Blood of the Dragon

Yet another chapter in the life of Brunner, notorious bounty hunter with more tricks up his sleeve than the famous galactic villain. His hunt takes him to the cursed city in Bretonia. This time his quarry got hold of an ancient artifact that summons a fire breathing dragon. To make things more complicated, there are other people after the artifact, not to mention the dragon (which is pretty pissed to start with). The good - Brunner in this chapter, finally develops some personality and is no longer flat. Within his limited boundaries he becomes a real person, with more than just greed. It was refreshing discovery, after the previous books. We actually glimpse a little at his past and to what he was before he became a relentless machine. There are even some subtle hints that he may care for other things than golden disks. Characters - We meet three interesting minor characters. A new bounty hunter colleague, a dwarf as ruthless as Brunner is, a beautiful elven lady and a charming criminal (the hunted). Excellent characterization done with all three. Storytelling - Fast paced and full of action scenes with just enough breathers in between as not to make the story too tiring. The bad - No new tricks. One of the major things that makes Brunner so enchanting is his ability to pull a fast one on his adversaries. I was disappointed to see the entire bag of tricks from the previous chapters, and nothing new. Summery - IMO this is the best chapter, yet, in the Brunner series. If you liked the previous books, then this is surly a good purchase.

This is by far one of my favorite fantasy novels. The author painted a wonderfully gritty picture of the Warhammer world, seen mostly through the eyes of the infamous bounty hunter Brunner. The narative was fast-paced and engrossing, the characters were convincing, and the action occurred often and was quite well done. Make no mistake: this is a cheap paperback novel, so if you're looking for a deep plot and frequent moments of poignant drama, I suggest you look elsewhere. This is basically action for action's sake, with a lot of good atmosphere thrown into the mix and a decent story to keep it moving. But, from my perspective, that makes for a good read. So if you want a fast-paced action novel with a pretty good plot and interesting chracters and locations to keep you entertained on that long car ride, this book is well worth your six bucks.