Dragon and Liberator

Dragon and Liberator (2008) is the sixth SF novel in the Dragonback Adventures series, following Dragon and Judge. In the previous volume, Jack learned the truth about his parents and the Essenay on Semaline. He also freed Langston from captivity. Alison and Taneem confused the Patri Chookoock on Brum-a-dum. They cooperated with the slaves and attacked the Brummgas. Then Malison Ring troops appeared and took over the compound. In this novel, Jack Morgan had been a con artist with his own ship. Then he met Draycos and acquired a mission. Draycos is a K'da, an alien symbiote who must return to his host within six hours or disintegrate into nothing. Draycos often rides Jack's skin as a two dimensional shape like a tattoo. The two are trying to warn the Shontine/K'da refugees of a forthcoming ambush by their Valahgua enemies. Alison Kayna is an associate of Jack. She is almost a close friend, but has her own agenda. Jack does not fully trust her. Taneem is a Phooka, an uneducated K'da from Rho Scorvi. She has taken Alison as her host. Uncle Virge is a simulated personality within the computer on Jack's ship. He is a copy of the mind of Jack's Uncle Virgil. Arthur Neverlin is a former Braxton Universis executive who allied with the Valahgua enemies of the Shontine/K'da. He has been trying to kill or capture Jack and K'da for months. Maximus Frost is a Colonel within the Malison Ring mercenaries. He is a rogue, on the payroll of Neverlin. He apparently arranged the ambush of the Shontine/K'da advance party. Harper is a bodyguard for Braxton Universis. He works directly for Braxton himself. Langston is a StarForce Wing-sergeant. After his escape on Sematine, he was retaken by Frost and is now working for them. In this story, the Malison Ring troops have left, but Alison is still trying to open the last Shontine safe. Jack and Draycos track a convoy taking the safe toward the spaceport while Alison and Taneem wait within the hangar. When the Brummgas arrive, Alison releases sopor gas and puts them to sleep. Alison and Taneem enter the middle van and crack the safe combination. Alison sweeps up the data cubes and puts them in her pocket. She is about to leave when four more cars arrive at the hangar with Neverlin, Frost and Malison Ring troops. Since there is not much time, Alison and Taneem enter the safe and shut the door. Alison's airmask will keep them alive for six hours while the troops take the safe to their ship. There it is placed within Neverlin's office on the Advocatus Diaboli. Alison and Taneem open the safe and the Phooka goes into the air ducts to scout the enemy. Alison checks the office suite, then cracks the desk safe and scans the contents. She uses the InterWorld transmitter to send a message to Uncle Virge and another to a different party. Afterward, Alison uses the desk computer terminal to send a message to the guards outside the door and then slips out when they leave. Alison and Taneem hide

This entire series is vetted as for "young readers" and while it is not a complex, deep philosophical book it kept my interest through out and I am 54 so this is one I have shared with my thirteen year old and we have been equally satisfied with it. Me because it was entertaining enough and not in anyway condenscending in tone and to my thirteen year old as the main character is fourteen. LOL. I recommend the entire series.

Timothy Zahn has done a great job here in writing a story that is exciting and fun to read but also really completes the series in a believable way. This series is not perfect with perhaps the most glaring problem being the believability of two 14 year olds being able and allowed to have so much impact on the fates of several races and important individuals, but then again this is written for the young adult market. All of the questions raised before (i.e. Who really is Allison working for?, Why do the Valahgua really care about chasing the K'da clear across the galaxy?, Who really killed Jack's parents?, etc... ) are finally answered. I also liked the fact that the worldview of the story (as Draycos the K'da would say, that doing what is right is more important than doing what is easy), is a refreshingly positive. Most importantly, Zahn has written another book with characters we really care about and a story so exciting that I stayed up way too late reading because I could not put the book down (and my fourteen year old daughter did the same) !

Dragon and liberator The conclusion of any book series is to be celebrated. With Timothy Zahn, and the Dragonback saga, it is bittersweet. "Dragon and Liberator" not only concludes the saga satisfactorally, but also makes you realize how amazingly good an author he is. "Dragon and Liberator" takes readers into the lives of Jack Morgan and his poet/warrior dragon, K'da directly into the cross hairs of Neverlin,the man who killed Jack's parents so many years before. Jack and Draycos weave and bob as their lives are endangered time and time again by a death weapon at the hands of a madman with a personal vendetta. Fans of the series previous 5 books, familiar with the plot lines, will experience `a ha' as threads are explained and concluded. The rapid pulse staccato style of Zahn keeps readers guessing and page turning right up to page 384. If this is your first exposure to the Dragonback series, pick up the first 5, and sit by your favorite fireplace. Start at book one. By the time you reach "Dragon and Liberator", you will be appreciate an epic struggle for survival, revenge, and closure, and the work of a master author-craftsman. [...] Tim Lasiuta

Fourteen-year-old space pilot Jack Morgan and poet-warrior Draycos continue their symbiotic quest to bring the human closure following the murders of his family and a way to save the K'da dragon's race from genocide. They have survived much, but neither feels they have made any meaningful progress towards achieving either stretch goal and time is running out at least for the K'da Dragons. Still they work together as Draycos hides as a tattoo on Jack's back. Neverlin, the human killer of Jack's parents and the fleet in which Draycos was the only survivor, has obtained a Death machine. He plans to use it in conjunction with his allies to eradicate millions of K'da refugees. Only Jack and Draycos stand in his way, but what can a teen and a tattoo do to prevent the holocaust. Although obviously similar in tone to the previous five books in this exhilarating young adult saga, the final Dragonback adventure is a great finish as the suspense grows to extraordinary levels with the heroes literally having their backs against the wall. The story line is faster than a K'da scout ship never slowing down with the readers wondering if the heroes are going to lose. Although targeting middle school, science fiction fans of all ages will appreciate this strong series as the dragon and human have battled against impossible odds in search of justice for themselves and others. Harriet Klausner