Dragon's Gold

Kelvin of Rud #1

by Piers Anthony, Robert E. Margroff

The Prophecy: A Roundear there Shall Surely be; Born to be Strong, Raised to be Free; Fighting Dragons in his Youth; Leading Armies, Nothing Loth; Ridding his Country of a Sore; Joining Two, then uniting Four; Until from Seven there be One; Only then will his Task be Done. When Kelvin was a child, his mother read to him from the Book of Prophecy and he asked what the poem meant. Now he was about to learn. The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector. But Kelvin and Jon have other plans. they have found a dragon's territory, where scales of purest gold, shed by the dragon, lie free on the ground for anyone with courage, or innocence, to take. And the words of Mouvar the prophet echo across Rud.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Ebooks

212 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1987

About the author

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade B. Book Dg1. GoodReads book record lists co-author Robert E. Margroff, but doesn't list in shelf author column, nor does this book turn up for him in personal shelf search.

[Donna Sue Judd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeas
Very match

[Matthew Tarapaski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boom was good, a couple of parts were too explicit and graphic at parts and felt unnecessary to be in the story (considering how the characters are children). It could have gone without those parts.

The beginning before the marts is really good. The middle is kind of boring. Then the end it picks back up and ends strong.

A mixed bag but overall an interesting and fun read with some flaws.

3.5/5 but can’t give half stars.

[Mika Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great first fantasy for young readers, or just a really good story for older readers. Kelvin and his sister, Jon, are two engaging characters who learn a lot about themselves, their heritage, and the world around them in a very short time. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

[TheDenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of a reasonably enjoyable Piers Anthony fantasy series. It's nice to see him stretch out beyond his usual Xanth setting, and Kelvin is a decent hero, but the series runs out of steam long before the end of the fifth book.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun story to read. Now I am onto the next in the series and have high hopes for this one too. Fantasy is so fun! The authors can do anything they want. If I were an author, this would be my genre.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone has a book that got them into books. This is mine. This and Intesity.

[Andrew Fawbush · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, fun read. Can definitly see Piers Anthony's influence in the writing with the light hearted humor (don't worry, it's not like one of the pun-filled Xanth novels).

[Umair D · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a nice book. Little bit of humour and tons of fantasy. Nice Read.

[Gene Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Childhood fave (read it several times ~25 years ago, but like a lot of Anthony's work doesn't really hold up and has some of his characteristic super awkward writing regarding sex/puberty.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the corniest fantasy novel I ever read. Attempting to borrow some ideas from Juxtaposition (fantasy and Science Fiction worlds adjacent to one another) it never really rises to a level of greatness, in fact, it never even makes it to mediocrity. The story is contrived, the dialogue weak, the plotting coincidental, and utterly lacking in depth.

My copy contained the two sequels that followed this novel, and while I tried to move into the second novel, I found it just as hackneyed and poorly written as the first. I did what I rarely do with a book-- I threw it away... I put it in the trash. Where it belonged.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some gripping action all throughout. It even started on the first chapter! I found that I didn’t want to put it down. I think my only complaint would be that I could have used more world building. It wasn’t difficult to understand, but it focuses on the ability of the “round ears”, battles, and magical objects alone. Not much was mentioned of the surroundings. Overall, I enjoyed this so much.

[Kevin Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was afraid it would be chock-full of Piers Anthony pun-ishment. But other than odd names for creatures (e.g. bearver), it's well done. Robert Margroff apparently brings a lot to the book. Interesting characters, lots of action of course, a tense, multi-threaded climax, and a nice denouement.

[Derek Gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I never read Piers Anthony before and I am an instant fan! This book is a refreshing take on epic fantasy intertwined with Sci-fi and hints of YA goodness.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent tale. Definitely a keeper. =)

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant! Loved it, checked it out at the library as a trilogy, can't wait to read the next two.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

my initial thoughts 1997- 'Very bad, I couldn't go on to next book.'

[Brady Hunsaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

The kind of fantasy I vowed not to write.

[Tyler Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book..odd ensign, but amusing mix of fantasy and a little bit of sci fi.

[Matthew Strandquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightfully confusing alternate world romp, with all of the pithy, fun-filled humour that we have all come to expect from Mr. Anthony. 5/5 Stars, looking forward to reading again!

[Sandra Visser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Golden opportunities.

When Kelvin was a child his mother read to him from the Book of Prophecy and he asked what its cryptic message meant. Now he was about to learn.

The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper, an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfilment. It cannot come too soon for Charlaine and her children as they are about to lose their home to the tax collector.

But Kelvin and Jon have other plans. They have discovered a dragon's territory, where scales of purest gold lie free on the ground for anyone with the courage, stupidity or innocence to take.

And the words of Mouvar the prophet echo across the land.

I first came across the series in primary school when I found the fourth book, Orc's Opal, in the library. I thought it was imaginative and fun and sought out the rest of the series. I then read the first three as I found them but never completed the series, as the fifth book was never imported to South Africa.

After finally ordering the last volume from overseas I've decided to start from the beginning and read them all in order. I've never read any of Anthony's other books but whenever I spotted the Xanth books their silly punny titles put me off so I can't compare this lesser-known series to his more well-known books.

There's a lot of humour but there are also sweet and emotional moments as well as character growth. For the most part it's lighthearted but you do come to care about Jon, Kelvin and Heln.

I liked that Kelvin was a bit of a bumbler and his little sister more of the traditional hero, though it is disturbing that there's so much emphasis on women being raped and assaulted if they so much as set foot outside their home. I usually enjoy plots about women disguised as men but the idea that Jon had to disguise herself as a boy to do pretty much anything except stay at home or she'd get raped was upsetting. I think as a tween I liked Jon's tomboyishness but now I find some of the gender politics (she has "to act like a man" when she wants to do anything assertive, for example, or she must learn to "act like a girl" and use her femininity to help the cause instead of trying to physically fight) problematic.

I'd read about some of the disturbing paedophilic and rape-fantasy elements found in some of other Anthony's works but luckily there wasn't anything in this book except for a description of male dragons having to hold down females to basically rape them if intercourse is to happen that was alarmingly described with some relish.

Most of the story is based on fantasy caricatures, especially the baddies, and clichés but Anthony and Margroff are aware of these and play around and poke fun at them somewhat. I like that there was a element of sci-fi and how they blended it with the fantasy tropes. Zatanas' brand of sympathetic magic was interesting but I wish there had been more about his daughter (for some reason I was expecting her to turn out to be dragon transformed into a woman) and I wish the connection between the dragonberries and the dragons had been explained more.

I appreciate the small details that soften some of the harshness, such as that Kelvin feels sick when killing, doesn't want to harm dragons and his funny and kind interjections when trying to comfort Heln. These helped to make the book enjoyable to read.

All in all, it's a fun, light read but nothing more.

[Jeneé · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story and kept me interested, the only thing that bothered me was that that story could be pretty confusing. I don't know if it was because I was sort of young when I first read it or what.

Anthony puts a lot of interesting concepts into the story that aren't seen much in many fantasy novels. Which is a really nice change, but as the story progresses the more far fetched and confusing the concepts become. I am going to have to read the story again now that I'm older. Hopefully I will understand it more then and be able to write a more useful review.

I do enjoy how likable the chacters are and how unlikable the villians are. Character development is very important to me when reading a novel.

I have never read any other stories by Anthony but I do enjoy his style of writing.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in high school. I bought it because of the title, and quickly discovered that it was mostly about an irritating young man named Kelvin, born with rounded ears in a world where everyone else had pointy ears. His father was from a mysterious far-away land . . . Earth. They go on some adventures, they buy a slave girl who has been mistreated because she also has round ears, and other than the twist of his father being from our world, the book is a fairly generic fantasy adventure. I do remember that I liked it at the time, though couldn't remember any other details immediately afterward, and I liked his little sister, named Jon. She has pointy ears and a sassy attitude . . . but that's pretty much it.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of the wit of Piers Anthony. Unfortunately, that wit was mostly absent in the Kelvin of Rud trilogy. I did enjoy the names of plants & animals. Dragon's Gold was a fun adventure. The characters were developed and the story moved along. After finishing it, I immediately started Serpent's Silver. Maybe that was a mistake. Familiarity breeds contempt.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting enough plot concept for a book. This book uses a straightforward style, which I enjoy. There's something about the storyline that I don't enjoy. I think it may be the extreme differences of characters...such as "the natives" versus the "aliens" perhaps.

[Sage Rutledge · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot about this book that I have no clue how to feel or what to think about anything but when Lazer blasters got brought into a medieval setting all I could do was shrug my shoulders and just continue on.

[Gavin Greig · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK read, but prone to Piers Anthony's punning approach to names - mildly amusing at first, but increasingly annoying over time - and superficial characterisation.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick read with a ton of questions left unanswered but it was still enjoyable. I will certainly not stop myself from a piers anthony in the future

[g-na · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple story about a boy who inadvertantly grows up to be a hero. Although it doesn't seem to have been marketed as such, it's really a book for kids.

[Howard]

10