The Bane of Lord Caladon

Caladon #1

by Craig Mills

Alonin was the rightful Lord of Castle Caladon. But the ancient and dread dragon Thudredid occupied the castle, terrorizing the countryside and destroying all who came against it. Every Lord of Caladon had gone against the dragon as soon as he had a male heir. And every Lord of Caladon had been killed! If he chose, Alonin could remain with his grandfather, King Clemmth, and become heir to a kingdom. But the ancient curse of his blood called him back to Caladon. He knew that his time had come and that he must challenge the might of Thudredid. Only by returning the dragon's stolen Dylcaer jewel would he have any chance to survive. But the jewel lay in the coffers of dread witch-queen Urganni, ruler of an island of invincible pirates. She alone was immune to the evil that haunted the Dylcaer. Dylcaer or Thudredid--Alonin knew he had only a choice of dooms!

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Fiction

218 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 12, 1982

About the author

Craig Mills (b.1955), the author of four fantasy novels beginning with The Bane of Lord Caladon (Del Rey, 1982). Mills studied acting in college and acted on stage in New York for four years before moving to California and taking up his writing career. In addition to four original fantasy novels, he also wrote the gaming tie-in King's Quest #1: The Floating Castle. Although Mills attended conventions in the San Francisco area, he was quiet and may not have been known to many.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading out of print classic fantasy can always be a bit hit or miss, but this was surprisingly well done. While it's not beautifully written there are moments that have real gravitas and beauty to them which made the whole thing worthwhile. I really enjoyed the characters, too, who were surprisingly practical and lovely, and not overtaken by being masculine the way a lot of classic fantasy men are.

That said, it's the standard (though very condensed) fantasy narrative. Man discovers lost legacy, feels compelled to continue the family legacy in some way, goes on adventure to get magical item and solve legacy problem. Mills did twist the narrative slightly with the ending and the character's expectations, but at the end of the day it's the same story we see again and again just in a single book rather than bloated over a trilogy.

If you can grab a copy of this it's worth a look!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shockingly decent novel (a first novel even). I was completely surprised that its pathos towards the end affected me. The plot and world building are totally generic -- even by the dawn of Del Rey Fantasy standards -- but I'll be damned if I didn't get carried away by it anyway. The one thing that so grated on my nerves at the beginning ended up being the major component as to why the protagonist could resolve the climax in the way he did, and so that early-book annoyance ended up being for a reason, and not because the author was too new to his craft to see what he was doing.

At any rate, I would give this book 3.5 stars if it was possible, but that's mainly because my expectations going in -- zero -- were exceeded in delightfully oddball ways. More objectively, it's a light competent diversion, one whose hackwork frame is overcome by the storytelling.

Oh, and the dragon is pretty boss.

[Liana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad! For a generic and cliched plot, the book was very enjoyable. The storytelling's excellent - it didn't waste any time with prose and exceedingly long details of the world, it went straight to the point and adventure. I like that. It's THIS kind of storytelling that keeps me reading. Too much dallying makes me quit early, no matter how well it's written.

It's just too bad the story wasn't... more. I felt like it could have been bigger. Granted, the book is only a little over 200 pages ... But maybe if it were 100 or 200 pages more with extra development and side plots, it would have been even better... Maybe.

[Terry Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this almost 40 years ago when I was a kid and found a copy some 10 years back and reread it to see how it had held up compared to my memory. It was a very pleasant surprise. The characters were very engaging and the situation such a classic fantasy trope you expect it to get cliched. But it stand out, to me at least, as one that avoids a lot of the pitfalls of a fantasy novel.

The world building is not overwhelming, we are given just what we need to know to follow along. There is a noble protagonist, but he is by no means a classical questing knight. Just a man trying to regain his family honor. There is evil but it has its own motives and is not just evil for the sake of being evil. And not all of the antagonists are actually all that evil.

A very solid effort by a skilled author. I just wish he had managed to write some more stuff.

[James]

Alonin was the rightful Lord of Castle Caladon. But the ancient and dread dragon Thudredid occupied the castle, terrorizing the countryside and destroying all who came against it. Every Lord of Caladon had gone against the dragon as soon as he had a male heir. And every Lord of Caladon had been killed! If he chose, Alonin could remain with his grandfather, King Clemmth, and become heir to a kingdom. But the ancient curse of his blood called him back to Caladon. He knew that his time had come and that he must challenge the might of Thudredid. Only by returning the dragon's stolen Dylcaer jewel would he have any chance to survive. But the jewel lay in the coffers of dread witch-queen Urganni, ruler of an island of invincible pirates. She alone was immune to the evil that haunted the Dylcaer. Dylcaer or Thudredid--Alonin knew he had only a choice of dooms!

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been four or perhaps even five stars because the prose was so lovely and succinct (for it's age and genre), but I was peturbed by Alonin's reaction to Urganni. He seemed to despise her more for being old than for being wicked and that sort of ruined the book for me. Lol, as you can see through my three star rating, "ruined" is a relative term.

[Snood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels like the author had a list of fantasy tropes and was trying to fit in as many as possible, but he pulled it off pretty well. Sure, it’s another story about a disgraced young king on a quest to retrieve a magical macguffin and slay a dragon, but the fast pace and steadfast refusal to wink at the camera makes it a very fun cozy read.

I imagine a more seasoned fantasy reader would find it more tired than I did, but I really enjoyed it.