Once again, the quality of Patricia Brigg’s writing wins me over to a genre I don’t normally read. Dragon Bones is a wonderful Fantasy novel and the first book in the Hurog Duology.
Dragon Bones is set in the world of the Five Kingdoms. In this world, magic still exists, but barely. It has all but died out, along with the dragons and other fantastical creatures of old. The Five Kingdoms are Avinhelle, Oranstone, Tallven, Vorsag and Shavig. They are ruled by the cruel and capricious High King Jakoven, King of Tallven. He administers through fear and intrigue. His fickleness and depravity have earned him more enemies than friends, but Jakoven is too arrogant to care.
At the start of the story, Jakoven is aware that the kingdom of Oranstone is besieged by Vorsagian raiders. He doesn’t feel the need to bestir himself to protect the Oranstonians as he is still bitter over the failed rebellion they led against him a few years previously. As far as Jakoven is concerned, a few more dead Oranstonians is a good thing. Naturally, there are those at court who disagree, and fear further incursions into Oranstone could lead to an all-out war.
The hero of this story is nineteen-year-old Ward of Hurog. Hurog is located in Shavig, the northenmost and poorest of the Five Kingdoms. The crumbling keep has little to recommend it, but it guards a precious secret: magical dragon bones. Ward’s abusive father tried to kill him when he was twelve years old. As a result, Ward was left badly concussed and has suffered from slow speech ever since. Recognizing an opportunity to protect himself from his father, Ward decides to feign stupidity. He’s played the role of simpleton to perfection, thus allowing him to protect himself and his brother and sister from their father’s violent temper.
Upon his father’s death, Ward becomes the new lord of Hurog. Along with the keep and the lands, Ward inherits Oreg, the Hurog family ghost. It is Oreg who shows Ward his true legacy, the dragon bones located under the keep. Ward is horrified to learn that one of his ancestors killed one of the last dragons in order to harness its power. Ward has always loved the tales of the old days when dragons ruled the skies and dwarves the underground. Mankind’s greed saw the destruction of the dragons and drove the dwarves deep under the earth.
Ward is determined to do better by Hurog than his predecessors. Unfortunately, a combination of mischief and distrust of his uncle Duraugh leads him to delay in making his intelligence known. A delegation from the High King arrives at Hurog, ostensibly to search for a fugitive slave, but also to escort Ward to the royal asylum. Duraugh and his sons are to rule Hurog in Ward’s place. A few loyal servants help Ward escape along with his sister, Ciarra, and the runaway slave, Bastilla. They collect Ward’s brother, Tosten, along the way, bringing their number up to seven.
Ward realizes that playing the fool was true stupidity and it has lost him his home and his freedom. Determined to win back his inheritance, Ward decides the best way to do so is to gain a reputation as a war hero. What better place to find a war than Oranstone? It doesn’t take long for Ward and his motley crew to discover that the raiders in Oranstone have a diabolical agenda. They are stealing magical objects of worship. Somehow, the raiders have discovered the existence of the dragon bones at Hurog and appear to be heading North…
Dragon Bones is an excellent story of action, adventure and intrigue. As usual, Briggs makes her characters come to life. Ward is a brilliant hero. He struggles to find his true identity. He’s played a role for so long that he’s no longer sure who he really is. His youth leads him to make mistakes, but his bravery and kindheartedness render him a very sympathetic protagonist.
The cast of secondary characters is also excellent. The reader is kept guessing as to who is good and who is bad right up until the very end. In this story, nothing and no one is as they seem.
For Fantasy fans and skeptics alike, I can highly recommend Dragon Bones. I stayed up late finishing it and was very pleased to have the sequel, Dragon Blood, already on my bookshelf. Grade: A
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You will ADORE the sequel. DRAGON BLOOD is better than DRAGON BONES.
I plan to read more of Brigg’s fantasy books. As much as I love the Mercy Thompson books, her fantasy novels are my favorites. I love the political intrigue in these books and the second book has a bit of romance in it that had me enjoying it a tad bit more than the first book. Ward is a wonderful hero.
I don’t know why, but I have never felt the urge to try her fantasy series. I don’t think I have ever read a review for them…now I am very intrigued. Will def check them out!
@Nadia Lee I am loving Dragon Blood!
@Keishon Briggs writes so well. I’m enjoying her Dragon books so much that I feel compelled to give other Fantasy authors a go. I’ve ordered Anne Bishop’s Jewel Trilogy. Can you recommend any other Fantasy books which might appeal to a romance reader?
@Mandi Judging by the sort of books you review, I think you might like these. As Keishon and Nadia said, the second one is even better than the first. While Dragon Bones can stand alone, Dragon Blood really can’t be appreciated without having read the first in the series. Dragon Bones is straight Fantasy but Dragon Blood also has a romance as a significant part of the story.
Can you recommend any other Fantasy books which might appeal to a romance reader? //
I can’t, sorry! I’m still relatively new to the fantasy genre myself. The only other author I’ve enjoyed who writes dark fantasy is Sarah Monette and no, there’s no romance in them to speak of. I just love her world and it’s decadence and Mildmay, of course, one of two dual narratives in the story. If I think of any, I’ll def. let you know.
Or you might want to check out this website: http://www.romanticsf.com/reviews/ – the Monette review is in there for the first two books I think.
@Keishon Thanks for the link! That’s one long list of books…
When you twittered this weekend about these books I think I managed to pass by road runner in order to buy them. I already heard about this author in connection to her Mercedes Thompson and Alpha/Omega series but never felt compelled to buy…until the mentioning of this duology.
You really make me look forward to reading these books Sarah
I have this one! I really need to move it up on the TBR, your review was great. Thanks!
@Leontine I hope you enjoy them. I just finished Dragon Blood and it’s even better than Dragon Bones!
@Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) Thanks, Donna!
I LOOOOOVED this book, too! Briggs is such a great story-teller, isn’t she? This was actually the first book I read by her. I have to confess I didn’t like Dragon Blood half as much, though.
Have you read The Hob’s Bargain yet? That is my absolute favorite of all her books so far. I picked it up because some guy in the bookstore who looked like a wizard told me I should read it. I always listen to people who look like wizards.
@heidenkind No, I haven’t read The Hob’s Bargain. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m laughing at the guy who looked like a wizard!
I love everything Patricia Briggs writes, and she gets better with each book. I bought her Dragon books years ago; Dragon Bones was the first time I’d read her and once I discovered there was a sequel, I tracked it down relentlessly! And anything else she’d written, including Hobs and Ravens.
Another dragon series I like is the Drakon series by Shana Abe. The Smoke Thief is the first book. Gorgeous writing.
@Carolyn On Heidenkind’s recommendation, I ordered The Hob’s Bargain. I’ve also read her Mercy Thompson series and loved it.
I read the first book in Shana Abe’s Drakon series and really enjoyed it. For some reason, I’ve never read the others, although I have the second one on my TBR shelf.
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