A Sword For a Dragon

by Christopher Rowley

Reviewed by Coral

The end of the war has brought many changes to our heroes.  Lagdalen is a new mother; Bazil has been abandoned by the female dragon he'd hoped to sire eggs with; and the wild dragon, Purple Green must become accustomed to life after the loss of his wings. Peace, however, does not last as long as they would have hoped: a civil war is brewing in Ourdh, and its emperor sends to Argonath, begging them for help in defeating the Sephisti rebels. Now our heroes find themselves at war once more. Only this time, they must combat the mistrust their allies have in them, as well as the mutiny building within their own ranks, if they are to survive.

This is not a bad book, though it does have its weak moments.

I hated how Lagdalen, who we're supposed to believe is an accomplished spy/agent, was reduced to a "damsel-in-distress" character. I also hated how she spent practically the entire book whining about missing her daughter. I get it, you're a mother. Honestly, she's such a pathetic character in this book. She would have been much more tolerable if she had cut back on the whining and done her job, protecting the interests of her country. All she did was whine!

I'm not sure how many more times I can read the "main character held prisoner in the middle of enemy territory but escapes unscathed" storyline in a Rowley book before it loses all believability. You'd think at least one of these bad guys would just kill them outright, or at least invest in better dungeon security.

Again with the multiple battle scenes! And the atrocious grammar! Some of his sentences didn't even make any sense. And what kind of editor lets a book be published with an "as" instead of "was". They do proofread these things, right?

Speaking of the language used in the book, I really don't think using French words is all that appropriate. This is a fantastical land, where French doesn't exist. In the same vein, I don't think you should use the term Adonis when referring to a beautiful man, because Adonis is a Greek myth, not an Argonath one. And why would a religion be referred to as Satanic, when Satan does not exist in the beliefs of this world? Authors really have to start looking at the words and phrases they use in their books, because some of this stuff is ridiculous.

And yet, after everything, the book is still an enjoyable read.

Grade: B