Book Rave: King’s Dragon
December 23rd, 2009Last night–sadly!–I finished reading King’s Dragon, first in the series Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott.
This is not a new book. It was published in 1997, but back then I wasn’t reading heroic fantasy. Such a pity — because now that I have finally read it, I have to say it’s been a truly long, long time since I flat-out enjoyed a book as much as this one. This is the sort of book that got me hooked on reading in the first place—which is not to say it’s juvenile. Not at all. It’s intricate and smart, with lots of suspense and great pacing, and filled with likeable, admirable characters to whom ethics matter. Just my cup of tea.
I picked up the book because it was pointed out to me that Kate lives in Hawaii. I don’t keep up at all with science fiction and fantasy these days, so this was news to me. But I thought it was only right that I should have some familiarity with Hawaii SF&F writers (as few as we are).
As it turns out, Kate is far more productive than I am and has published multiple series. I started with Crown of Stars because it happened to be available on the local library shelf—sort of. I actually picked up another book in the series, not realizing it was a series, and promptly returned that and ordered volume 1.
It is so nice knowing I have much more to look forward to. The only thing that irritates me is that I don’t have the next book in hand. Yet.
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Posted on: Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Categories: Reading, Recommended Reading.
Tags: Kate Elliott, King's Dragon
January 10th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hi Linda,
I will definitely check out the book. I need a new journey. I recently read all of Jerry Goodkind’s books. The Truth Seeker series is amazing. Usually you read one or two books in a series and you want to read something else in between. I just kept getting the next and the next through nine or more small print, 750 pages some of them, books and just moaned when it was all over.
I think of you and your editor’s then. The way they kept telling you to cut it down, or this or that, and I want to say wait a minute. Look at this guy’s books. I’m sure he never cuts anything down. They go on forever. That’s what we want as readers. We just don’t want it to stop. We love everything you write and you can’t disappoint us, unless you cut things out.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Hi Phil, thank again! I will look for Goodkind’s books down the road. Right now I’m on the 3rd volume of the Crown of Stars series.