Dragon Jousters #2 Alta [Mass Market Paperback]

In this novel, Vetch reaches Alta and is no longer a serf to the Tians, but is instead Kiron, son of Kiron, a Jouster in training. As he and Avatre near Alta City, they rescue a noble girl from an irate river horse, but Kiron is badly injured and blacks out. Upon awakening, he finds himself in the home of the noble Lord Ya-Tiren. Both he and his daughter, Aken-ten, express their gratitude for his timely rescue; in fact, Aken-ten has been tending him while he was unconscious. Later, her brother Orest visits to express his gratitude as well.

Aken-ten is a Nestling Winged-One, a priestess in training and a possessor of certain talents, including the ability to speak the Silent Speech with animals. She and Avatre have become friends while he recovered from his wounds. Kiron is very interested in her ability to actually communicate with his dragon.

Orest is very fascinated with Avatre. Although the traditional approach to taming a dragon fails to interest him, the thought of actually bonding to a dragon excites him. This idea also appeals to several of his friends and Lord Khumun-thetus, the Jouster in charge of training, becomes intrigued enough with the possibilities to form a new unit to pursue the training practices used to raise Avatre.

In this story, Kiron begins to suspect something is wrong in Alta. The Magi are too powerful and they have begun to use the Winged-Ones as sources of power to perform their magic. Moreover, the Great Ones who rule Alta are living too long, apparently with magical aid from the Magi.

One of the new Jousters in Kiron's training unit is Toroth, who is one of the twin heirs to the throne. Toroth knows much more about the Magi and their assumption of power. Moreover, he and his twin, Kaleth, have plans to restore the power to the Great Ones when they gain the thrones. Soon the entire unit becomes part of Tototh's conspiracy against the Magi.

This story relates Kiron's growing reputation among the Altan Jousters and the developing respect for his unit, both boys and dragonets. It also tells of the blooming friendship between Kiron and Aken-ten, which is slowly turning to love. And it shows the tremendous potentiality of a unit of alert, trained and willing dragons.

The story expands into a tale of politics and corrupted power. Kiron finds himself with great responsibilities and willing associates, but very little ability to influence the situation. He and his friends resort to cunning, aided by the hubris of his enemies.

As with most of the author's solo efforts, this novel is very linear: everything is seen through the eyes of Kiron. Moreover, it is short compared to the mega-novels that are so popular nowadays. This short length does have some detrimental effects on character development, but it also reduces the amount of background material used for such development. However, Kiron isn't always the center of the action; the other characters -- particularly Aken-ten -- contribute greatly to the story and plot development. Overall, the straightforward style and fast pace of this novel should interest young readers as well as older ones such as myself.

Highly recommended for Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of ancient civilizations, political intrigue, daring adventure, and crafty magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

ALTA and JOUST can best be classified as juvenal fantasy. Adults could quickly become bored with the fairly slow pace and lack of either romance (serious romance that is, there is some adolescent involvement with a girl he saves) or action. I won't say the plot is strictly formula but it is fairly predictable.

I was interested in what would become of Vetch and I can't say I was disappointed, but then I didn't have particularly high expectations either. If you liked JOUST then you will like ALTA, if you didn't then don't bother.

Not the best but I have certainly read worse, I remain NEUTRAL on this one.