"A fitting installment to this great fantasy"
Dragonslayer Lord John Aversin waits death for the hideous
crime of trafficking with demons though his cause was noble
and honorable. Still, his fate may seem helpless, but John
tries to figure out a way to escape his incarceration
before the executioner completes the task of killing him.
Perhaps at one time his beloved Jenny Waynest could have
saved him through her magic, but she lost that when he
chose humanity, specifically her husband, in a previous
battle. The Demon Queen Aohila visits John in his cell informing
the condemned man that his spouse Jenny is dying from the
poisoned arrows of the gnomes. The dragon comes next and
takes John away from certain death even as war between the
armies of hell and humanity explodes. Will John find and
save his Jenny and if so will they finally comprehend
friend from foe in a realm in which magic makes it
impossible to delineate who will amiably dine with you
while plotting to kill you? Though a fine recap opens the exciting epic fantasy
DRAGONSTAR, to fully savor the tale the audience needs to
read previous novels in the series (see DRAGONSBANE,
DRAGONSHADOW and KNIGHT OF THE DEMON QUEEN). The story
line continues the adventures of John and Jenny yet retain
consistency through these two heroes. The action packed
story line provides closure to previous threads while
containing the belief that good and evil depends on the
relationship between the transmitter and the receiver.
Barbara Hambly has another winner that will more than
satisfy her fans. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 2, 2002
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The novels of New York Times bestselling author Barbara
Hambly have broken new ground in the realm of fantasy. With
a sweeping cast of characters whose powers are both awesome
and heartachingly limited, the Dragon series is built
around the touching relationship between a husband and wife
separated by a flood of violence and chaos. Condemned to die for consorting with demons, dragonslayer
Lord John Aversin sits in a dank prison cell and calculates
the odds of escape, while smelling the smoke of the
executioners' pyres. In Winterlands, Jenny Waynest pays a
heavy price for choosing to be human, mourning the loss of
her husband, Lord John, and the dangers that engulf her
family. But in a season of the Dragon Star, strange
miracles are about to transpire. As a pitched battle between the Hellspawn and the human
rages, Jenny and John will be reunited in a city under
siege. And there, they will have one last chance to
understand all that has happened to them and why, who their
true enemies and true allies are, and most of all, for what
magical purpose each has been chosen. A vast adventure and a powerful mystery teeming with demons
and witches, gnomes and dragons, Dragonstar explores
profound issues of faith, fate, and technology--while
obscuring long held boundaries between good and evil, love
and hate, what is human and what is fantastic. With this
glorious finale to a breathtaking series, Barbara Hambly
establishes herself as one of the most visionary and
inventive storytellers in the field of fantasy fiction
today.
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