Fortress Draconis (Dragoncrown War Cycle) [Paperback]

The Dark Glory War was a very interesting set-up for this story. It ended on a final note that, if you wanted to stop reading, you could have. However, it did entice you to get the next book. This is that book, and it is a lot better than the previous one. First, Fortress Draconis is not simply military fantasy. It is much deeper than that, and the emphasis is not on violence, blood flowing, heads flying off, and battle tactics. These things are in the book, so it's still not for the squeamish. But Stackpole adds scope to the plot, making it have a much grander feel. I really appreciated that.

Secondly, he adds deeper characterization to the mix. The story has a number of viewpoint characters, so we learn details about more than just the narrator. Alexia, Will and Kerrigan are the main viewpoint characters, though we do see some sections from minor viewpoints as well. This was a great addition, as one of the problems with The Dark Glory War was the fact that Tarrant was the only person I felt I knew after reading that one. Stackpole also does a better job of characterizing the people of whom we don't see the viewpoints. I get the feeling that he didn't care as much about the characterization in the first book because of the type of book it was, but this time he seems to have worked a lot harder at it.

The only failure in this aspect of the novel is Kerrigan. He is the ultimate innocent, formed by his wizard mentors to be the most powerful wizard that has been seen in quite awhile. However, he has been sheltered and thus doesn't know very much about life. When we first meet him, he is felled to tears because he has a cut. I see what Stackpole is trying to do with this character, but unfortunately it doesn't work for me. He is boring, and the book screeches to a stop whenever he's the viewpoint character. He's arrogant, but he also whines a lot when things don't go his way. When his not knowing how to act results in a death, he whines some more. It's an understandable reaction, but the way Stackpole writes him, I felt more annoyance at him than sympathy for his situation. He does get a bit better as time goes on, and I can tell Stackpole has some big plans for him. Hopefully, this upward cycle will continue and he won't be as annoying in the next book.

Stackpole's plotting and writing are really nice as well. I liked the choices that he made. One of my complaints about the previous book was that Chytrine was actually made a character in the last section of the book and I felt she was too simply written. This time, Stackpole seems to have taken a lesson from Lord of the Rings. She is not on-screen at all, except as seen in the distance. In LotR, we never see Sauron, and I think that's a good thing. In this case, Chytrine becomes an ominous presence and not a character to roll your eyes at. I was very impressed. Instead, we see the "heroes" of the previous expedition to destroy her, and we see how they have been corrupted. If the reader is familiar with them from having read the previous book, there is a sense of tragedy in this as well, and it really works. The prose is not outstanding, but it services the plot well. There are no glowing passages, but there are also no clunkers reveling in their purpleness.

Thankfully, there is no need to have read the previous book, as most of the information a reader needs to understand what is going on is included in this book. Some of the revelations will mean more (such as Crow's secret, which I will not reveal even though other reviews have, which ruined it for me), but that's not a big thing.

The only other minor problem with this book is that it still feels a bit like a fantasy role-playing game set to novel form. The party of heroes is even a classic party from one of those games: a wizard, a thief, and three fighters. Healing is done by the wizard, so there's no need for a cleric. Thus you get the feeling you could follow along in your game if you wanted to. However, that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of reading this book. It manages to lift itself beyond the typical role-playing fiction by providing interesting characters (except Kerrigan, of course) and intriguing situations. If you don't mind a little blood spilt and some severed limbs, then you can't go wrong with this one.

Michael Stackpole is one of my favorite authors now. I first ran into his work in the X-wing novels of the Star Wars universe, then moved on to his fantasy novels and work in Battletech because I enjoyed his writing so much.

If you haven't read anything by Mr. Stackpole, give this one a shot and you'll be hooked. If you enjoy Robert Jordan (as I do) give this book a read as the world here is just as rich and deep, with the action coming even more quickly and the plot twists being just as good.