Dragon and Soldier: The Second Dragonback Adventure (Dragonback (Quality)) [Paperback]

Dragon And Soldier is the second book in Timothy Zahn's Dragonback series, picking up where Dragon and Thief left off. In this volume, Jack and Draycos join a mercenary group in the hope of finding out information about the mercenaries involved in the attack on the advance fleet of Shontine and K'da refugee ships from which Draycos was the sole survivor. It's a desperate move but Jack and Draycos are working against a deadline: they must find out who was behind the attack in order to save the rest of the refugee fleet that will arrive in less than six months time.

In joining the mercenary group - the Whinyard's Edge - Jack is put through a rushed basics course in how to be a soldier, but it is Draycos, his K'da warrior-poet companion, who ends up teaching him the more important lessons about what it really means to be a soldier and a warrior:

--"We are leaving, then?"
--Jack grimaced. "Look Draycos, I'm sorry," he said. "It just didn't work out. We'll back off, regroup, and try to get the Djinn-90 data some other way."
--"I was not thinking about the information," Draycos said. "I was thinking about those still in Shamshir hands."
--"What about them?"
--"Did you intend to simply leave them there?"
--Jack frowned down at the dragon padding soundlessly through the dead leaves at his side. Uh-oh. "Hey, I know how you feel about that sort of thing," he said cautiously. "K'da warrior ethic, and all that. But I think that asking Colonel Elkor for a rescue party is out of the question."
--"Certainly," Draycos agreed. "That means we will have to do it alone."
--Jack took a careful breath. "Look," he said, as if talking to a very small child. "I know you're upset. But you have to understand the realities of the situation. We're talking about two of us - you and me - against a whole mercenary force."
...
--Jack clenched his teeth. This was not going well at all. "We hardly even know these kids," he said. "Anyway, it's Alison's fault they're there, not mine."
--"Fault is of no matter," Draycos said. "They are your comrades. Your fellow soldiers. A warrior does not simply abandon those of his own side. Not when there is a chance of rescuing them."
--"Even if it means getting killed?" Jack shot back harshly. "We could, you know. Those guns of theirs aren't just for show. We go charging in, and they're going to start shooting. What happens to your people then? Hmm?"
--For a long minute they walked in silence. "Do you remember our first meeting, Jack?" Draycos asked at last. "Despite your objections, I took the time to aid a wounded soldier of the other side."
--"You kept him from burning his hands and neck in hot dirt," Jack said, grimacing at the memory. "And I still think it was a waste of time."
--"The point is that a warrior does that which is right," the dragon said. "Not because he may profit from it. Because it is right."

The action is fast-paced, making Dragon And Soldier a fairly quick read. My only complaint is that I would liked to have seen more about Alison Kayna, a girl of about Jack's age who joins the mercenary group at the same time. Like Jack, she apparently has a hidden agenda in joining the group, but we never really learn just what that agenda is. But it seems fairly certain from the end of Dragon And Soldier that we'll be seeing more of her later in the series.

All in all, this is a good continuation of the series and we can see Jack and Draycos (and even Uncle Virge, oddly enough) evolving as characters. Highly recommended.

"Dragon and Soldier" is the second book in a series known as the "Dragonback Adventures." I just started reading these books recently and I'm pleased to discover to that this is a continuing series and while there's already several of these out, there's still more to come.

"Dragon and Soldier" picks up on the plot of of the character Jack Morgan (now going as Jack Montana) and his dragon companion, Draycos. These two share a rather special bond as Draycos is something of a symbiont --- he needs a host to survive. He has to become two-dimensional --- a sort of tattoo pattern formed on his host's skin every few hours. If he's not able to do this, then he just becomes two-dimensional anyway and eventually just disappears. It's a pretty interesting concept and it seems to be working well for the series so far.

Draycos is a K'da soldier and in this book, Jack is continuing to try to help him out in unraveling an apparent conspiracy against his people. It's a mission that he's taken up reluctantly, but is now committed to. Knowing from Draycos that the people after him were mercenaries, they decide to get on the inside by joining a mercenary group. They hope that by getting in, they can unravel the plot from the inside and get needed data. Jack finds the training he's put through rough and grueling, but it's certainly small potatoes to what could be necessary to sneak through and get the information he needs.

Along the way, he finds himself noticing a mysterious girl named Alison Kayna. Alison claims to have trained for another of these mercenary groups before, but washed out. But it's hard to tell what her real agenda is and if she's someone that Jack and Draycos can trust.

Overall, this is another enjoyable and thought-provoking installment in this series by Timothy Zahn, who has also written a number of great books. I find myself interested in the characters and the plot moves along nicely.

"Dragon and Soldier" (at least, the version I read anyway) comes with a handy readers guide at the end. It has questions and activities to get readers involved with the novel, such as "In Chapter 8, Draycos observes that he his accustomed to 'thinking as a warrior' and not as a thief. Is this an apology or a criticism?" The activities and questions seem suited to a classroom setting. Whether any teacher has or actualy will/would use this novel in the classroom is questionable, but it's certainly an interesting thought.

Draycos is a K'da warrior. He is also a symbiont who chooses for his human host and adolescent space pilot, Jack Morgan. Jack and Draycos unite to stop a plot against Draycos' people, infiltrating a group of mercenaries, an act that leads to hair-raising adventure. (M/H/RR) Part of the DRAGONBACK series, the novel is the second installment of a romping space opera of the first order.