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4.0 out of 5 stars
A much different novel than Dragon Quartet fans expected, Jul 3 2006
The Book of Air is the fourth and final novel in Marjorie B. Kellogg's wonderful Dragon Quartet, and while the ending to this saga may not delight all readers, I found it a fitting end that somewhat defied my expectations (and that is almost always a good thing). Readers had to wait three years between the third and fourth novels, and the buildup of expectation this caused is a factor, I feel, in the disappointment some fans seem to feel with this concluding volume. Certainly, things did not really go the way I wanted them to, a couple of plot points seemed a tad clumsy, and the dragon Air defied the very idea of dragonhood on a primal level, but this shows the courage of the writer. Kellogg let this novel go where the story led her, and while readers are of course the very business of writers (successful ones, anyway), I feel it is more important to place your trust in the story and not in reader expectations. Thus, what some see as the weaknesses in the novel strike me as strengths.
This whole story started long ago - at the very creation of the world, in fact. Four elemental dragons (Earth, Water, Fire, and Air) were brought into being in order to create the world; their job complete, they went to ground to wait for the end of that world. Something has gone wrong, however, and the dragons have awoken early. Separated by centuries, responding to a summons they can not identify, called to a quest they do not understand, and seeking to find each other as the process of remembering begins, they locate their dragon guides and head toward a shared fate that will determine not only the future of mankind but the past as well. Each book formally introduces us to a new dragon, and now we finally get to meet Air, the most important of the dragons, the one who can supposedly answer all of the questions the other dragons (and we the readers) have about their all-encompassing purpose.
Earth awoke in the Germanies of 913, where he met up with 14-year-old Erde as she escaped the castle of her baron father and false charges of witchcraft by an evil, powerful priest; Water appeared on the coast of Africa in 2013 and bonded with N'Doch, a rather troublesome young man with big dreams and a talent for singing; Fire resides in 2213, where he reigns as a god, installing his dragon guide Paia as his high priestess; and Air is missing, reportedly imprisoned by Lord Fire. Fire, you see, wants nothing to do with this big quest his younger siblings are following. He is in rebellion against his fellow siblings, and this sets the stage for the exciting action of The Book of Air. The reader eventually finds himself in a future world that is both real and unreal, but the story comes back full circle to where it all began. The fate of each character and of the earth itself is a mystery until the very end, and while the ending did not satisfy my own personal desires, it works quite well in my opinion.
The real strength of this novel is the wonderful characterization Kellogg brings to the fore. I am especially fond of young Erde, with whom we have journeyed since the start of the first book, but even the minor players in this grand drama have a real force and personality that comes shining (or burning, in some cases) through the pages. The different gifts of each dragon make them - well, three of them, anyway, for Air is unlike any dragon you would ever imagine, a fact which seems to bother some fans of the series - incredibly distinct and oftentimes amazingly human characters in their own right. The Book of Air represents the end of an ambitious series, and I think Kellogg pulled it off quite well - even managing to throw in a pretty big twist I was not expecting at the very end.
The theme of environmentalism runs strongly through all four of these novels, particularly this final one. Nature has gone haywire in each of the respective time periods, and the future has revealed an earth burning up and dying as a result of man's failure to serve as nature's caretaker. Those with a passion for environmentalism have an extra incentive to read The Book of Air and its three predecessors.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
What a great gift!, Jun 12 2004
By A Customer
What a great gift! I just received all four books in the Dragon Quartet for my birthday and couldn't put them down until I had completed the series. The first chapter of each book is online. Do yourself - or your friend - a favor and get all 4 books.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
A Real Let Down, Jun 8 2004
By A Customer
I didn't come across this series until all four books were out (unlike some series I might mention -- Robert Jordon, are you listening??)so I didn't have to wait for years. This was good because I could read all the books one right after another, no lines no waiting. It was bad because it made for some serious comparisons which are not kind to this book which was a huge let-down for the otherwise good series. (OK, I have admit that I DID find the "dialect" of the tinkers really irritating, too!)The first three books really built up the Purpose of the dragons and constantly reminded everyone that the dragon Air was the most powerful, smart, essential dragon of them all. The Purpose could not be accomplished without Air so their first mission was to rescue her. OK, sounded good. The plot was a little used and abused but the writing was good and there were some interesting twists. But the fourth book sure didn't live up to its billing. Supposedly Fire had trapped Air so the four dragons could not complete their mission. How he managed to do this was never explained or even hinted at. The actual "release" of Air was a huge disappointment! And Air herself was an even bigger disappointment!! After all this build up of how important she was to the Purpose, she never even shows up in "person" so to speak, and all she contributes to the goal is "hurry, hurry!" which got real old real fast. Garresch -- who was the best thing happening in the whole book -- wondered if Air was even sane anymore. That gave a nice, forbidding shiver -- imagine an insane dragon! -- but Air never amounted to anything. Why did they even bother with her? She was completely unnecessary and, for that matter, not at all developed as a charactor. The Deep Moor dogs had more personality!! What a waste! The whole book was full of annoying loose ends. Where did the nanomechs come from? What was the purpose of the nano-city? Why couldn't Air leave it under nano-power? Why couldn't she communicate? And all the personalities that had been carefully developed over the previous three books, were made 2 dimensional. Paia and Fire had the "hots" (pun intended) for each other and that was that. Erde and Earth were irritatingly serious and formal. Water didn't play any kind of a role and D'Noch reverted back to being annoying. The secondary charactors, Hal, Kothen, the tinkers, and the Deep Moor women, were given "lines" of dialog like a comic book might have. Some charactors weren't even mentioned. Where did the personalities go?? All in all it was a major disappointment. It seemed like Ms. Kellogg was trying to hurry, hurry! with the final book because she left it hang too long and readers were getting mad. If a writer can't finish a book in a decent amount of time, why start? It's better not to start something than to finish it slap-dash and poorly. It's too bad because I had some real expectations for this final book.
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