Dragon Queen: An Ancient Mirrors Tale

by Jayel Gibson

Imagine being summoned from the slumber of death, awaking in a shattered world you do not recall, betrayed by sibling, parent and lover...imagine your search for the truth. Dragon An Ancient Mirrors Tale is a legend of magic, adventure, and courage set in the mythical world of AEdracmorae; a tale that explores strength and weakness, hope and fear, and what it means to be a guardian in a world where peace hangs by a fine, golden thread. Without knowledge of the past, Yavie and the Guardians stumble on a quest more filled with peril than any that have come before, a quest that will test the depths of their loyalties and which paths they will choose. Together they embark on a journey to discover the truth of Yávië s birthright and a world they no longer remember. With the discovery that she was born of the Dragon Queen, Yavie is given knowledge of the powerful artifacts that will reunite the shattered kingdoms into a single world. However, with the rebirth of AEdracmorae will come the opening of doorways that bring chaos and shadow to the new world, an evil that may be far worse than the original destruction of the realm of the Dragon Queen. It is within this darkness that the guardians and their young queen struggle to gain control of what they have unleashed upon the kingdoms.

Genres: Fantasy

584 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a traditional imaginary world fantasy, with a lot of good qualities. It has the epic scope of Tolkien, with sparser language and a stronger female presence. There are magical beings aplenty (especially dragons), ancient prophecies and quests, (occasionally forbidden) romance, and whimsical touches of humor throughout. My attention was held most of the time, and I plan to read the other three books in the series. So why do I only give it three stars? Well, this is due in part to some of the odd narrative choices Gibson makes. The (original) three main characters, Yavie, Ryden, and Nall, are guardians called forth by the wizened Ancients to bring about the reunification of Aedracmorae. A brief prologue explains that this world was shattered by the efforts of the Sojourner Alandon, angered by the betrayal of his daughter Aleria, although details as to how this occurred won't appear until midway through the book. That's fine at first; it isn't really necessary to understand the sundering of this world to follow the quests and training of the young guardians at the beginning of the book. However, as I kept reading the book there were more and more moments when I felt like I missed something, that I didn't really know what was going on, and not in a good way. This is partly because of an overabundance of quests and dragons and talismans, but it also has something to do with how and when the author chose to portion out relevant details. There were no men, aside from the guardians, and then there were. It's not exactly the author breaking her own rules, but it occasionally feels like it. The book rallies again midway through, when the dissolution of Aedracmorae is explained and the details of the guardians' past lives revealed. Although the second half of the book is easier to follow, "prophecy" is used somewhat arbitrarily, and the heroine Yavie is a bit of a Mary Sue, although her personality does rise above it. So overall I'd say this book entertained but did not wow me, and that it uses (and sometimes overuses) many of the usual fantasy tropes, but in an original way. I'm interested to see where the series goes next.

[gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just listed: Dragon Queen: An Ancient Mirrors Tale [paperback] Gibson, Jayel [May 01, 2007], for $11.50 via @amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193...

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a time long ago, the world of Ædracmoræ was shattered into seven different lands, floating around a topaz star. This was the result of a desperate battle where evil triumphed over good, and the Guardians’ souls were sent to slumber among the stars until called upon. Three of them, Yávië, Nall, and Rydén, are awakened by seven Ancients to fulfill a prophecy. They train vigorously until they are ready to undertake their quest, which they complete with the aid of three more Guardians. But their missions are not over: Yávië wants to reunite the seven kingdoms before she takes her rightful place as the Dragon Queen.

Jayel Gibson weaves a fantastical world populated by creatures of both good and evil. They journeys the Guardians complete are fascinating and difficult, yet sometimes I felt the tasks seemed accomplished rather easily. The first half of the book was a little disjointed and sometimes I felt that pieces of the story were missing, but the plot flowed more smoothly through the ending. I would have liked this novel to be broken up into shorter stories, as that would make it more manageable to read, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this tale of the Dragon Queen.

Dragon Queen is the first book in the exciting Ancient Mirrors fantasy series. While it wasn’t as captivating for me as Lord of the Rings, it was still very interesting and had a lot of action and even romance. If you are a fantasy can who doesn’t mind a long story, then I definitely recommend this book.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

[Carma Spence · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read my review of the book here: http://www.thegenretraveler.com/fanta...