Customer Reviews

The Ring of Five Dragons (Pearl)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

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.

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?

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

The Ring of Five Dragons (2001) is the first Fantasy novel in The Pearl series. The V'oorn have been nomads since their sun went nova, burning their home planet to a cinder. They have wandered from star to star, conquered the native races, and then moved on to the next system. Then the V'oorn encountered the Centophennni and were severely defeated in battle. Fleeing from enemy pursuit, a segment of the V'oorn had found Kundala and overwhelmed the passive Kundalans. Now they rule from Axis Tyr, exploiting the planet and its population.

In this novel, eighty-five years after the V'oorn invasion of Kundala, the twin sisters Giyan and Bartta are Ramahan novices. Walking north from their home in Stone Border toward the Ice Caves, Bartta sees a tail flick out from under a golden rock. She turns the rock over to show Giyan an ugly lorg. Konara Mossa, their Ramahan guardian, has taught the girls that lorgs are evil creatures that ensnare the souls of dying infants. Giyan believes this to be pure superstition, but Bartta flings a stone at the lorg. Giyan questions her reasons and interferes with her efforts, but Bartta kills the lorg anyway. Three days later, the V'oorn capture Giyan and take her to Axis Tyr as a slave.

Sixteen years later, Konara Bartta is walking along the same dry gully, looking for the golden rock. Twice she walks by it, but on the third try she finds the rock covered with dust and kuello-fir needles. Now the rock is lying across a fissure in the gully bed. Then she hears a sound from the fissure. She backs away from it and starts to flee, but a great horned owl flies over her and swoops over the long flat rock three times. Bartta sees the owl as an omen from the Great Goddess Miina. Reluctantly, Bartta returns to the fissure and climbs down in it, circling the edges of a deeper crevasse, and finds a young girl of about fifteen years dying of duur fever. The girl knows her name is Riane, but most of her memories are gone. Bartta carries her out of the fissure, despite repeated earth tremors, and takes her to Bartta's home in Stone Border.

Annon is the son of the Regent Eleusis Ashera. Kurgan Stogggul is the son of Wennn Stogggul. Both are Bashkir -- the Great Caste from which the regents are selected by the Gyrgon -- and their fathers hate each other. Yet the boys care little about the animosity of their fathers.

Annon and Kurgan are out hunting when they spy a Kundalan girl, Eleana, walking through a stream with her skirts gathered up. They race to the stream and, when Annon starts to gain a lead, Kurgan trips him and reaches the girl first. He rips off her clothes and starts to rape her, but Annon has second thoughts and pulls him off her. Annon tells her to run away, but she lingers, watching the fight as she gathers her clothes. As they are struggling, a gyreagle attacks Annon and Kurgan gains the upper hand. After raping Eleana, Kurgan binds up Annon's wound and helps him back to his home.

Nith Sahor is a Gyrgon, one of Those That Summon. He summons the Regent to the Temple of Mnemonics and interrogates him about the Kundalans, Za Hara-at and Giyan. While apparently understanding the significance of the Kundalan mysteries, Nith Sahor stresses the need for the Comradeship to obtain the Ring of Five Dragons. Eleusis Ashera continues to state that he will not betray Giyan.

In this story, the V'oorn have been stymied in their search for the Kundalan secrets. They have obtained huge quantities of information about the Kundalan religion through informers and torture, but still don't know truth from falsehood. Some Gyrgons follow Nith Sahor in his appreciation of Kundalan practices, but his opponents are suppressing such views. They know about the Ring of Five Dragons and its connection to the Pearl, but misuse the Ring when it falls into their hands.

This novel is an allegory about religion and science, portraying the extremes of each viewpoint. The true heroes in this struggle are the moderates who argue for an accommodation between the two views. Still, the fanatics on both sides seem to be winning.

This story is full of strange words. While both cultures are alien, the constructed vocabulary gets to be overwhelming at times. Yet, these strange words lend an alien flair to the tale. At least the cast of main characters is not very large compared to other such epics.

This story is also very violent. Since it depicts an invasion and conquest, such violence is to be expected. Of course, it has been going on for one hundred and one years; to some extent, such violence has become institutionalized. Thus, the rape of Kundalan girls by V'oorn youths is accepted behavior, at least by the conquerors. After all, who listens to complaints from the losers?

This novel is written by the author of The Sunset Warrior trilogy and the White Ninja series. Some aspects of these prior works are evident in this series, particularly the violence. The Caste structure also may have come from the Japanese background of the White Ninja series; the social order in this story is much like that of the Shogunate period.

Recommended for Lustbader fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, political intrigue and magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

At the outset, let me state that I am not a fan of the trend towards "multi-volume epics," for the simple fact that 99% of them either don't have enough story to support that treatment or the author isn't up to handling that format adequately. In some cases it's a bit of both, and that describes RING OF FIVE DRAGONS pretty well.

Others have already mentioned the book's primary shortcomings: Uneven pacing, inconsistant characterizations, routine (and even recognizable) mythology, deus ex machina revelations, plot holes, and a disturbing fascination with inter-species sex. Let me assure you that all these objections are valid, in spades, and then some.

In addition, this book contains several vivid descriptions of rapes, and particularly of a double rape and murder, and the disturbing way these scenes were handled added nothing to the plot (such as it is) and seemed entirely gratuitous.

As I write this, the second book in this "epic" is available, but I won't be buying it. Nothing in the first book entertained me or made me care what happens to these characters, so I won't waste my money...or my time... on the second.

This is book one of a five-book doorstopper series that will probably be 3500 pages total.... Therefore, know what you're getting into.

This book has some background easily recognizable to Dune fans: the concubine witch with the heart of gold who births the possible messiah, the reformist (or less evil) conquering governor, the family rivalries, the corrupted magical women's cult that seeks to control events from behind-the-scenes, the indigenous people of the out-of-the-way planet who hold the future of the cosmos in their hands. Lustbader's addition of high fantasy elements, faster pacing and dearth of (overt) moralizing separate this from Dune in clear ways. But his source material is easy to discern.

That said, this is a good merger of fantasy with science fiction: the characters and their motivations are believable, the action is quick, the dramatis personae is not too extensive, the writing is good, the plotline is coherent, and the pacing is very good for a first book of a multivolume series. There are numerous twists, some obvious, others not. Lustbader is a pro and has been writing for decades, he has honed novel-crafting skills, therefore he lets the story evolve so as to maintain interest without swamping you with information and strange arcana.

I'm normally a scifi reader rather than fantasy, but my wife picked this up for me in a used bookstore so I gave it a try. I certainly wasn't prepared for how enjoyable and interesting this story was!

It's really a mixture of fantasy and science fiction, and dwells on the debate of faith vs. reason. I found the writing superb as well, sometimes transporting me solely by its literary merit. The other reviewers who panned the writing in this book must be used to a different style; but coming from a background of enjoying scifi, classics and mystical poetry, I found Lustbader's prose to be exactly what I was looking for in a pleasant evening-time read.

I went on to finish out the whole series, and while I wouldn't rather the next two books quite as highly, I would certainly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys the fantasy and scifi genres.

The book has many good points and the story moves along at a fairly good pace. However, the author's choice of the names and vocabulary do nothing to add to the story, in fact his invented words deter from the enjoyment of reading the book. We, the readers, are aware of the fact that the story does not take place on earth by the reference to five moons and the physical description of the conquering race without the jawbreaking names. The most disappointing part of the whole book was the ending. The reader knows it is going to happen, you are running out of pages, but then it happens and you have to go back several pages and read it again to see if you missed anything, because it didn't really end it just sort of... stops.

Eric Van Lustbader's "The Ring of Five Dragons" is definitely not worth reading. In a nutshell, the characters' behaviors are sometimes just silly, the writing stilted, the magic system undefined to the point where its use is nonsensical, and some of the major plot mechanisms are jaw-dropping unbelievable. I rate it at a Bad 1 star out of 5. Don't bother.

If you enjoy a lot of description and back-story coupled with a very elaborate imagination, this is for you. There's a lot of violence, a lot of long paragraphs (half a page for a single paragraph is typical) of detailed description and a lot of dialogue. There's action too, but the proportion of dialogue and description slow the story down - hence the nearly 700-page length.

This author sometimes writes poetically and his imagination and capacity for detail are remarkable. But halfway through, I almost felt like giving up, discouraged by the amount of violence and the slow unfolding of the plot. I don't think I'll read the next ones in this series; it just required too much patience and I caught myself wondering why I was subjecting myself to a story this complicated and violent.