Jenno’s Ool

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

My Tarot Card

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Posted by Jennifer at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)  

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Dragon Books 101

I had a request to list some "dragon books" and my opinions on them a few weeks ago. I came up with a respectable list, though by no means complete, from my library. Without further ado, here it is:

Joanne Bertin: "The Last Dragonlord" and "Dragon and Phoenix"
I like this series, it's different in that there are weredragons/shapeshifters. Easy read, there is supposed to be a third book "Bard's Oath" but no word so far when it will be out.

Steven Brust: Vlad Taltos Series. First book is "Jhereg"
There will eventually be 17 short books in the set. They're all short, VERY fun, excellent reads. There are "real" dragons in some of them, main character is an assassin with a wise cracking winged-lizard familiar. I've re-read this series at least two or three times now.

Janine Cross: Dragon Temple Saga: "Touched by Venom", "Shadowed by Wings" and "Forged by Fire"
Reviews are mixed; Darker fantasy with some reported overtones of bestiality although I've not come across any yet. I'm reading the first book now and it will determine if I'll buy the other two. So far it's good. The dragons are not tame and are kept, in part, as beasts of burden as there do not seem to be any horses or cattle on this world.

Graham Edwards: "Dragoncharm", "Dragonstorm" and "Dragonflame" and sister triology: Sky and Stone
I read the first trilogy but haven't yet started the second. It didn't seem to grab me very much. The second trilogy follows some of the dragons from the first. Very few humans about.

Craig Gardner: "Dragon Sleeping" , "Dragon Waking" and "Dragon Burning"
I didn't care for this series at all. Bought the books then sold them soon after reading them. Was just *meh* all around.

Thorarinn Gunnarsson: "Dragon's Domain" and The Mystara Trilogy: "Dragon Lord of Mystara", "Dragon King of Mystara" and "Dragon Mage of Mystara"
All four books are easy, popcorn reads. Dragon's Domain is a stand alone novel where dragons are the main characters. There are some humans about. The trilogy has about equal representation of dragons and humans.

Daniel Hood: Fanuilh Series. Set of five books, first of which is "Fanuilh".
Short, mystery/detective type stories; The "dragon" is a miniature dragon familiar. I enjoyed them. They can stand on their own but it's better to read them in sequence.

Elizabeth Kerner: "Song in the Silence", "The Lesser Kindred" and "Redeeming the Lost".
Trilogy; Good stuff though I liked the first book the best. Dragons and humans are about equally represented.

Elizabeth A. Lynn: "Dragon's Winter" and "Dragon's Treasure"
I've only read the first book, the second one took so long to come out that by the time I got it, I forgot what happened in the first one. I wasn't inclined to re-read "Dragon's Winter" at the time. I should give it a second chance, maybe.

Anne McCaffrey: Dragonriders of Pern.
A prolific writer, there are many novels based in Pern; her son is doing most of the writing now. The earlier books are the strongest (the Dragonrider trilogy and Harper Hall trilogy for instance).

Melanie Rawn: Two trilogies: Dragon Prince: "Dragon Prince", "The Star Scroll" and "Sunrunner's Fire" and Dragon Star: "Stronghold", "Dragon Token" and "Skybowl"
Good books, the 2nd trilogy picks up soon after the first ends. Dragons are important but in the background most of the time.

Naomi Novik: Temeraire series "His Majesty's Dragon", "Throne of Jade", "Black Powder War" and "Empire of Ivory" (forthcoming)
Excellent series! Think Napoleonic Wars with dragons instead of airplanes and you won't be too far off.

Alan F. Troop: Dragon DelaSangre series "The Dragon DelaSangre", "Dragon Moon", "The Seadragon's Daughter" and "A Host of Dragons"
I've read the first book but haven't read the others yet. More shapeshifting dragons here but not of the same flavour as Joanne Bertin's weredragons. A good, easy read.

Irene Radford: She has a number of trilogies based in the same world at different times in its history: The Dragon Nimbus, The Dragon Nimbus History and The Stargods.
All the books are easy reads. The dragons are almost invisible and appear only to certain people.

Jo Walton: "Tooth and Claw".
A single, stand alone book. Think Victorian Society meets dragons. A somewhat predictable ending but fun nonetheless.

Weis and Hickman: Dragonlance series: many, many books based in the world of Krynn. Start with the Chronicles series: "Dragons of Autumn Twilight", "Dragons of Winter Night", "Dragons of Spring Dawning" and "Dragons of Summer Flame"
There are a number of short story collections with dragons as the focus in the world of Krynn as well: "Dragons of Krynn", "Dragons at War", "Dragons of Chaos" and "Rebels and Tyrants" to name a few.
A second series not of Krynn: The Deathgate Cycle (seven books, "Dragonwing" is the first one)
I find that most Weis and Hickman books are brain candy. Not necessarily short books, but fast and not quite, but almost mindless. Good for when you don't want to have to think too hard but want a distraction; Gene Wolfe it ain't!

Posted by Jennifer at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)