"DOOM OF THE DRAGON," by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Tor Books, $29.99, 400 pages (f)
“Doom of the Dragon,” the fourth and final book of the Dragonships of Vindras series, is an excellent example of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s world-building skills. “Doom of the Dragon” follows the continuing exploits of Skylan Ivorson, Chief of Chiefs for the Vandrasi people. The Vandrasi are patterned after actual Viking archetypes, which makes this series more realistic.
Skylan and his new bride, Aylaen, the Kai Priestess, continue their quest to find all five of the spiritbones belonging to the Great Dragon Ilyrion in order to help their gods and their people. Their gods are battling the Faceless God, Aelon. The race is on as Aelon has a champion in Raegar, a traitorous cousin of Skylan, who betrayed his people to become an Emperor of the Sinarians, who had previous enslaved Skylan and his followers.
Skylan and Aylaen have found four of the five spiritbones but now must find the last one before Raegar. If they fail, their world as they know it is lost. Skylan is the sea-raiding battler who unites former enemies the ogres and the Cyclops into an army. As Kai Priestess, Aylaen holds the spiritbones and can activate them. It falls to her to try to steal the fifth bone to save her husband and people.
The story is filled with grand battles and personal struggles. It is an excellent book and series, and "Doom of the Dragon" provides a satisfactory conclusion to the series. It isn’t necessary to read the previous books because this one starts with a summary of the storyline, but it could make this book more enjoyable.
The book contains scattered but descriptive instances of violence, including descriptions of limbs being cut off and blood. There are several sexual situations, including described nudity and situations of adultery and arousal. There is no objectionable language.
Kent Larson is from Phoenix, Arizona. He's been happily married for 30 years and has two sets of twins. He's been teaching for 26 years. His interests include his family, writing, reading, music and movies. Find him at kentalarson.wordpress.com.