Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Here be dragons! REVIEW: "The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons" by Katie MacAlister

The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons: A Novel of the Light Dragons Why this book?: I had to move this up the reading queue due to an author event thingie this weekend, where there will be spoilers of this book.

Type: Here Be Dragons, Series, Favorite Authors, He-man Dragons, Wyverns, Mates, War

WARNING: There are NO spoilers of this book in the review, HOWEVER - this review is written with the mindset of you (the reader) having already read book one, "Love in the Time of Dragons."
From the back of the book: Ysolde de Bouchier is a woman beset with trials. The dragon part of her, which was buried deep for centuries, is still making itself known, but in ways that just don't make sense. She's continuing to have visions, but now they involve events she wasn't present to witness.

As if that isn't enough, she's caught up in a tangled web of plans that seems to grow more complex every day. Not only does she have to work out peace between her light dragon mate, Baltic, and the weyr; she also has to free his friend, convince an archimage to life the spell controlling her magic, figure out what it is that the First Dragon expects her to do, rescue a half-dragon damsel who's in over her head, and once and for all clear Baltic's name of murder charges that continue to plague him.

No one told Ysolde that dragon love would be so hard....


Review: Oh, I do so love Baltic. If you want a hero wounded by his past, accepting of the dirt and accusations people throw at him - Baltic is your man - er... Dragon. The relationship between him and Ysolde/Tully is a unique one, since they were mates in the past, then resurrected, and managed to find each other again. I love Baltic's sense of humor, and how, despite being such a tough guy and heralded as a murderous lunatic, he has no problem telling Ysolde exactly how he feels about her, or laughing at her antics. And I'll say it, my heart breaks a little every time he mentions how he fought to find a way to bring Ysolde back after he was resurrected, because he couldn't bear living without her.

This book isn't as quick and easy as some of Katie MacAlister's books usually are. Many of her previous novels can be picked up with no problem, but the Light Dragon books use so much of what has previously happened in the Dragon world that someone could easily get lost. And even more so, Ysolde is occasionally pulled into her visions/memories, not just as herself in them, but as a voyeur of whatever is going on. It can get confusing, with Ysolde talking to someone in the present, then suddenly in the past - I had to re-read some passages a couple times to really understand what was going on.

Recommendation: People who enjoy fun, humorous, and strangely epic series should definitely check out Katie MacAlister's dragon series. But be sure to read the full series to understand what's going on - this book can be a doozy without all the prior knowledge.

Cover Loving: Oh my, Katie MacAlister does have the best yummy man covers.

Final: FOUR out of FIVE. Good, as expected. Katie Mac writes some wonderful fiction.

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

1 comment:

Sidne said...

good review. don't read this genre but enjoyed your review of it. stop by my blog i'm hosting three book giveaways!!