From Amazon.com
In 1985, Barbara Hambly published
Dragonsbane, the story of how "a bespectacled amateur engineer who collected lore about pigs" and his mage-born mistress went south to slay the black dragon Morkeleb but ended up allying with him to save the kingdom from a much more terrible enemy.
Dragonshadow continues the story of John Aversin, the Dragonsbane, Jenny Waynest, the Witch of Frost Fell, and Morkeleb.
It's four years later, and John and Jenny find themselves facing mages and dragons controlled by demons who have trapped their souls. One of the captured mages is Ian, their 12-year-old son. Jenny and Morkeleb are also at risk, and to save them all John bargains his own soul as the forfeit if he cannot pay a demon's price.
Hambly creates a believable setting and compellingly real characters without sacrificing the sense of a truly magical world, both beautiful and deadly. This is not yet another predictable sword and sorcery tale. This story concerns the temptations of power and the cost of resisting evil. Grief and loss are inescapable. Unlike Dragonsbane, however, Dragonshadow promises readers another book in which, perhaps, the protagonists will find peace and healing. --Nona Vero
From Publishers Weekly
Relying more on strongly delineated, complex characters than on outlandish wizardry or heroism, this first-rate high fantasy is the follow up to Dragonsbane (1987), one of the prolific and protean Hambly's (Fever Season, etc.) earliest novels. Mageborn Jenny Waynest returns, along with her husband, Lord John Aversin, who long ago earned the title "Dragonsbane" for defeating two dragons. Now the couple must save the Winterlands from the menace of yet another dragon?but the real threat turns out to be worse. Demons from another plane of existence, who prey on the magic and souls of both wizards and dragons, take Jenny and John's mageborn son, 12-year-old Ian, captive. John must turn for help to the powerful Morkeleb, a dragon who loved Jenny and once gave her a dragon's body, magic and immortality?though he later returned her to mortal form when she chose to be with John. All three suffer and sacrifice as they make dark bargains to defeat their formidable foes. With its resourceful, 45-year-old heroine who must make difficult choices, face both emotional and demonic challenges and deal with the pain of her past, Hambly's novel should appeal to mature readers who seek more than flashing swords and simple sorcery. Elegant, intelligent and entertaining, this novel excels as a sequel but readers new to the story won't miss a beat.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
