Legends of the Dragonrealm: The Gryphon Mage

Legends of the Dragonrealm

by Richard A. Knaak, Ciruelo Cabral (Illustrations)

The thrilling sequel to Dragon Masters is now available! Nathan Bedlam has managed to free most of the human mages from the Dragon Kings' control, but the struggle against the drake lords has not gone well. With treachery at every turn, Nathan knows that the one hope the rebels have is to seize Penacles, the City of Knowledge. Yet, to do that will require forcing the Gryphon to realize the power within him, a power that may also prove the rebellion's downfall. The Turning War is a three volume saga answering many of the questions concerning the Dragonrealm and the Dragon Masters and how those events yet reverberate in the current timeline.

Genres: Fantasy

378 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2014

About the author

Richard A. Knaak is the bestselling author of Dragonlance novels, the Dragonrealm and Black City Saint series (his own creations), six novels for Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo series, and six works in the Warcraft universe. He has also written several non-series fantasy books.

Reviews

[Vojtěch]

Po jedničce tu je ještě o něco málo nadupanější dvojka, která se zaměřuje zejména na Gryfa. A je to rozhodně luxusní čtení, neboť se člověk dozví plno nových informací. Napínavé od začátku do konce a já už velmi nervózně čekám na poslední díl!

[Michael]

Sequels in books and movies often have trouble living up to the original. They set a bar that can't be surpassed despite the author's attempts to the contrary. Some of this I suppose is imagined as we readers have lofty expectations of how the story should go and then feel somewhat disappointed when everything doesn't go exactly to plan. I am happy to report that the sequel to the Dragon Masters, which I read back in June, the Gryphon Mage is everything I hoped for. And a whole lot more.

We rejoin Nathan Bedlam and his band of wizards as they continue their rebellion against their dragon and drake overlords. Their numbers are dwindling but they remain in strong opposition against the oppressive threat. But the wizards take a solid second seat to the transformation of the Gryphon, leader of the rebellion. To this point, he was certainly a feared fighter but throughout the course of this book, he turns into something amazing.

Okay, I know what you are thinking, it's the Gryphon Mage you nitwit. Of course he turns into a wizard, it's in the darn title. Yes, but how he gets there is fascinating as each scene basically unfolds his power until he becomes a more legendary being than he already was to begin with. It's more than you expect and yet it still manages to smuggle away a few surprises until the right moments appear.

Also, I quite enjoyed the story arcs of Shade as well as Azran, son of Nathan Bedlam. With Shade, we really never quite understand his intentions (even if we think we do) and despite his darkness, we still manage to smile every time the story shifts to him. Which is not the same with Azran as we know the overall series will eventually shift focus to him because he will do something evil and unspeakable (more so than already has happened). It's a very slow burn, but I'm hopeful (based on the transformation of the Gryphon) that will lead to spectacular results.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention the arc of Wade Arkonsson, a supporting character who becomes a fascinating read among the other heavyweights. He might seem like a minor mage but his motivations and actions showed his tremendous loyalty to his family and the cause. Very heartfelt and very entertaining.

If you can't tell from the gushing, this book gets one of my highest praises. The twists and the turns keep me glued to the next chapter and if life didn't knock me in the knees a couple of times, I probably would have finished this about a week sooner. All of the events in the Dragon Masters lead to great results in the Gryphon Mage. Furthermore, the ones they leave out or trim down, I'm extremely anxious to see what happens in the Horned Blade. Excellence, and a series that should not be missed. Enjoy.

[Stuart Schneider]

This book was well done. It moves at an incredible pace and if I read it correctly, took place in a matter of days if not hours, taxing all of the main characters to their limits, and weeding out most of the mages in the world (must be below 30 at the end). Even some of my guesses at what was going on were totally off and the ending to this one totally unforeseen. I was definitely made confused at times and I still am at some of the conclusions in the book but that doesn’t detract from enjoying it or appreciating the closure of it. Look forward to see how the Bedlam’s are either reconciled or destroy each other in the final installment. One note as to the printing of this book: The editors are for shit here: just one read though and I found at least a half dozen typos or misspellings. Onwards!!!

[La Vell Williams Jr]

I Found It Finally!

I remember stumbling upon this series while hunting for one of the books on the Fragonlance Series(War of the Dragon Queen Takhisis). Found Icedrake way back and was hooked by the world, characters, and pace of the books. I became an instant fan of Dragonrealms as well.
Fast forward 30+yrs later and I stumble upon the Legends Series. The origin of how the Dragonrealms were shaped. Fast paced, magic libraries, dragons, wizards, and a Gryphon! This is a can't miss if you're a fan like me of world building, top notch storytelling, and memorable characters, this is the series for you.

[Israha]

Legendy Dragonrealmu jsou problematická série z toho důvodu, že z původní ságy vlastně víte, o čem jsou, a jak dopadnou. Takže napětí je pryč. Dále už znáte osudy všech více či méně tajemných postav série, takže i příjemná aura neuchopitelnosti a divnosti je pryč (a třeba takoví Shade a Temný kůň se tu jen plácají dějem odnikud nikam). Zbývá tedy samotná zábavnost a spád vyprávění, a to Knaak vždy uměl dobře, takže i Mág Gryf je čtivá, rychle ubíhající kniha...po jejímž dočtení si uvědomíte, že v původních knihách epicky a velkolepě popisovaná Válka o změnu je nakonec napůl osobní konflikt mezi několika postavami, a pocit globálnosti se nedostavuje. Baví to, v některých pasážích to hezky doplňuje lore, ale ve finále se jedná o částečně zbytečnou knihu. Už druhou ze tří. Uvidíme, co poslední díl trilogie.

[Laurie]

Good Story!

A good storyline it did feel as if the story was rushed in a few places and it really needs to be edited again missing words and dropped thoughts are annoying overall it's a very good story

[Timothy McNeil]

I miss the Warner Aspect books. Not just because of the physical size of the books, the font size, the cover art from Larry Elmore, but the best thing Warner did was to ensure that there weren't multiple errors in every book. The Porta Nigra Press books are rife with mistakes and misprints. It has a serious effect on my ability to enjoy the story.

As for the second part of the prequel trilogy, I liked it fine. There is a small amount of retconning at play. The Turning War does not seem especially epic (nowhere near as grand or daunting as hinted at in Firedrake . Most disappointing for me (other than Gerrod still being treated as a lesser character than I would prefer him to be) is how underdeveloped Azran is two books in. He is an awesome baddass bad guy when he first shows up in the very first Dragonrealm novel, but here he seems more like a plot device coupled with callbacks to earlier novels.

[Bara]

Už to nečtu tak nekriticky jako kdysi, ale propánakrále, stále si to užívám.

čtení přerušeno na str. 66, kap. VII