The Seventh Sigil

The Dragon Brigade #3

by Margaret Weis, Robert Krammes

Margaret Weis and co-author Robert Krammes bring the enthralling Dragon Brigade trilogy to a thrilling conclusion in The Seven Sigil, a sweeping novel of worldwide war and personal redemption. Five hundred years ago, a clan of rebels was banished to the bottom of the enchanted world of Aeronne; ever since, these Bottom Dwellers have sought revenge, and now they are waging all-out war on the rest of humanity. Their deadly "contramagic" beams destroy buildings and attack naval airships, and their demonic drumming brings terrible storms and disrupts the magic of the people and dragons Above. The attack of their full contramagic power will create a magical armageddon. In an effort to prevent further death, Captain Stephano de Guichen leads the Dragon Brigade, taking the fight to the Bottom. But strength of arms alone will not be enough to conquer their foe. As the Bottom Dwellers' blood magic eats away at the world, those Above realize their only possible defense lies in the heretical secrets of contramagic. Loyal priests must decide whether to protect the Church, or risk its destruction in pursuit of the truth. Only the Dragon Brigade can prevent an endless dark age. Their epic battle will test the mettle of those thrown into the breach, and determine the fate of this magical world.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Steampunk, Dragons, High Fantasy, Audiobook

528 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2014

About the author

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.

Reviews

[Cindy Cifatte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book - not as good as the first two. I love character driven stories, which the first two books of the series were. book three was more action driven. Bittersweet ending. Will miss the characters - series was left open so the world could be returned to. hope they revisit in the future - would love to tag along and see the characters again.

[Ryan Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this conclusion to the Dragon Brigade trilogy. The final battle was very epic, and I enjoyed spending time with these characters throughout the trilogy. This series is loaded with action, airships, floating islands, and fun characters. It's a testament to the fact that Weis can write good stories outside of her Dragonlance work.

Rating: 9/10

[Elar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good ending for excellent series. Little bit annoying was the way how all the main characters were forcefully brought together to one place to exchange information and coordinate further actions. Ending was only mildly cheesy :)

[Matthew Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved several things about this trilogy. I loved the characters Rigo and Papa Jake, in particular. I loved the political intrigue and maneuvering, which is not something that I typically care for. I loved the system of magic and how it is central to the plot, instead of just a device to cheat past points, or a Michael Bay explosion for wow factor (though that is here, and nice in its own right). I loved the detailed and relevant backstory for just about everything. Finally, I loved the beautiful and unique world, rich in character & diversity, and shrouded in mist and mystery. A world that could be an mist-shrouded future of our own world... could be.

I enjoyed the conclusion to the overall story, but felt like some of the details would have been better left to the imagination, rather than shoehorned into (disappointment and) more surprises. Like the end of the Eragon book series, I almost wish they would not have gone into so much detail on the fates of everyone involved, and then you wouldn't know about the less happy endings. I respect the right to not "happily ever after" the ending, but maybe be less graphic if you choose to do so. Don't build a thing up for the reader, and then take it away at the last minute.

I hope they decide to leave things here, and not extend the world to new novels. I think everything that was truly worth of intrigue has been explored; and, while there may be exciting stories to be told in the future possible wars and Dragon Brigade exploits, this trilogy covered the change that is likely to be the most exciting. Thank you Margaret (yet again) and Robert for this wonderful trip through the world of Aeronne.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice ending to the Dragon Brigade trilogy, with plenty of action and dire threats to the major characters. Captain Stephano revives the grounded fortress and takes the fighting to the Bottom Dwellers while his mother, the Countess, goes there as well in search of the Princess. Gythe and Sophia grow in their magical skills, as does Father Jacob and Rodrigo, and all four play key roles in defeating the know enemy and his surprising allies. Both of the other spymasters, Sir Henry and Dubois also are involved in defeating Eidwenn and the Warlock as they chase them around Freya. The long-running rivalries that kept all these folks in opposition still remain, but the horrors of the war and their struggles have tempered their enthusiasm for continual warfare. I really appreciated that the authors actually kept their trilogy a trilogy; it seems rarer nowadays! I'm also glad there is a new series set a few years later still in the works. Nice world-building, interesting characters, and a bit of theology and political philosophy to boot.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The big battle is here, with Flaming Dragons and Blood Mages, and it is good. Weis and Krommes manage to bring all the various plot lines together and deliver an action packed finale to the story, one which both builds the world for future stories, and at the same time is a very satisfying conclusion.

The world building (and especially the magic system) is quite interesting and unique, and I hope they'll be able to revisit the world again and build on it. There are plenty of interesting political and social angles that could be explored with these characters and the setting. I definitely look forward to the next trilogy :)

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The reason this book has 2 stars is the end of the love story. Maybe not ending up together could have worked, but the fact that it was because Stephano was too selfish and immature felt so awful. And they never addressed how Dag felt about it!
That being said, all but the laat two chapters would have deserved 5 stars. I devoured this book. I especially love the faithful characters: Brother Barnaby, Father Jacob, Sir Ander (my favorite!). They exemplify Christian love and compassion in a way that made me question if I'm truly as Christian as I thought I was. Bravo.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this action packed conclusion to this trilogy. There was so much to keep straight as all the story lines were wrapped up. I am now reading the next series by Weis And Krammes, Dragon Corsairs, and it is just as good!

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, and hard to put down, especially near the end. I would recommend this for someone religiously tolerant, for the world Krammes and Weis’ create does have a religious aspect. Also, of course, this whole trilogy is for dragon and magic lovers.

[hesione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophia!!!

[Maaike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting series. Dragons, pirates, and war.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shuddup, I'm not crying, you're crying.

[Avocados · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series finished strong and helped to fill in some gaps from the end of the Captain Kate series. Wish I had read this series first. Lots of fun.

[Ana Elena Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love this ending.

[Louise Labelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad and happy ending to a one of a kind 3 book series. I cannot adequately describe this very original story, with one of my favorite characters, dragons. Highly recommended.

[Mikey Staker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great conclusion to the series! Inventive and powerful.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of things to like about the conclusion of this trilogy. It was action-packed, filled with great character moments, and even had a few touching emotional moments thrown in there as well. Which is no surprise to me, having been a reader of Weis' work for most of my life. What I didn't like about the book is how and where the characters ended up at the end of it; while after looking at it it's true the characters ended up happy and ultimately getting what they really wanted, it wasn't what I wanted for them and it annoyed me. Selfish, maybe? Sure. But equally sure is that it must say something about how good a book and, ultimately, the series was and how good the authors' work was that they made me care enough about the characters to have that reaction. In the end, the Dragon Brigade series turned out to be some pretty great period fantasy adventure, and I'd recommend it.

[Dakeyras · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of the trilogy. Weis & Krammes wrap things up nicely. There is a lot of fast-paced action as the heroes go separate ways to tackle their own tasks. Stephano, Rodrigo, Miri, Gythe, Dag, and all the rest each have their moment to shine.

Probably the only problem I have with the novel is the limited death toll. I'm not blood-thirsty or anything, but with all the battles that were waged....it feels like there should have been more deaths involved. That said, there are bitter-sweet moments for a few characters at the end.

I'm excited for the next series from Weis & Krammes.

[James Hurley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has moments of greatness, and then, it gets bogged down in silly things like too much attention to the details of peoples clothes. And the ending was okay, but it relied heavily on having read the other books in the series. Weis is a talented writer, I like a lot of her books that she has written on her own, but this is her second joint effort I read, and I came away with mixed feelings on both.

[Eric Westfall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading books by Margaret Weis since high school, and this one was by far my favorite. Action was great, and the characters were fantastic. I was sorry for the story to end.

I had one small complaint on how one story line played out, but it was more of a personal choice than a mistake by the author. I would have done it differently to match the over all epic fantasy theme, but that's just me.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, a very good book by Margaret Weis- and this time, co-author Robert Krammes. This series has been filled with all the great elements of fantasy: a system of powerful magic, large-scale battles for the fate of the world, intricate political schemes, dragons, and memorable characters. It's still not the most perfect of all books, but i would certainly recommend the Dragon Brigade trilogy.

[John M Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good series that seemed to have twisted itself in too many knots by the end and gave a decent but somewhat unsatisfactory ending. A lot of the threads ended too quickly without a big moment or sufficient follow through and it seemed a little too clean in my opinion. I expected more deaths.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent end to the trilogy - all loose threads tied up. Lots of fun and very much like a steampunked three musketeers with dragons and magic.

There were touches of romance but these were light not obtrusive to the story.

[Daniel Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final battle

good emotional story at times.everything in y the final battle was spectacular. long live the Dragon Brigade, and the cadre of the lost.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

disappointing compared to the 1st two books. worth reading to see how the story concludes but not as engaging as the other books.

[Umur · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seventh sigil is God? Seriously? Was that book sponsored by the Pope?

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sorry that this series is over. Could there be more in the future???

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The entire series was a solid read. I enjoyed all the well-rounded characters and their adventures.
I would love a new series about Stephano's new title & lands!

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. Kept my interest from start to finish. Can't wait to read more from this author.