I already had a couple of titles by author Barbara Hambly in my Kindle collection, but have yet to get around to reading them. It wasn't those titles, however, that I ended up reading first among her works of fiction, but a much older one. I always remembered Brandon Sanderson mentioning Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly as one of the books that influenced his passion for fantasy. And a later posting for a much discounted listing of the title in Amazon pushed it up in my reading list.
The young noble Gareth journeys north to find the famed Dragonsbane, desperate to put an end to the hardships caused by a dragon that attacked the capital city of Bel, and claimed the Deep of Ylferdun and the gold mined by the gnomes in it. In the Winterlands, he meets the mage Jenny Waynest, who introduces him to John Aversin. Despite the fact that the bespectacled John doesn't exactly match what he thought the Dragonsbane would look like and his prejudice against Jenny, because she is a mage and John's lover, Gareth pleads for John's help. John wants more support from the kingdom to help the always neglected Winterlands and Jenny fears for John's safety because of what the future battle may bring, so both decide to accompany Gareth on his return. But the capital is also fraught with other dangers, with a rebellion looming, discrimination against the now displaced gnomes, and the machinations of the mage Zyrene in the politics of the kingdom.
Reading Dragonsbane, it's easy enough to see the influence that Barbara Hambly's writing had on Brandon Sanderson. Both take their time in building their worlds and their characters, which can sometimes be deemed too slow for some readers, and then ending things with a lot more excitement than you initially imagined there would be. One particular difference, though, is that Sanderson does a much better job at world and mythology building than Hambly did in Dragonsbane. The book belongs to The Winterlands Series, but there was little impression made about the lands that John Aversin and Jenny Waynest hail from, except that the land is harsh and there are little people who are actually cannibals. How harsh the land is can only be gleaned from John's decision to face yet another dragon to gain more support from the king, when his first encounter with the dread creatures nearly killed him. And even Bel and Deep of Ylferdun are mere settings, my interest never quite reaching its peak about the places that John and Jenny eventually visited and wherein they found much trouble to contend with.
But the beauty of Dragonsbane isn't in these places, but in the people who get to live in or travel to them. Dragonsbane is a character driven book and its characters are all you really need to enjoy the story it features. The harshness of the Winterlands is felt in John's motivations, and the complicated workings of the court in Bel is reflected in Gareth's fears and awkwardness.
And then, there's Jenny. A mage who recognizes that she can never be as great as her teacher Caerdinn or come close to the magic wielded by Zyrene, who uses her power to hold sway as the King's mistress and the puppeteer of many intrigues of the court. Jenny is embittered yet accepting, troubled yet steady in her practice of magic. It took several chapters for me to appreciate Jenny, but I came to love her in the end.
It initially came as a surprise that Jenny was the main narrator of Dragonsbane, given its title and her initial profile in the novel. But by the end of the book, it dawned on me that Jenny was actually equally deserving of the title John earned when he slayed that first dragon using an axe. Her journey in Dragonsbane was one that I initially thought I could predict, but one that surprised me in its outcome. You may not always agree with her, but you appreciate the reasons for her actions or decisions.
The characters in Dragonsbane are beautifully fleshed out. John is the steady figure who is extremely likable and a rather believable hero, both in his feats as dragonsbane and in his sacrifice that allows Jenny to pursue her magic without the ties of marriage and family. Their relationship is unconventional but pure in its love, even if Jenny feels that John gets the short end of the stick in their arrangement. Gareth, on the other hand, became a much better character in the course of their story, benefiting from time spent with John and Jenny. Zyrene is as corrupt as she is beautiful, willing to sacrifice everything and anything to get her heart's desire. Even Morkeleb the black dragon, who John is requested to slay, is no mere villain, his destiny intertwined with those who came to either murder him or root him out of the Deep and away from the gold that he claimed his prize.
With greatly defined characters, it was hard to pause in my reading of their experiences, particularly in the last third part of the book. At this point, all the revelations and struggles have come to a head, and Barbara Hambly deftly picks up the pace. With the characters already a large part of your imagination as you read, you are easy to empathize with their every emotion and struggle. The final battle is frenetic, the sense of urgency palpable, and the outcome satisfying.
And the ending? While I want to avoid spoilers, I can tell you that there are two parts to the ending. Both parts are bittersweet, depending on the characters who are experiencing it. A reminder that not all happy endings are the ones we imagine for ourselves.
My reading of Dragonsbane mirrors Gareth's experience in meeting the man who holds the title. It wasn't what I was expecting, but gained an enriching experience in the end.
Happy reading!!Labels: Barbara Hambly, Book Series, Books, Dragonsbane, Fantasy, Fiction, Reading List, Romance, Winterlands
