amount of sense. In addition, this story only had two likable characters in it, and both were more or less abused throughout the story, something I really did not care for. Granted, this is dark fantasy, and Mr. Swanwick definitely made me hate all his hatable characters. But I'd have liked to have love his likable ones, and I didn't. Three stars.

The remaining stories seemed, to me at least, to be incomplete. Orson Scott Card's story was a sort of urban fantasy about a resident dragon and a boy, and as far as it went, up until the end, I liked it. But once again, a lousy ending ruined it. In addition, the information given by the editor led me to believe that Mr. Card is planning to turn this story into a novel. I really hope that doesn't happen, as this has to be the most downbeat story I've ever read by Mr. Card (not even excepting the last book about Andrew "Ender" Wiggin), and that's not what I've grown to expect from him. Two stars for that.

And Tanith Lee's story, while engrossing and having some truly unseen plot-twists, didn't totally make sense, either. I enjoyed the basic "women done wrong gets revenge" plotline, but the story was either too long or too short; too long in that it makes little sense in this form (even considering Ms. Lee's normal elliptical plotlines and fairytale-esque endings, dark or bright), too short in that in a novel, it might have worked well. Two stars, barely.

And that's basically it; it's an interesting experiment, but it's flawed, and if you don't like dark fantasy or aren't in the mood for it, don't get this book. It's not advertised as dark fantasy, but in my opinion, that's exactly what it is (with the sole exception of Ms. Lackey's stripped-down version of "Joust").

Three stars.

Barb Caffrey

Dragon lore - one of most powerful myths for children & adults. Here is a great selection of dragon stories by some of our very best Fantasy writers. From cover: An abiding presence in myth and literature from around the world, the dragon has been reborn in 20th-century fantasy fiction. The classic winged fire-breathing reptile often associated with evil tends nowadays to be more disposed to humankind, sometimes aloofly offering magical wisdom, sometimes actively involved in human lives, whether as servants or friends. For this exclusive SFBC anthology, Kaye asked five top fantasy authors to contribute original novellas to this store of dragon lore: Introduction: Firedrakes Fierce and Friendly (Kaye); In the Dragon's House (Orson Scott Card); Judgment (Elizabeth Moon); Love In a Time of Dragons (Tanith Lee); Joust (Mercedes Lackey): King Dragon Michael Swanwick); and Afterword - Have I Got A Dragon For You! (Kaye).

Overall, I thought this was quite a good collection of stories, and I found the majority of it interesting.

Unfortunately, the first story in it, by Orson Scott Card, was a tad dull, and I kept putting it down because it was just not gripping enough to hold my interest. It wasn't really bad, but then it wasn't really great. The dialogue between characters in the story was excellent, though, and I think the author should have featured more of that in the story, rather than some of the dry, uninteresting, even slightly confusing bits. I disliked the ending of the story, too. This made me wonder, would all of the stories in the book be similarly bland and unappealing?

Thank God the second story in the book, by Elizabeth Moon, was so utterly gripping! I could NOT put the book down during this story, it was so wonderful. It [...] me in right from the first paragraph, and I would have to say to any potential readers, buy the book if only to read this story.

Tanith Lee's contribution to the book is unusual but absorbing, and the story has a delightful twist that makes it very intriguing. It is typical of Ms Lee's work: it's edgy, unusual, confronting, and does not mince words. If you like Tanith Lee, you'll like this one.

The fourth story, 'Joust', by Mercedes Lackey, was the DULLEST in the book, but I'm still glad I read it because now I know not to waste my time buying the novel she wrote of the same name, which is an even longer version of this same story. Lackey mostly just rips off storylines from Anne MacCaffrey's dragon books, but with a lot less finesse than the original works. Given how innovative and unusual all of the other stories in this book are, this one really let down the team by being predictable and unoriginal. Blah! But if you like your stories formulaic and [...], not to mention non-confrontational, you'll probably like it.

The fifth of the stories is by Michael Swanwick, and it's the most unusual, so much so that it's hard to describe. It's never a comfortable story -- there's no sugar-coating on this one -- but it's absolutely original, and pushes all the boundaries. I've read nothing quite like it before. It was like one of those trippy dreams you get when you're running a raging fever. It didn't leave me feeling happy inside at the end of it, but I was nonetheless still satisfied, and glad that I read it.

A word of advice: don't give this book to the kiddies to read. These are stories for grown-ups, or at least maturish teens.

Perhaps because I am older and have read many stories from the Golden Age of SF, or perhaps only because times have changed, I find it more and more difficult to find a good genre short fiction. I frequently pick up anthologies and magazines, but more often find disappointment than satisfaction. I had high hopes for The Dragon Quintet. After all, every author in here is well known and writes "good stuff."

"In the Dragon's House" by Orson Scott Card was slow. Some aspects of the story were intriguing, but it was difficult to finish. "Judgment" by Elizabeth Moon has some fine moments, but there are rules that must be followed, but no one knows the rules except the ones who made them. The characters aren't very likable. Tanith Lee's "Love in the Time of Dragons" is dark and again has no sympathetic characters. Unfortunately, she sometimes has too much brutality against women than I like.

At last, we come to "Joust" by Mercedes Lackey, the best of the lot. This is a story that would stand out in any collection. The characters are sympathetic and the cause and effect are logical and satisfying. Although the end may be a bit too "nice" for some tastes, there is no illogic to it. I liked this one.

The final story, "King Dragon" by Michael Swanwick, is such a mishmash of ideas, names, things and creatures, that I became frustrated with it and barely finished. I know writers and editors are looking for things that are new and different; however, nothing beats a good, well-told story that, at least part of the time, makes sense.

I found the tales to be mismatched and the compilation rather dull. It is however better reading than a telephone directory.....I think.

I had a slightly different opinion that the other 2 reviewers. In particular, I thought the entire collection was well written and interesting. All five tales were filled with magic. They were well written, had interesting characters, and really great story-lines. I would highly recommend this collection to anyone looking for a great set of stories. What I really liked about the set, was that each author did something different. They took what we know or are used to with dragons and did something new and different. The result, in my humble opinion, was an exciting page turner. While a few of these stories did have a darker feel to them, I think it was done well and made each a more interesting and realistic read.

Of the five stories in this book my favourite was Elizabeth Moon's "Judgement". I have not read any of Ms. Moon's other work but, based on this story, I think I will do so soon. Her story deals with misunderstanding and the rush to judgement which sometimes comes with it.

Perhaps my second favourite tale was "King Dragon" by Michael Swanwick, who is one of my favourite writers of short fiction. His tale was decidedly darker than the others in the collection, but was extremely well written and you really hate the characters you are supposed to hate.

The stories by Orson Scott Card ("In the Dragon's House") and Mercedes Lackey's "Joust" were both fun little tales. Mr. Card's tale was a little slow in parts but filled with beautiful imagery and interesting characters. I really wanted to know what was behind that locked door. Ms. Lackey's tale was just plan fun. It was a well written and inspiring. A fun tale about someone who refuses to accept his position and strives to be something more.

The final story in the collection was Tanith Lee's "Love in the Time of Dragons." This was my least favourite but was still a good tale. My one complaint with the story was it was a bit graphic in parts when it did not seem necessary.

However the entertainment level rates on the other stories in this book, there are two words to describe "King Dragon" that people are just dodging around, but readers should probably be aware of before diving in. Those words are: dragon porn.

This is not literal of course. The dragon isn't exactly a dragon and the protagonist does not actually have sex with it. However, the scene of the mind melds reads as one giant innuendo for paragraph after paragraph.

One can dance around this with words like "dark" and "metaphor", and it IS a well written tale...but I'm sorry, I just could not enjoy reading this when all I could think of was "This is porn!!"

However, if you have the right sense of humor about mature audience narrative, you might find it funny. All of my friends sure did.

A bit odd this one, in look and some of the stories it seems like it is aimed at kids, then another couple of stories are not, definitely not young ones, anyway.

Dragon Quintet : In the Dragon's House - Orson Scott Card
Dragon Quintet : Judgment - Elizabeth Moon
Dragon Quintet : Love in a Time of Dragons - Tanith Lee
Dragon Quintet : Joust - Mercedes Lackey
Dragon Quintet : King Dragon - Michael Swanwick


Power mad.

2.5 out of 5


Rockleberries.

2.5 out of 5


Dragonbloke nookie.

3 out of 5


Egg appropriation escape plan.

4 out of 5


Just plane die.

3.5 out of 5




2.5 out of 5