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5.0 out of 5 stars
The rich and enchanting beginning of The Dragon Quartet, Jun 27 2004
I have not read a lot of dragon-related fantasy before, so I can't really compare Marjorie B. Kellogg with the likes of Anne McCaffrey. What I can say, however, is that The Book of Earth, the first book of The Dragon Quartet, struck me as a wonderfully rich and original novel. The dragon is not your typical dragon, nor is the protagonist of the book your typical Dragon Guide. I was actually rather surprised by the depth of emotion and tragedy that went in to the core of this novel, as young Erde truly suffers a great deal at the beginning of the story. Her relationship with the dragon and the manner in which the two of them communicate, however, was really quite beautiful. And if you're looking for action, you'll find plenty of it here, building up to a much-anticipated, thrilling conclusion that differs significantly from what I was expecting.Erde von Alte is the 14-year-old daughter of a baron living in the German principalities in the year 913. Just as she is beginning to make the transition from childhood to womanhood, though, her world falls apart around her. Her grandmother, the baroness, has just died, and Brother Guillemo of Rome has arrived to oversee the funeral. Guillemo's reputation precedes him, as he is going around speaking of great evil in the land, making great prophecies about dragons and other devilish creatures. Dragons have always been a part of the von Alte tradition, however, and Erde has long delighted in dreams of her very own dragon. She recognizes the good Brother for the dangerous individual he is, and she is devastated when he accuses her of improper behavior (you know what I mean) and witchcraft. Soon, her less than loving father is under the spell of the friar, the people she loves are dead or dying, and she is held a virtual prisoner in her room. She manages to escape and runs off into the cold forest, losing her voice as a result of the trauma she endures in the process. In the depths of a secret cave, she encounters a dragon, and this dragon immediately attaches herself to her. His name is Earth, and he really does not know what his purpose is - all dragons are supposed to have a reason to exist, so it just remains for Earth and his Dragon Guide to figure out what he is supposed to do. He doesn't even know what powers he possesses, but as the two begin their journey together he begins to remember things and eventually recognizes a summons beckoning him to some as yet unidentified place. The pair meet up with a knight of the much-beleaguered king, and the trio embark on a journey that basically brings Erde full circle before it is finished. The dragon learns, grows, and becomes more enchanting as time goes by, finally identifying the source of his summons at the very end of the book (which leads fluidly into the next book of the series). This is a wonderfully human story, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes wonderful, but always vivid and magnificent. The malevolent aims of Brother Guillemo and the resulting baronial revolt against the king take precedence over the ultimate quest of Erde and Earth, but each character fully comes into his/her own by the end of the book. The novel is rather dark at times, which I found a little surprising, but this only makes the world more real. There was one surprise at the end that I initially viewed with doubt, but it actually made for a melodramatically powerful end to Erde's life-changing adventure. The story of Erde and Earth does not end here, of course. Each of the four books in the series is devoted to one of the four dragons that basically created the earth: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Not until the end of this world were the dragons to be reawakened, and the reader really knows little at this point about the reawakening of these magical creatures. The Book of Earth has a wholly satisfying ending, but the story of the dragons is only just beginning. The Dragon Quartet has the makings of a truly impressive fantasy series.
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