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UK Authors - Sci-fi & fantasy |
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The Fire Dragon: Book III of the Dragon Mage |
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T he Fire Dragon: Book III of the Dragon Mage byKatharine Kerr Harper Collins (Voyager) 352 pages, 2000 ISBN 0002246473 Reviewed by our UK Editor Rachel A. Hyde This is the third and final book in The Dragon Mage trilogy, although in the entire Deverry Cycle it is book eleven. If this is your first encounter with Kerr’s astoundingly complex world, it would be wise to read Daggerspell first. Rhodry Maelwaedd and his bitter enemy Raena have been locked in combat since their last incarnation as Maddyn the bard and evil Lady Merodda, a handy lady with a bottle of poison. But all that was three hundred years ago, and now Rhodry is a berserker and Raena is both a shape-shifter and a prophetess for a new deity. Still feuding, this private war seems likely to destroy many more lives as well, unless the Dweomer folk can manage to break the chain of events and bring the vendetta to a timely close. Half of the action takes place in the present, the other half three hundred years in the past. The idea is - if you are new to Kerr’s work - that the characters have counterparts at other times in history as they are constantly reincarnated. The Fire Dragon may seem somewhat confusing, yet it is a tantalising tale of elves, half-elves and humans, dragons and wizards, in a vaguely Celtic scenario. In its favor, the story is so intricately crafted that I found myself wishing I had read the previous books in the series. I was glad of the table at the end, listing the characters and their incarnations through the ages. The Fire Dragon will appeal to those who enjoy a complex novel and a departure from the usual format. |
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