Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
fantasy 576 pages (book club book)
This is my review of Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn. This is the first book in a trilogy (to be followed by a second trilogy later).
I am a fantasy nerd and this type of book is why. As a young child I was fascinated by The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Especially Smaug. The idea of dragons was such a fun and cool concept to me as a kid that I devoured anything I could find on them. Sadly, that was not too much considering I grew up in rural Oklahoma. But my love of the genre and dragons in general started there.
The story is a simple one. Rohan becomes Prince of the desert when his father dies trying to kill a dragon. Enemies are everywhere as the mantle of power is shifting in the world as The High Prince Roelstra wants nothing more than to take over everything. Secretly, he meets Sioned, a sunrunner and they decide to marry. Rohan then has to try to out maneuver and out think Roelstra and the rest of his enemies to marry the woman he loves and to save his kingdom.
What I like about the book. For me, everything starts and ends with the characterization. Which is handled pretty well in this book. You meet a cast of characters that all seem to have a purpose and even their own flaws. Rohan is young an inexperienced in the ways of political intrigue, but unlike his father, he wants to settle thing without resorting to violence. It is a very idealistic way to try to handle things and he is then forced to do things he would later regret. That is the way life is sometimes. You have the best intentions, but sometimes things happen that force your hand. I like Rohan because he wants to do what is right, but still has his own weaknesses and flaws. We are all flawed, so characters in stories should be as well. It was also fun to see how he could tweak Andrade and do things she did not expect him to do. She is one arrogant woman.
Sioned is also interesting. I love the magic of this world and how it plays such an important part to the story. She knows she is being manipulated by Andrade, but still falls in love with Rohan. The things she does for him terrify her, but that is what love does to people. We are all willing to do things we would never even contemplate to defend someone we care about. She does a few things that are a bit wrong, but understandable as well.
The daughter’s of Roelstra are good at showing how manipulative women can be sometimes. Ianthe and Pansdala are both scheming to get out from under their own prison. Roelstra has so many daughters and he needs a son to be heir, and they know the only way they can get out from under that problem is by marrying Rohan. So they try very hard to make that happen, especially Ianthe whom after it did not work the way she wanted it, harbored A LOT of anger that really came out later in the book.
I love the magic. I love the fact that they can communicate with other sunrunner’s by using sunlight/moonlight. It is a cool concept and one that I really appreciated it. Sunrunner’s are not supposed to use their gifts to kill, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Cool stuff.
I love the setting of the world and the dragons, which really play more of an important part in later books. But the idea of Rohan being the dragon prince, since they fought for him (or against Roelstra’s men) was cool. I also love that once it was over, he forbade anyone else to kill a dragon for any reason.
What I didn’t like about the book. Why does everyone always have to be so damn pretty? Are there never people in fantasy worlds that are ordinary looking?
I would like to have had more about the Sunrunner’s and Andrade, but I also know more of that comes in later books.
Would I read more of this author? I have in the past read this entire series and loved it. So, yes I would.
fantasy 576 pages (book club book)
This is my review of Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn. This is the first book in a trilogy (to be followed by a second trilogy later).
I am a fantasy nerd and this type of book is why. As a young child I was fascinated by The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Especially Smaug. The idea of dragons was such a fun and cool concept to me as a kid that I devoured anything I could find on them. Sadly, that was not too much considering I grew up in rural Oklahoma. But my love of the genre and dragons in general started there.
The story is a simple one. Rohan becomes Prince of the desert when his father dies trying to kill a dragon. Enemies are everywhere as the mantle of power is shifting in the world as The High Prince Roelstra wants nothing more than to take over everything. Secretly, he meets Sioned, a sunrunner and they decide to marry. Rohan then has to try to out maneuver and out think Roelstra and the rest of his enemies to marry the woman he loves and to save his kingdom.
What I like about the book. For me, everything starts and ends with the characterization. Which is handled pretty well in this book. You meet a cast of characters that all seem to have a purpose and even their own flaws. Rohan is young an inexperienced in the ways of political intrigue, but unlike his father, he wants to settle thing without resorting to violence. It is a very idealistic way to try to handle things and he is then forced to do things he would later regret. That is the way life is sometimes. You have the best intentions, but sometimes things happen that force your hand. I like Rohan because he wants to do what is right, but still has his own weaknesses and flaws. We are all flawed, so characters in stories should be as well. It was also fun to see how he could tweak Andrade and do things she did not expect him to do. She is one arrogant woman.
Sioned is also interesting. I love the magic of this world and how it plays such an important part to the story. She knows she is being manipulated by Andrade, but still falls in love with Rohan. The things she does for him terrify her, but that is what love does to people. We are all willing to do things we would never even contemplate to defend someone we care about. She does a few things that are a bit wrong, but understandable as well.
The daughter’s of Roelstra are good at showing how manipulative women can be sometimes. Ianthe and Pansdala are both scheming to get out from under their own prison. Roelstra has so many daughters and he needs a son to be heir, and they know the only way they can get out from under that problem is by marrying Rohan. So they try very hard to make that happen, especially Ianthe whom after it did not work the way she wanted it, harbored A LOT of anger that really came out later in the book.
I love the magic. I love the fact that they can communicate with other sunrunner’s by using sunlight/moonlight. It is a cool concept and one that I really appreciated it. Sunrunner’s are not supposed to use their gifts to kill, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Cool stuff.
I love the setting of the world and the dragons, which really play more of an important part in later books. But the idea of Rohan being the dragon prince, since they fought for him (or against Roelstra’s men) was cool. I also love that once it was over, he forbade anyone else to kill a dragon for any reason.
What I didn’t like about the book. Why does everyone always have to be so damn pretty? Are there never people in fantasy worlds that are ordinary looking?
I would like to have had more about the Sunrunner’s and Andrade, but I also know more of that comes in later books.
Would I read more of this author? I have in the past read this entire series and loved it. So, yes I would.