From archive (archive) Subject: Dragon Prince series by Rawn Keywords: reviw - non-spoiler From: richa@tekred.CNA.TEK.COM (Rich Amber) Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or. Date: 5 Jul 89 18:35:37 GMT I have just finished *Dragon Prince* and *The Star Scrolls* by Melanie Rawn. Oddly enough, these books are not fantasy quest stories as are most which involve dragons and magic. If you really had to put a classification on them, it's probably ramantic adventure or detective romance in a fantasy setting. Rawn weaves a good story, though in places it seems to drag on and I wondered when some more action would take place, but I did enjoy these two books very much. A minor spoiler in the books is that DAW's proofreaders did a horrible job. There are several dozen spelling errors, some of which will keep you scratching your head until you realize that they simply dropped the "s" off of "she" making the sex wrong. Those of you who subscribe to the Evelyn Wood method of SF/Fantasy reading might never notice. Those of you who read like I do (savor every word because a change of articles changes meaning) will have to do some puzzling to figure out what's really happening. *The Star Scrolls* picks up quite adequately where *Dragon Prince* leaves off, even though either book could stand on its own. I am left feeling that there should be a third book because not all the questions have been answered. All in all, a good read. Rich Amber KJ version: "In the beginning was the Word and ... was God." Greek(?) version: "In the beginning was the Word and ... was a God" Makes a lot of difference, doesn't it? From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Dragon Prince series by Rawn Keywords: reviw - non-spoiler From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) Organization: Life is just a Fantasy novel played for keeps Date: 6 Jul 89 13:20:38 GMT >I have just finished *Dragon Prince* and *The Star Scrolls* by >Melanie Rawn. Oddly enough, these books are not fantasy quest >stories as are most which involve dragons and magic. If you >really had to put a classification on them, it's probably ramantic >adventure or detective romance in a fantasy setting. >Rawn weaves a good story, though in places it seems to drag on >and I wondered when some more action would take place, but I did >enjoy these two books very much. I talked to Betsy Wollheim about Rawn at Worldcon last year, and they think Rawn is one of the best new writer's they've seen in a long time. The books are attempting an epic scope. Occasionally they shift from epic to drawn out, but not often (maybe a 5% cut would have improved Star Scrolls). >A minor spoiler in the books is that DAW's proofreaders did a >horrible job. There are several dozen spelling errors, some of >which will keep you scratching your head until you realize that >they simply dropped the "s" off of "she" making the sex wrong. This is, unfortunately, very typical of DAW books. The computer-spelling-checker school of proofreading. Every DAW book I've read in the last couple of years has a few of these. The hardcover "Dragonbone Chair" has an entire chapter where the term "Raed" was magically transformed to "Read" and thereby changing the context rather severely. (Tad promises to fix it for the paperback, along with a number of other typoes). Why? to some degree a lack of time and budget at DAW. But they're aware of the problem. I wish they'd fix it... >*The Star Scrolls* picks up quite adequately where *Dragon Prince* >leaves off, even though either book could stand on its own. I am >left feeling that there should be a third book because not all the >questions have been answered. All in all, a good read. DAW's bought five books in the Dragon Price series. They may have bought a sixth, but I don't remember whether the deal's done or not. Chuq Von Rospach =|= Editor,OtherRealms =|= Member SFWA/ASFA chuq@apple.com =|= CI$: 73317,635 =|= AppleLink: CHUQ [This is myself speaking. No company can control my thoughts.] You are false data. Therefore I shall ignore you. Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed.tip.net!news.seinf.abb.se!norconnect.no!news.ece.uc.edu!babbage.ece.uc.edu!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!uhog.mit.edu!news!nobody From: sheol!throopw@dg-rtp.dg.com (Wayne Throop) Subject: EXILES by Melanie Rawn Message-ID: <819652940@sheol.UUCP> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Keywords: author= Sender: news@media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Fri, 22 Dec 1995 20:48:46 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 64 It may be the first in a series, but it picks up a long-continuing feud between the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Maleris, a thousand years after the mageborn humans reached and settled on the planet, hundreds of years after a disastrous war between these factions that devastated the entire ecology, and lost most accurate pre-war records and history. This makes for a very interesting setting, just the kind I'm most fond of, where the society, technology, and ecology are all intricately interconnected, and there are *reasons* why people act the way they do, and the physical background is the way it is. The event that starts us on this particular story thread is the destruction of Ambrai, the stronghold of the Mage Guardians and location of their training academy, and the beginnings of a new phase in the ages-old struggle between the mageborn factions. The destruction is due to a political disaster apparently unrelated to their age-old foes, but Ambrai is nevertheless very thoroughly destroyed, and the balance of power shifted. The book tracks how subtle maneuvering behind the scenes by Gorynel Desse, one of the most formidable Mage Guardians, manages to scatter many of the important Ambrai heirs into exile and hiding in many locations, in preparation for a counterstroke perhaps decades or more away. Very good stuff, but not without flaws. There were two that seemed most flaw-like to me. First the implausibility of the mirror-reversal of gender roles, so that men are sex objects, and women the real "people" in the world. True, this is related to the background, because of the social order that grew up in the wake of the Waste War. But there are many features of making it such a simple mirror reversal that just don't ring true, for example the overriding importance of fertility in women, coupled with the freely available choices of military or mercantile careers for women. Second, the ending, where the bad gals-n-guys get theirs seems tacked on as an afterthought. I expected to be left dangling (it is, after all, the first in a series), but instead the good folk get back into power... but just because bad folk who had earlier proven invincible simply walk on stage in the last few scenes, one by one, clutch their chests and recite a few angst-soaked lines and inarticulate gurgles, and drop dead for no particular reason. (I'm exaggerating of course, but only slightly.) Though flawed as I say above, I enjoyed the book on balance. The intricate, (mostly) self-consistent, and cleverly-unfolded background is very nice. The magical Ladder system and its mnemonic song verses, for just one example, are very evocative. The imagery and characterization is vivid and enjoyable. I have no idea how the plot will develop from now on; the foreshadowing is just "ominous stuff will ensue". But I'll probably get any subsequent works set there; it'll be nice to return to this universe, given an opportunity. BTW, this is another of those books I probably wouldn't have bought and read, except for the Michael Whelan cover and inside-cover illustrations. VERY nice. %A Melanie Rawn %D 1994 %G ISBN 0-88677-668-6 %I DAW %C New York %O $5.99 paperback %P 836 pages %S The Ruins of Ambrai %T Exiles %V 1 Wayne Throop throopw%sheol.uucp@dg-rtp.dg.com throop@aur.alcatel.com