Dragon Burning

The Dragon Circle #3

by Craig Shaw Gardner

The conclusion to The Dragon Circle trilogy ends the war between the wizards, revenge will be at hand for the inhabitants of Chestnut Circle, and Nick Blake's fate will be revealed. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Craig Shaw Gardner was born in Rochester, New York and lived there until 1967, when he moved to Boston, MA to attend Boston University. He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Broadcasting and Film. He has continued to reside in Boston since that time.

He published his first story in 1977 while he held a number of jobs: shipper/receiver for a men's suit manufacturer, working in hospital public relations, running a stat camera, and also managed of a couple of bookstores: The Million Year Picnic and Science Fantasy Bookstore.

As of 1987 he became a full time writer, and since then he has published more than 30 novels and more than 50 short stories.

He also published under these pseudonyms:

Peter Garrison

Reviews

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feelings for this are the same as the trilogy overall. A lot of wandering. Not necessarily bad wandering, as there's lots of interesting sequences and Gardner's prose is always nice. But right up to the last 20 pages, where it suddenly brings everything to a close without any real surprise or twist, it just spins the plates of its threads, with thin characters who are less defined but their largely 1-note characterizations than by the situations they find themselves in, and the dynamics that forge and break and forge and break as they keep wandering in and out of each other (even literally). Glad I finally read these after I've had them on my shelf for years, but can't say I feel a need to hang onto them for a revisit.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

A disappointing non-conclusion to The Dragon Circle Trilogy. I think this series would have been much more effective if it had been a duology rather than a trilogy. Pretty much nothing new was presented in this book; it's like the author had one trick (having people appear and disappear) and used it ad nauseum. There is no real "revelation" about what the dragon actually is or does beyond what had already been hinted at throughout the book. The dragon is everywhere, in everything and comes to destroy. The only interesting/cool part was the neighbors joining together to form a new dragon to drive off the old dragon and prevent it from destroying the world. But even that victory feels hollow, especially with all the random pointless death because the neighbors don't get to go home (except Nick's dad for some reason) and it is made very clear that eventually the dragon will return to destroy everything again.

There was nothing technically wrong with the book, but I kept feeling more and more emotionally distant from the characters, despite their struggles and rising stakes, and the constant chess-like movement of players got on my nerves. It's a shame because the first book had promise and an interesting premise, but it really should have only been one or two books maximum. Three just drew it out too long.

[MrJsPancakeHouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so it ends, the final book in Craig Shaw Gardner's Dragon Circle Trilogy. And what a sad end it is, I will miss these books they were a wonderful experience for me. Nicely written, nicely developed characters, action death and much more. Dragon Burning does not disappoint anyone who read the first two installments. As always it starts out slow, but eventually flows into a climatic end. I will truly miss some of the characters in this book, Todd, Nick and my favorites Raven and Jason (Oomgosh).

[Vader · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Zephyre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read this, but just couldn't get into it.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third in The Dragon Circle trilogy. A fine finish to the set. Some people die, some people live, everyone changes, even the dragon.