Dragon and Phoenix (Dragonlord) - Softcover

Bertin, Joanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812545427 ISBN 13: 9780812545425

Publisher: Tor Fantasy, 2000

Synopsis

Once every thousand years the phoenix of Jehanglan burns to death in a magical release. For millennia the emperors of Jehanglan have tried to harness the awesome power of the phoenix's rebirth. One has finally succeeded, using black magic and the enslavement of a dragon.

Far away at the Crown of the World, Dragon-lord Linden and his new wife, Maurynna, are trying to live the life of happy newlyweds. But all is not well. Since her first Change into dragon-form, Maurynna has been unable to duplicate it. And as her inability to Change drives her into a dark abyss of depression, Linden begins to doubt the love he was once so sure of...

At this time of personal crisis, these two must journey to Jehanglan and marshall all of their diplomatic and martial skill to penetrate the treachery of the empire and set free the phoenix. But to do so they must face the dragon--the dragon who just might be a Dragonlord gone mad....

About this title

Review:

Created by a misuse of magic in a shaman's war, were-dragons mediate between the five "truehuman" kingdoms and between truedragons and truehumans as well. In The Last Dragonlord, Bertin told of Linden Rathen, who spent 600 years without a "soultwin." (Each Dragonlord is made from two souls--one human, one dragon--so for each there is a match created from the "extra" halves.) He found his soultwin, Maurynna. In Dragon and Phoenix, the second book in the Dragonlords series, Maurynna's draconic half, Kyrissaean, won't speak to other Dragonlords or even another dragonsoul, and won't let her Change, which would give her the greater magics of the Dragonlords--healing fire and flying.

Linden and Maurynna are at Dragonskeep when Maurynna's great-uncle, the bard Otter, and her cousin Raven arrive with a man who claims he escaped from Jehanglan, a kingdom resembling Imperial China. There they have imprisoned a truedragon, using his magic to hold a phoenix captive. The phoenix provides magical power protecting Jehanglan and maintaining the Emperor's rule at the price of agony and madness for the dragon. The Dragonlords plan a daring rescue. The plan hinges on Maurynna, for her "hidden" dragon half will enable her to elude the priest-mages yet destroy the magical wards binding him.Bertin shifts between Maurynna's story and that of Shei-Luin, a barbarian concubine of the Phoenix Emperor who is scheming to gain power and protect her sons.

Bertin delivers a colorful setting, engaging characters, complex plotting, and an intriguing magical system. Fans of Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories and fantasies using Oriental elements like Barry Hughart's Master Li novels will find plenty here to enjoy. --Nona Vero

About the Author:

JOANNE BERTIN is also the author of two additional novels, The Last Dragonlord and Bard's Oath. She lives in Connecticut.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Fantasy
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0812545427
• ISBN 13: 9780812545425
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 695