Bookflog: The Ruin by Richard Lee Byers (Prologue - Chapter 3)
After a largely disappointing middle section, I move on to the next installment in the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy. Oh please let this be more like the first book...
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Prologue and Chapters 1-3
As before, the prologue features a few new characters. If the pattern in the previous books holds, I bet they go vacationing on the Fugue plane before the book is done. A ranger named Stival and a wizard (or druid, not quite sure which) named Madislak manage to survive an attack by a white dracolich named Zethrindor (who I will refer to as Zeth if his name comes up again). There's also a very pretty apparation Whom the two breathing characters were sent to deal with. Someone who required a circle of druids to deal with...
Anyway, the Scooby gang of Taegan, Dorn, Kara, Will, Pavel, Raryn, Jivex and Brimstone head out North. There seems to have been yes another jump with only the tiniest of shoves to send them there. I hate that. I really do. In mitigation, the line of action is moving in a more linear fashion, so while the min group might be clueless, at least we don't seem to be hopping from sub-story to sub-story. They get a lead to a linnorn called “the Hermit” by the nearest tribes of the Nar (yes, I know all the place names get a little confusing). After some mutual introductory smacking around, the Hermit points the Scooby gang towards the Great glacier with instructions to Kick Sammaster in his withered, dried out cajones if they run across the lich. So off they go, with Brimstone lagging behind (since he's vampiric and can only travel at night).
Raryn's tribe lives on the Galcier. Unfortunately They seem to be unwillingly stuck under the rule of someone they call the Ice Queen. Lovely. Raryn's brother turns most of the Scooby gang over but attempts to keep Raryn back in their village. It doesn't go well and Raryn's bro ends up dead. His niece Joylin (really, really cute name ^_^) is upset and sad and confused by all of this, but runs into Brimstone and points the undead dragon in the right direction. And lives to tell the tale. I like her already and will be most displeased if she doesn't make it out of this. I hope she's wearing a blue shirt.
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Again with the gap and what appears to be the redshirts. Well at least I know not to get attached to them this time. While I am grumpy about the... jumpiness from the last installment I have regained some hope that the narrative will even itself out to something more akin to the first book.
--)--------
Prologue and Chapters 1-3
As before, the prologue features a few new characters. If the pattern in the previous books holds, I bet they go vacationing on the Fugue plane before the book is done. A ranger named Stival and a wizard (or druid, not quite sure which) named Madislak manage to survive an attack by a white dracolich named Zethrindor (who I will refer to as Zeth if his name comes up again). There's also a very pretty apparation Whom the two breathing characters were sent to deal with. Someone who required a circle of druids to deal with...
Anyway, the Scooby gang of Taegan, Dorn, Kara, Will, Pavel, Raryn, Jivex and Brimstone head out North. There seems to have been yes another jump with only the tiniest of shoves to send them there. I hate that. I really do. In mitigation, the line of action is moving in a more linear fashion, so while the min group might be clueless, at least we don't seem to be hopping from sub-story to sub-story. They get a lead to a linnorn called “the Hermit” by the nearest tribes of the Nar (yes, I know all the place names get a little confusing). After some mutual introductory smacking around, the Hermit points the Scooby gang towards the Great glacier with instructions to Kick Sammaster in his withered, dried out cajones if they run across the lich. So off they go, with Brimstone lagging behind (since he's vampiric and can only travel at night).
Raryn's tribe lives on the Galcier. Unfortunately They seem to be unwillingly stuck under the rule of someone they call the Ice Queen. Lovely. Raryn's brother turns most of the Scooby gang over but attempts to keep Raryn back in their village. It doesn't go well and Raryn's bro ends up dead. His niece Joylin (really, really cute name ^_^) is upset and sad and confused by all of this, but runs into Brimstone and points the undead dragon in the right direction. And lives to tell the tale. I like her already and will be most displeased if she doesn't make it out of this. I hope she's wearing a blue shirt.
--)--------
Again with the gap and what appears to be the redshirts. Well at least I know not to get attached to them this time. While I am grumpy about the... jumpiness from the last installment I have regained some hope that the narrative will even itself out to something more akin to the first book.