Customer Reviews

Master of Dragons (Dragonvarld Trilogy, Book 3)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Master of Dragons is the final book in the Dragonvarld trilogy by Margaret Weis, and like so many other trilogies that are up and down from the beginning to the end, Weis completes the series in a positive manner after a true stinker of a second book. I really disliked Dragon's Son, but the third book definitely made up for it. It still suffered from some of the same problems, but ultimately it overcomes those deficiencies to make a somewhat thrilling conclusion.

The twin sons of Melisande, kept apart for so many years, have come together in DragonKeep, the hidden stronghold where sinister dragon-human breeding experiments are being done in order to establish dragon dominance over the human populace. It seems some of the dragons are threatened by some of the weaponry that humans are developing, weapons that could actually kill a dragon. Thus, the non-interference law of the dragons is being subverted by three dragons: Grald, Maristara, and Anora. An army is being raised, magic-wielding and unstoppable. Young Ven, the son of the dragon, is introduced to his many brethren, all fathered by Grald on various human females, and he is as repulsed as most normal humans are at him. Meanwhile, Marcus (Melisande's son by King Edward) and Evelina escape back to his home, to warn of the imminent danger. But will they be too late? And will even Draconas' help, he who is the dragon walker, be enough to stem the tide? The Parliament of Dragons is divided, and the cost of that might be the wiping out of humanity.

Weis really redeems herself with Master of Dragons. Yes, Evelina's still annoying (and more on her later), but Marcus is a much stronger character here than he was in the second book. We don't see a lot of Ven, so he wasn't as irritating either. In fact, the characterization all around was pretty good, with Draconas (as always) being the best and most fascinating. It truly helps this book that he is featured a lot more than he was before. He has walked among humans for many years, and he has a grudging affection for them, even as they get on his nerves. He spends some time hiding in DragonKeep as a little girl as he is being hunted by Grald and his minions. He ends up being sheltered by a nice couple whose daughter has been given to the dragon (though, as far as they know, she is thoroughly happy there, not knowing the evil truth). He feels a lot of sympathy for them, especially after he discovers the truth of what happened to their daughter.

There is one characterization issue that continued to bother me, but it wasn't the mishandling of the character that was the problem. There are characters that you love to hate, and those that you just wish you could reach through the page and rip them out of it so you never have to interact with them again while you are reading. Evelina is one of those characters. She's a scheming harpy, only looks out for herself, and unwittingly saves the day at the end, but her conniving just became abrasive to read about. It didn't help that Weis figuratively puts her in the reader's face, with many asides talking about her schemes (either through narration or Evelina's thoughts). I'm glad that she avoids a last minute redemption for her, however, as that would have truly grated and made the rest of the story virtually worthless.

The plot was a lot more interesting this time around, too. We finally see the culmination of the dragons' plans, and we see a lot of interesting interaction among the various dragons of the Parliament. Since I cared about the characters more this time, the action was actually quite tense. I was actually affected when Grald was threatening to fulfill his threats to take over Ven and use his body to lead the Dragon warriors to victory. I hated Evelina, I didn't want to see Marcus get hurt by her. Ok, I wouldn't have minded if a dragon swooped down and bit Evelina in two, but they can't all be winners. Overall, though, the plotting and the characters were quite well done. I didn't even mind the "how convenient" way that Evelina unwittingly saved everything, though I did roll my eyes a bit.

Weis' prose gives the action scenes a quite vivid feel, and I was almost able to see the dragons swooping around fighting each other. The final battle between Draconas and the last remaining dragon conspirator was breathtaking. Even more effective was the rescue of Marcus from the dragon army. While the characters involved (with the exception of Marcus) weren't anybody we had been introduced too, Weis gives them just enough depth that the inevitable result feels like it matters.

If it weren't for Evelina and Weis inability to make me even like to read about her (since we're obviously not supposed to like her), this book would easily be a 5-star conclusion to a great trilogy. Her ability to bring together all the myriad pieces that she's introduced in the first two books is very good. That, combined with the characterization that I did like, and plotting which made sense, makes this an enjoyable read. I can't wait to see what Weis has up her sleeve next.

David Roy

Master of Dragons by Margaret Weis is the third and final book in the Dragonvarld Trilogy. In this book Weis ties up loose ends from the previous two books and brings the trilogy to a conclusion while still leaving it wide open for future novels with these characters.

I have a few complaints, all minor, about this book. However, I think overall this is a very good book and continues the long tradition of Weis' writing. Unlike her co-author of many books (Tracey Hickman) Weis is able to weave an intriguing tale in her own world and continue to show the depth of both plot and characters.

While the plot in this book, and trilogy for that matter, is interesting, make no mistake about it - this book is driven by the characters. All of the characters from Marcus to Ven all the way to Draconas have doubts and flaws. These flaws make the characters more believable and it makes it easier to get into the story and `root' for certain characters while despising others. As with most trilogies the vast majority of actual character development happened in the two previous books. There is some development in this book, but not a large amount.

The plot has been laid out for the reader in the first two books for the most part. There are a few elements that are added to the story, most elements are fleshed out more and depth added to them. In terms of fantasy genre plots this plot is a little on the cliché side. Many plot points within this story can be guessed by the reader taking a little away from the reader wanting a `fresh' reading experience. However, Weis writes it in such a way that it doesn't overly detract from the story. Being that I have read a lot of fantasy, particularly from Weis, maybe I was expecting too much from this final book.. I don't want to come across as saying this was a bad book, quite the opposite, it is very good.

My one major complaint is the ending of the book. It seems very rushed and too compact for the scope of the story. It all seems so nice and polished when in fact the entire three books are chaotic and all over the place, for some books the ending would be appropriate, for this book (and trilogy) the ending just didn't seem to fit for me.

With all that said I would recommend these three books to fantasy fans wanting a nice gentle read with some intrigue and mayhem. This is not an epic fantasy tale, but it is a nice compact well written tale that I believe most fantasy fans will enjoy. If you are a fan of Weis' Dragonlance work, you will definitely enjoy these three books.

I do not usually read in this genre, but I found this series of books engaging and fun to read. Characters were interesting and both good and bad. The dragon sequences were highly entertaining. Though I thought the ending was too nicely wrapped up, the whole series was well worth the read. I would recommend this series to any new fantasy reader or anyone looking for just a good read. I have already decided to try more by Weis.

Master of Dragons, the final book in Margaret Weis's Dragonvarld trilogy was a tasty but sloppy finale -- like a cheesecake that didn't quite set.

This last book wraps things up, as we knew it would, and everything is finally well in the world, as we knew it would be. There are some fine moments (Draconas showing tenderness to a female dragon, Ven finds a family, Marcus falls in love) and even some hilarious ones (Draconas darning socks, Evelina's ironic fate). Characterization, especially of the bad guys, continues to be a high point, and the writing is nothing brilliant, but certainly pleasant enough.

But this otherwise entertaining novel suffers from internal inconsistencies:

* On page 38, Draconas is said to wear "the guise of a human male in his thirties," and 5 pages later he is described as "a human male of undetermined years."

* Draconas has cast the illusion that he is a little girl while staying in DragonKeep. He is able to eavesdrop on adults because of his keen dragon hearing. But, later, we are told that as a little girl "his hearing was so reduced that it seemed his ears were stuffed with wax."

* Much of what Anora (Prime Minister of the dragon parliament) says to the parliament is illogical and none of the dragons ever notice. For example, she says she should have removed Draconas from his post as "walker" because he was starting to become emotionally involved with humans, but she didn't remove him because he was the best walker they'd ever had because he was able to stay detached from humans. Then she says that she became involved in Maristara and Grald's plot 200 years ago because humans had become such a threat (she cites their canons), but a few lines later she says that because their plot went awry, the humans created canons (a few years ago). Sometimes she indicates that the canons are a threat which, though they are no threat, show that humans are, for the first time in their history, preparing to fight dragons.

There also seem to be inconsistencies about dragon magic vs dragon blood, who can see through illusions and who can't, and to what extent thoughts can be shielded from others with dragon magic. These sorts of "rules" seem to be conveniently flexible. For example, one of the monks is able to see through illusions, yet he doesn't recognize Draconas?

Then there are the unbelievable elements. For example, Anora's betrayal just doesn't ring true -- it sounds like a forced plot twist. And, Anora says that to keep their plot secret from Draconas, they had to kill some good dragons (which she seems to regret) when, if they had just killed Draconas instead, everything would have been fine. And it didn't make sense to keep the plot from the dragon parliament if the purpose of it was to protect the dragons from the might-someday-be-threatening humans. It would have made immensely more sense, and been a lot less stressful, to just go to the parliament and say "hey, these humans want to kill us -- let's kill them first." That seems a lot easier and a lot more likely to be successful than to embark on a 200 year breeding program in order to try to figure out if they might someday rule the humans with half-human, half-dragon creatures and a pack of mad monks. (And let's not forget that the humans weren't even starting to threaten the dragons until AFTER the breeding program started.) (And let's not forget that Anora even says herself that the humans are not actually threatening yet -- they just might be in the future.) The whole thing just seems sloppy. Half-baked.

I listened to this on audiobook. The reader, a woman, did a great job with the female voices. At first I thought she was doing a great job with the male voices too, because her voice for Grald, the first male speaker, was excellent -- really slimy. Unfortunately, she used the same slimy voice for every male character in the entire book.

My overall opinion of this series: Unless you've just got a thing for dragons, I'd recommend choosing something better.

The title would make you think that the King's son became the master of dragons, but I didn't see it that way. To me, Draconas became the master of dragons, because he outsmarted all of them. Again, not a 5 in my book, I'm stingy with those, but a good series and I would like to see more of Vengeance and his siblings.

I never cared in the slightness to even pick up a book and read it through How ever when I sat down and actually read the book "Mistress of Dragons" I was eclipsed and entranced the theis trilogy books. Margaret Weis Book make you want to read on and on. And the surprise in it was fantastic. I Wouldn't be surpised in the slight's if they decide to put her books in the big screen! I would buy them! lol. Theis books are my absalutly TOP favorit books to read. Im finding myself reading other books thanks to her Brilliant trilagy THANK YOU MAGARET WEIS!
lol,
Also when i received this book it was in great shape, as if it where right out of the shelf. and the dilvery of the book was very fast indeed!
Thank you very much!

During the summer Months when I'm not in school, I look forward to Entertainment ýreading something that's Sci- Fi and action packed; I feel that Margaret Weis has done ýthis in her Dragonvarld Trilogy. She captivated me with Mistress of the Dragons and kept ýme with Dragon's Son, and left me wanting more similar reading with the last Master of ýthe Dragons. (She is a real entertainment break from regular graduate school work, lol)ý

Third book in a highly recommended trilogy, enjoyed it very much, was shipped in a timely fashion

I really enjoyed the entire series and this book was no exception.

The book had a little bit of something for everyone. Lots of action, with well thought-out battles and suspensefukl turns of events.

There was suspense, politics and intrique. Lots of good stuff :)

But what really made this series interesting were the characters. The main characters were well-thought-out and developed as the story progressed. Plus they weren't the usual invincible heroes that are found in many of today's fantasy books. Instead, they faced real struggles and often needed outside help to overcome the odds. The characters often doubted themselves and what they should do. This made the story more interesting to me. Plus, the emotions of the characters felt real to me.

Add to this some really interesting villians and an interesting story-line and you get a really good novel. A fun and interesting read.

My only real complaint is that in a few places the action seemed a little rushed. But overall this did not detract from the quality of the narrative.

One word of warning - This is the final book of a trilogy and you will be lost if you don't read the first 2 books, but both of those were very good books as well.

Margaret Weis' Master Of Dragons receives Suzanne Toren's vivid reading as it concludes Weiss' Dragonvarld trilogy, a story of politics, war and struggle. Familiarity with the prior books is recommended for a smooth continuation of a powerful story of violence, betrayal, and a divided kingdom which incites war and outlaw dragons. A powerful fantasy.