Product Description

The Kingdom of Wendar is in turmoil. King Henry still holds the crown, but his reign has long been contested by his sister Sabella, and there are many eager to flock to her banner. Internal conflict weakens Wendar's defences, drawing raiders, human and inhuman, across its borders. Terrifying portents abound and dark spirits walk the land in broad daylight. Suddenly two innocents are thrust into the midst of the conflict. Alain, a young man granted a vision by the Lady of Battles, and Liath, a young woman with the power to change the course of history. Both must discover the truth about themselves before they can accept their fates. For in a war where sorcery, not swords, may determine the final outcome, the price of failure may be more than their own lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58565 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Review
This could be the breakout book for Kate Elliott . . . what really counts are her characters. Well-drawn and vivid, they come alive as both people from a very foreign place and people we care about. They keep the plot irresistibly moving forward and draw us into her work. The book is solid, exciting and engrossing - a grand and powerful piece of writing all in all.' Katharine Kerr, author of DAGGERSPELL 'Entirely captivating... an indispensible technique in conjuring convincing fictional worlds.' PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY 'enough adventure, suspense, and character development here to reward most readers.' STARBURST 'I look forward avidly to the next volume.' INTERZONE

About the Author
Kate Elliot lives in Hawaiii with her husband and three children. To find out more about Kate Elliot visit www.orbitbooks.co.uk.

Customer Reviews

Never Liked Fantasy? Read This
An unlikely choice for me, Kings Dragon proved to be a good one. I have never read fantasy and was given this book but have to say it was spell-binding. I was on Liath's side from the beginning, hated Hugh, fell in love with Sanglant, hoped for Alain and was intrigued by Wolfhere, Rosvita and many others. The politics and infighting in this story gave it a realistic feel and the number and calibre of characters give it good pace. Bit too much scripture for my liking but I have gone on to read the 2nd and 3rd in the series aswell as Jaran (which I also consider to be excellent) ... Not bad for a Fantasy Virgin.

Has potential
I'm still not sure about this book, though I will probably try the second in the series to see how it progresses.
On the one hand, traditional fantasy fare; a pair of teenagers thrown into events that they would never have dreamt of being involved in a year before, largely seeing the world through their innocent eyes. In other words, derivative of most other fantasy novels, and therefore, as a basis for a book, frankly now rather boring.
On the other hand, it is well written, there are a number of subplots surrounding the central theme, not to mention hints of plots that have yet to be uncovered - presumably in later novels. And above all, a rather more realistic portrayal of such a world than you traditionally get.
But my biggest problem with the novel, and what most discourages me about reading it, and further entries in the series, stems from that realism. The author acknowledges at the front the role various experts on medieval Europe have played in her writing of the series. Which is just the problem - to a large extent the novel is SET in medieval Europe. The Church, in particular, is blatantly the Catholic Church anytime up to around the reformation. She's even hardly bothered to change the names - the pope has become the scopos, bishops are now biscops and so on. The Emperor that people keep referring to is Charlemagne. Frankly, in my fantasy novels, although I like realism, I also like the author to have put a little effort into creating something unique. Kate Elliot hasn't, she's merely changed the names, and introduced references (medieval Europe references, at that) to sorcery. Oh, and she's made women more politically powerful. Much as I think this has potential, I can't get over the feeling that it should really be in the historical fiction section. If I had wanted to read about medieval Europe, I would have bought a book on the subject.

Overall, as I say, I will probably buy the second book, if only to see how some of the plot devises develop. But they had better do so if I am to read the entire series. There are plenty of books out there set in a truly fantasy world that this one has to have something rather good from a plot, character or writing perspective to get over the fact that the author has spent so little time in the creation of her world.

The Crown of Stars Series
This is another one of my faves. The story spans 6 huge books-the last of whch has not yet been published. King's Dragon was extremely good and the only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me was because it was so long and descriptive that it was hard to read for long peiods of time. However if you like a series where the author manages to write a large number of subplots and lets you make the links between them to realise what is happening-then Elliot is the author for you. I have actually been awed at her prowess at being able to link everything in so many subtle ways to ultimately form an intricate story that keeps you on your toes. Not for the lazy minded readers who like to have the story spelled out for them-this one makes you think