The Last Dragonlord - Softcover

Bertin, Joanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812545419 ISBN 13: 9780812545418

Publisher: St Martin's Press, 2013

Synopsis

Dragonlord Linden Rathan, last-born of a race of immortal weredragons, has spent six hundred years alone, searching for his soultwin while his fellow Dragonlords watch over humanity's Five Kingdoms.When the Queen of Cassori dies mysteriously, Linden and the other Dragonlords are called upon to prevent civil war as two human claimants vie for the regency.As the battle for Cassori rule escalates, Linden becomes the target of the Fellowship, a secret society of true-humans who could actually destroy his immortal life.Then he meets a beautiful young ship captain named Maurynna who may be the only one who can help Linden bring Cassori back from the brink of chaos.

About this title

Review

Dragonlords, according to Joanne Bertin, are immensely long-lived humans whose souls are half dragon and who can shapeshift into dragon form. The title character of her enjoyable debut fantasy is Linden Rathan, youngest of the dragon folk at a mere six centuries and still moping without a "soultwin" mate of his own kind. Unexpectedly he's sent to the city of Casna as one of three Dragonlord judges--the court of last appeal--to sort out a disputed succession. Adventure begins.

Casna is full of surprises, including much tangled intrigue whose strings are pulled by the Fraternity of Blood, a secret society long thought extinct but still dedicated to wiping out Dragonlords and their uncomfortably fair justice. Linden's dalliance with a lovely court lady is fraught with dangers he doesn't realise, and the discovery of his unexpected soultwin leads to new crises. Meanwhile the cold-eyed mage of the Fraternity is brewing poison and shaping deadly spells. Other plotters and counterplotters keep tugging in different directions. The multi-stranded narrative builds tension and a genuine sense of menace.

Bertain paints her characters deftly, with Dragonlords, nobles and villains all having very human flaws that lead to misunderstandings and big mistakes. At last everything is resolved in a satisfyingly fiery climax. A good fantasy read with some nicely original touches, The Last Dragonlord is a stand-alone story but also has a sequel: Dragon and Phoenix. --David Langford

Review

At last--a new take on dragons! Delightful characters, well-realized setting, witty dialogue, and a whole new species of dragon. I can't wait to read the further adventures of Linden and Maurynna. "Judith Tarr" I enjoyed this very much indeed. It's nice to find a new writer of such obvious merit and vivid imageries. Joanne Bertin is a brand-new author whose first yarn is extremely readable, with good descriptions, good characterization, and really evil people for villains. "Anne McCaffrey""

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0812545419
• ISBN 13: 9780812545418
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512