Dragon Blood

I notice I tend to just not review books I don't enjoy. I now look for Patricia Briggs. She is an excellent story-teller. I have to say mind-candy but this is chocolate. I don't have any strong desire to re-read her books. But I do wish to see more of her characters. I read fantasy to relax/escape - I don't want things to be too realistic. These stories have real sensible people and events that are horrendous as well as fantastical but there is hope and triumph. I've started reading Game of Thrones four times now because friends say they like it but it is too dark and too depressing and the magic isn't... what is the point if no one ever triumphs if all the heroes are mired in despair? If I want death and despair I'll follow the news from Iraq (which I do anyway). I need heroes and heroines with sense and magic with logic and limits. I need lovely scenes to offset the horrendous - I want humour to offset the despair. Patricia Briggs delivers.

Another great book - this lady can write - Where is # 3?

The sequel to 'Dragon Bones' is every bit as good as that exceptional book. It's 4 years after the events of Dragon Bones, and the five kingdoms have been putting themselves back together, especially Hurog Keep and it's guardian Wardwick. Now twenty three, Ward is content rebuilding his home, and practising the magic binding him, the land and his people together.But the High King has determined that four years have dulled the memory of most of his subjects to the heroism of Ward's saving of the kingdom/s and sends along his men to bring back Ward to 'interview' him and establish his fitness to rule Hurog. Ward goes along with his captors because he literally knows what the consequences are of the various choices he has. Ward is subjected to a week of torture before his relatives can reach him, and not even Oreg's awesome dragon based power can save him. Ward eventually saves himself, with a little unexpected assistance, that makes him the enemy of the High King - certainly no friend before, but now each is an unmistakable threat to the other. Ward must gather his allies, and fight for right, justice, and, as ever, for Hurog.I'm just as taken with Ward as I was in the previous book. He is an exceptional character - inherently strong and with a strong sense of justice that guides his moral code. He has been through emotional and physical hardships, and continues to prevail without letting those experiences twist him with their bitterness. He's one of those genuine hero's who is truly surprised when others perceive him as such. It's a story of heroism, of politics, of leadership, of healing, of love and of family. Again, I'm amazed at all the threads and themes Briggs manages to pack into one volume.I highly recommend this book and it's predecessor. The events of Dragon Bones are referred to many times in Dragon Blood, so to get the most out of the latter, you should read the former. It will be no hardship to do so!

The keep of Hurog was torn asunder by magic in order to save it. Now Ward, the lord of Hurog, is seeing to the task of rebuilding the land. His closest friend is Oreg, half dragon and half man, comfortable in either form. They are content to stay in the holding and not have anything further to do with the evil High King Jakoven or the intrigues of the court.Unfortunately, Jakoven wants Hurog, a land steeped in magic and to get it he arrests Ward and throws him in the Asylum where the king's mages and torturers work on him. They hope to prove that Ward is unfit to rule but the lord has powerful allies who are able to stop the King's plan at the last minute. Free to go home, Ward knows he must join the rebellion and topple the High King from the throne before he can use the powerful magical artifact, the Bane, which can control dragons and destroy empires.Patricia Briggs is a master storyteller who creates fanciful adult fairy tales that readers will love. DRAGON BLOOD has a charismatic hero who wins the hearts of the audience with his inner strength, compassion and good heart. The use of magical beings such as dragons, dwarves and other creatures of myth and legend don't distract from the believability of the plot. This reviewer hopes that some of the characters in this fantasy get a chance to have their story told.Harriet Klausner

If you've read Dragon Bones and enjoyed it, you will love this sequel. This book furthers the tale of Wardwick, the Hurogs as a family, and Hurog as a land. This is a tale of the Five Kingdoms and its politics, and how they all affect Hurog (in the aspects of Ward, the family, and the land). Many sequels do not live up to the first in a series, but I was just as enthralled by this volume as I was with Dragon Bones. I do suggest reading Dragon Bones first, as Dragon Blood WILL reference major elements of the earlier book.