The Ring Of Five Dragons - Volume One Of The Pearl [Import] [Hardcover]

Eric Van Lustbader (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Tor: Tom Doherty Associates; 1ST edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002247291
• ISBN-13: 978-0002247290
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,042,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Van Lustbader is the author of more than twenty-five best-selling novels, including The Ninja, a New York Times bestseller for 24 weeks, in which he introduced Nicholas Linnear, one of modern fictions most beloved and enduring heroes. His New York Times bestselling novel, "The Testament," was published in September, 2006 and in paperback in August, 2007.
His novels have been translated into over twenty languages; his books are best-sellers worldwide and are so popular whole sections of bookstores from Bangkok to Dublin are devoted to them. The Ninja was sold to 20th Century-Fox. It is now in pre-production.
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business. He is a second-level Reiki master.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly different!, July 12, 2001

By 

David Rasquinha (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ring of Five Dragons (Pearl) (Hardcover)

Ring is a refreshingly different entry in the fantasy sweepstakes with Lustbader breaking away from the stereotyped battle between a group of innocents and an imprisoned "Dark One" aided by a band of apostates. For one, the scale of this series is galactic. The drama is played out on a single planet, but the key protagonists come from different star systems and in fact are ethnically very different. On one hand are the peaceful, almost passive Kundalan and on the other hand the aggressive, oppressive V'ornn. The V'ornn, as part of their history, have warred with and eradicated numerous other planets at the bidding of their mysterious technomage lords the Gyrgon. V'ornn society is male dominated and strictly stratified into merchants, warriors, workers and women. The Gyrgon themselves are a kind of super-caste who direct the actions of the V'ornn in a quest for an unknown goal. This quest has brought V'ornn and Gyrgon to Kundala where they oppress the peaceful Kundalan in a savage campaign of suppression. The Kundalan, unable to resist the superior might of the V'ornn, are driven to questioning the old gods and traditions of Kundala, which kept them prosperous and happy, yet were of no avail in the face of the V'ornn assault. Into this long dark night of the Kundalan soul comes a prophesied savior who may be able to restore the balance. That is the bare bones of the plot; however Lustbader brings a number of innovations that make this story special. First, the world of Kundala and the lifestyles of Kundalan and V'ornn are very well depicted, so much so that the reader can easily picture the scenes. Second, in keeping with some of his earlier writings, Lustbader brings a large dollop of mysticism to Ring. The blend of religion and sorcery is very well handled and the mystic element shapes the story. Third, social interactions within and across boundaries are very well painted. For all their external differences, the politics, lusts and feuds of V'ornn, Gyrgon and Kundalan alike are eminently human! For a change, women do play a more than ornamental role and in fact the unusual male-female dichotomy of its main protagonist should make future volumes very interesting indeed. And make no mistake, there will be more volumes! This book is just the setting of the stage (in fact it's ending hangs in the air) and the main story is yet to develop. A very promising first volume of a possible series (though of course this is really not Lustbader's fantasy debut - remember the excellent Sunset Warrior trilogy). Highly recommended.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars And this was PUBLISHED?!, December 13, 2003

By 

"rkcontreras" (Edgewood, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ring of Five Dragons (Pearl) (Hardcover)

Lustbader takes an intriguing idea and a decent story and ruins it with some of the worst writing I've seen in years. We're subjected to heavy-handed exposition, stilted, unbelievable dialog (REGENT'S SON'S FRIEND TO REGENT'S SON: "Your father is the second of the Ashera dynasty and you will succeed him, and your son will succeed you." REGENT'S SON: "Yes, Kurgan, and now that you've told me a fact I know perfectly well, the reader knows it too!"), abrubt, distracting point-of-view changes, bad TV sci-fi melodrama, and characters who do things convenient to the plot, rather than what someone would really do in those circumstances. Say, for example, the girl who's rescued from a rapist, then hangs around to watch rapist and rescuer do battle. Duh!

And then one of the main characters changes from a male V'ornn, the conquering race, to a female Kundalan, one of the conquered people. The guy evinces convincing initial horror at the transformation, then promptly assumes the behaviors and values of a Kundalan girl, with a few token flashes of his old personality sprinkled in here and there. I mean, really, where's the conflict and torment such a catastrophic change would create in a person? What we end up with is not a dominant male imprisoned in a slave-girl's body, but instead two different characters!

I tried really hard to read the whole book, but had all I could stand after plowing through half of it. I'm disappointed that a reputable publisher like Tor would inflict this kind of dreck on readers. Surely there are plenty of writers out there who not only can tell a good story, but who also know their craft. After 30 years of reading fantasy, can the genre have come to this?

47 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 21, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ring of Five Dragons (Pearl) (Hardcover)

Over a century ago, the vicious V'ornn conquered the peaceful Kundala as the military superiority and the amoral ability to kill overwhelmed the more spiritual people. Brutally enslaved by their conquerors, the Kundala cannot understand why the Goddess Miina abandoned them. The younger Kundala are leaving the ancient beliefs for a new religion as the V'ornn force their culture on the losers with little counter absorption.

Unlike their drones, the V'ornn leadership covet whatever is hidden inside the Kundalan Storehouse where they expect all sorts of sorcery secrets to be found, including eternal life. However they need to find the RING OF FIVE DRAGONS to open the door to the mystical storehouse. If they succeed, will the V'ornn obtain their desires, will they set in motion a doomsday scenario destroying everyone, or will they inadvertently begin the fulfilling of a prophecy that forecasts a Kundalan freedom fighter leading a resistance?

When the RING OF FIVE DRAGONS concentrates on the social interactions and upheavals between the two distinct societies, the novel is a superior fantasy tale. That part of the story line is incredibly insightful as it feels like the German blitzkrieg of Europe, especially when the bellicose V'ornn impact the culture of the pastoral Kundalan. When the story line returns to traditional epic fantasy, it retains its high level of quality and remains a fun to read adventure, but the plot is not any different from some of the other well-written genre tales. Eric Van Lustbader has written a fabulous book that fantasy readers will find entertaining and insightful, but could have been a cultural milestone if it stayed the interrelationship course.

Harriet Klausner