Review: Dragon Mound

Dragon Mound by Richard A. Knaak

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Please note: I read and reviewed this book in October of 2011. I'm adding formatting, and the disclosure that I received an ARC e-galley from JKS Communications (this author's publicist) in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: More than 200 years has passed since the area around Pretor’s Hill was the scene of a horrific battle – on one side the Sorcerer-King Novaris and his army of humans, trolls, morags, dragons and other nasty creatures; on the other side the Sorcerer Paulo Centuros with the humans of three realms, elves and others fighting to stop the spread of darkness. Among those involved in the war is the knight Evan Wytherling. He is cursed to wander the land until he can find Novaris – and confirm him dead, or kill Novaris himself.

My Thoughts: This is a well-written quest fantasy novel, with a lot of great characters. Each character is carefully created to be unique, and the area around Pretor Hill is described in many scenes. I really enjoyed the novel, which moved at a comfortable pace that allowed both plot and character development, yet kept things moving along nicely.

I did note a couple plot mixups – Evan lost his dagger at one point, but then when he and Mardi neared town, he suddenly had it again to give to her. Also, they met Steppenwald, and his bloodline is revealed, yet later Evan mentioned it like it was something he had just put together then and Mardi, who had heard it all the first time, acted like she’d had no idea.

However, the novel is written in such a way that I doubt many people would have picked up on this, and while it gave me a couple of “wait a minutes,” it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. I did notice one sort of funny thing – other than Lord Steppenwald, the king’s representative, who calls his horse Ghost, no one else seemed to have named their horses. I didn’t really think of it until I was almost finished with the book, but then it seemed kind of strange.

At any rate, folks who enjoy quest fantasy, swords and sorcery, demons and dragons, should love this book. Also watch for “Wake of the Wyrm,” which is the sequel to “Dragon Mound.” Edit 3/9/13: This sequel is not yet out. I do not know when/if it will be released.



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