Dragon Sword

Dragon Sword was a wee bit heavy-handed on the social commentary, but you know, after I got into the story, I just didn't care. It's about a world invented by a bitter, divorced, mysogynistic professor. He needs a successor and his assistant is the one chosen by the dragon--and she's a pacifist who still has nightmares about Kent State. There's nice conflict between the two of them, an interesting world, and the intriguing question of how real is real?

I got into the fantasy genre fairly late, and this was the first book that I read. The characters are finely drawn, and as the mystical and mistical world of Gryylth and it's inhabitants become solid, you really do want to find out what's going to happen to Alouzon, Dythragor, Marrget, Wykla, and the people of Corrin, who have been fighting each other all for a handful of mist. As Suzanne Helling evolves (unwillingly) into Alouzon Dragonmaster, and Alouzon learns how to trust herself again, the line begins to blur a little, when does the fantasy become a life lesson, and when did life become fantasy? This begins to become clearer as you finish the book. I would highly recommend this book, whether you are a late starter or have read other books in the genre.

I bought this book in a tiny little bookstore in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1990. The characters unfold and draw the reader into the nightmare that is Suzanne Helling's personal world, and into her rebirth and healing as Alouzon Dragonmaster, hero of Gryylth. Become entwined in the threads of Gryylth & Corrin, lands built on mist and mystery. The characters have depth and feeling, and when the final page is turned, you really do want to find out how the new, solid worlds of Gryylth,Corrin, & their inhabitants, will evolve.

Truly worth readin