Alternative Worlds
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Knighthood of the Dragon
Chris Bunch
Roc, Mar 2006, $15.00, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0451460677
The war of attrition between the kingdom of Deraine and Roche has been bloody with both sides willing to send pawns to death to gain a slight edge. Entire units are treated as fodder to move a position forward a few miles. Neither side will grudgingly give an inch though the decision makers remain comfortable far from the deadly front lines.
Dragon Master Hal Kailas knows first hand how bad the war has depleted his forces as his side slowly loses the entrenched ground war and Roche begins to show superiority in the skies with their black dragon riders. Kailas has to find an answer even as he squabbles with his superior officer Asir the King who refuses to listen to supply inadequacies including a dragon shortage and a lack of trained soldiers. He must emulate the enemy and take the war to their civilian populace. Meanwhile his adversaries make a concerted effort to catch the Deraine war hero with plans to lock him away in magical binds inside a death camp as a demoralizer aimed at his people.
As with the first Dragonmaster tale (see STORM OF WINGS), there are obvious comparisons to the trench warfare and aerial fights of WWI and the civilian attacks of WWII, but set in a fantasy realm. The story line showcases the fortunes and foibles of armed combat; highlighted by the concept that peaceful solutions are for the naive while the realist errs on the side of someone else’s death. However, as the tale spins its moral issues, the key characters even Hal never seem to have learned anything from their previous adventures. Still KNIGHTHOOD OF THE DRAGON is a superb military fantasy that will have the audience looking forward to the reprint of the LAST BATTLE.
Chris Bunch
Roc, Mar 2006, $15.00, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0451460677
The war of attrition between the kingdom of Deraine and Roche has been bloody with both sides willing to send pawns to death to gain a slight edge. Entire units are treated as fodder to move a position forward a few miles. Neither side will grudgingly give an inch though the decision makers remain comfortable far from the deadly front lines.
Dragon Master Hal Kailas knows first hand how bad the war has depleted his forces as his side slowly loses the entrenched ground war and Roche begins to show superiority in the skies with their black dragon riders. Kailas has to find an answer even as he squabbles with his superior officer Asir the King who refuses to listen to supply inadequacies including a dragon shortage and a lack of trained soldiers. He must emulate the enemy and take the war to their civilian populace. Meanwhile his adversaries make a concerted effort to catch the Deraine war hero with plans to lock him away in magical binds inside a death camp as a demoralizer aimed at his people.
As with the first Dragonmaster tale (see STORM OF WINGS), there are obvious comparisons to the trench warfare and aerial fights of WWI and the civilian attacks of WWII, but set in a fantasy realm. The story line showcases the fortunes and foibles of armed combat; highlighted by the concept that peaceful solutions are for the naive while the realist errs on the side of someone else’s death. However, as the tale spins its moral issues, the key characters even Hal never seem to have learned anything from their previous adventures. Still KNIGHTHOOD OF THE DRAGON is a superb military fantasy that will have the audience looking forward to the reprint of the LAST BATTLE.
