Poor Skylan. Being young and full of ambition does not always guarantee success and leads to hard lessons learned, if not death. The brash youthful leader seen in Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman’s Bones of the Dragon is learning that the favored of a god does not guarantee success and many lessons must be learned through hardships and suffering. So where is Skylan on his journey of hardship and discovery … how about in the shackles of a slave …
Secret of the Dragon, what secret do the gods hold that can save mortals left to fend for themselves while their gods battle for their own survival? Skylan’s crew, fresh off their battle on the Dragon Isles now finds itself prisoner to one of their own, the betrayer Raegar. They sail into enemy lands and must serve a very benevolent master who looks to enter these warriors into a game called the Para Dix. Learning the game is not all Skylan will need to learn as he must adapt to serving another while keeping his hopes for freedom alive and burning. He must also recapture the faith of his crew and learn a secret about the Vektia Dragons that could be the salvation of the entire Vindrash nation.
Skylan sees a level of growth that will amaze readers as he is so different from the brash youth seen in Bones of the Dragon. The world is suddenly much, much larger than Skylan could have ever dreamed and journeying with him as he changes in such drastic manners is fun. The other characters around, different parties with their own agendas and a few mysteries make this another fine story and world. Telling more would be a disservice to those waiting to read Secret of the Dragon, just know that this Viking type world is as deep and engaging as Krynn … a bit more realistic even.
Why Should Gamers Care? Why, because these are the folks who helped build the D&D, board game based, stat building game genre to what it is today. For you video game only gamers these are the hobby shops with cool miniatures, multi-sided dye and tons of D&D, Warhammer type posters. The world of Dragonships is deep, engaging and deserving of a video game in the vein of Dragon Age (hint, hint BioWare). The D&D roots of the authors and potential for a truly interactive game world is too much to pass on and the world is still young so get in now before tons of offshoots.
Read the Bones of the Dragon interview with Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
Overall the Dragonships series is shaping up to be a fine a series ever created by any fantasy writer, ever. Yes, it’s that good and pulls together the years, decades, of experience that both Margaret and Tracy have established. The world they have created is so very realistic to human past yet brings to life the fantasy heritage they are known for. The fate of man is influenced by gods but in the end its man who makes the choices and when this fact is paired with the realism brought by Dragonships then the winner is the reader. Gritty hardships await Skylan and his crew but only reading bliss awaits fans of Dragonships.
