Joanne Bertin

DragonLord — (1998 - ) Possibly forthcoming: Bard's Oath. Publisher: Dragonlord Linden Rathan, last-born of a race of immortal weredragons, has spent six hundred years alone, searching for his soultwin while his fellow Dragonlords watch over humanity's Five Kingdoms.When the Queen of Cassori dies mysteriously, Linden and the other Dragonlords are called upon to prevent civil war as two human claimants vie for the regency.As the battle for Cassori rule escalates, Linden becomes the target of the Fellowship, a secret society of true-humans who could actually destroy his immortal life.Then he meets a beautiful young ship captain named Maurynna who may be the only one who can help Linden bring Cassori back from the brink of chaos.

Dragon and Phoenix: Slow To Begin, But Well Done Overall

Joanne Bertin's Dragonlord plot has been rather weak overall. However, Dragon and Phoenix is a huge improvement on The Last DragonLord.

The Dragonlords are no longer the sole concern and in fact, they are hardly mentioned for a good deal of the novel. They're much less overbearing this time around and while the whole "soultwin" bit is still silly, it isn't quite as absurd as it was throughout The Last DragonLord.

There is an intricate plot, full of intrigue, woven through this book, which is both a blessing and a curse. It strengthens the story in some ways, but also weakens it. The intrigue is so well done that the Dragonlords' part in it feels tacked on like an afterthought. Joanne Bertin may have done better to have shucked the Dragonlord trappings and followed her ability for intrigue and politics to its end.

It looks as though another book in the DragonLord trilogy will not be forthcoming, which is truly unfortunate, because there was much potential here. —B.J.