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The Jelindel Chronicles #1
Dragonlinks
An all-powerful, enchanted mailshirt from the stars.Six links are missing.An orphan, a streetwise urchin and a swordsman must find the links before the greatest evil known descends upon Q’zar.Jelindel dek Mediesar led a charmed life until lindrak assassins murdered her family. Fleeing to the markets Jelindel dresses as a boy to avoid detection. Here she teams up with Zimak, a street-wise urchin, and Daretor, a warrior on a quest to destroy an alien artifact.Murder, betrayal and deceit are just some of the hurdles they must face in order to find the missing links from a star-dwellers' mailshirt— six powerful links, whose individual powers are nothing compared with that of the complete mailshirt.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
14 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
About the author
Paul Collins
255 books92 followersPaul Collins has written many books, mostly for younger readers. He is best known for his fantasy and science fiction titles: The Jelindel Chronicles (Dragonlinks, Dragonfang, Dragonsight and Wardragon), and The Quentaris Chronicles ─ co-edited with Michael Pryor ─ (Swords of Quentaris, Slaves of Quentaris, Dragonlords of Quentaris, Princess of Shadows, The Forgotten Prince, Vampires of Quentaris and The Spell of Undoing). His trade books published in America are The Earthborn, The Skyborn and The Hiveborn.
Paul has edited many anthologies which include Trust Me!, Metaworlds and Australia’s first fantasy anthology, Dream Weavers. He also edited The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian SF&F.
Paul has been short-listed for many awards and has won the Inaugural Peter McNamara and the A Bertram Chandler awards, both of which were for lifetime achievement in science fiction, and the Aurealis and William Atheling awards.
His recent fantasy series is The World of Grrym (Allira’s Gift, Lords of Quibbitt and Morgassa’s Folly), in collaboration with Danny Willis. His latest YA book is The Only Game in the Galaxy, Book #3 in The Maximus Black Files.
His book, Slaves of Quentaris, features in 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die (UK, 2009).
Paul’s adult books are the anthology The Government in Exile and Cyberskin. His current adult horror novel, The Beckoning, Damnation Books (US) is available from http://tinyurl.com/ny6urwy.
Other than his writing, Paul is the publisher at Ford Street Publishing, publishing everything from picture books through to young adult literature, and he manages Creative Net, a speakers’ agency.
Paul’s websites are: www.paulcollins.com.au; www.fordstreetpublishing.com and www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet
Awards
1980s — 2000s a handful of nominations for Best Editor and Best Short Fiction in the Australian SF Achievement Awards
1999— Winner William Atheling Award for work on The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy; Shortlisted for the Aurealis Convenors’ Award.
2000— The Dog King, Notable Book Children’s Book Council; Shortlisted for the Clayton’s Award.
2001— Winner of the Aurealis Convenors’ Award (With Co-editor Meredith Costain) for Spinouts Bronze published by Pearson Education. Joint winner was Shaun Tan for The Lost Thing.
2002 — Winner of the inaugural Peter McNamara Award for lifetime achievement in SF.
2004 — Home Run (Illustrated by Connah Brecon), Notable Book, Children’s Book Council.
2009 -- Morgassa's Folly (in collaboration with Danny Willis), short-listed for the Chronos Award.
2010 -- The Slightly Skewed Life of Toby Chrysler, short-listed for The Speech Pathology Award.
2011 -- The Glasshouse (illustrated by Jo Thompson) chosen by international IBBY as an Outstanding Book; short-listed for the CBC's Crichton Award.
2011 --Awarded the A Bertram Chandler Award for Lifetime Achievement in Australian Science Fiction.
Paul has edited many anthologies which include Trust Me!, Metaworlds and Australia’s first fantasy anthology, Dream Weavers. He also edited The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian SF&F.
Paul has been short-listed for many awards and has won the Inaugural Peter McNamara and the A Bertram Chandler awards, both of which were for lifetime achievement in science fiction, and the Aurealis and William Atheling awards.
His recent fantasy series is The World of Grrym (Allira’s Gift, Lords of Quibbitt and Morgassa’s Folly), in collaboration with Danny Willis. His latest YA book is The Only Game in the Galaxy, Book #3 in The Maximus Black Files.
His book, Slaves of Quentaris, features in 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die (UK, 2009).
Paul’s adult books are the anthology The Government in Exile and Cyberskin. His current adult horror novel, The Beckoning, Damnation Books (US) is available from http://tinyurl.com/ny6urwy.
Other than his writing, Paul is the publisher at Ford Street Publishing, publishing everything from picture books through to young adult literature, and he manages Creative Net, a speakers’ agency.
Paul’s websites are: www.paulcollins.com.au; www.fordstreetpublishing.com and www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet
Awards
1980s — 2000s a handful of nominations for Best Editor and Best Short Fiction in the Australian SF Achievement Awards
1999— Winner William Atheling Award for work on The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy; Shortlisted for the Aurealis Convenors’ Award.
2000— The Dog King, Notable Book Children’s Book Council; Shortlisted for the Clayton’s Award.
2001— Winner of the Aurealis Convenors’ Award (With Co-editor Meredith Costain) for Spinouts Bronze published by Pearson Education. Joint winner was Shaun Tan for The Lost Thing.
2002 — Winner of the inaugural Peter McNamara Award for lifetime achievement in SF.
2004 — Home Run (Illustrated by Connah Brecon), Notable Book, Children’s Book Council.
2009 -- Morgassa's Folly (in collaboration with Danny Willis), short-listed for the Chronos Award.
2010 -- The Slightly Skewed Life of Toby Chrysler, short-listed for The Speech Pathology Award.
2011 -- The Glasshouse (illustrated by Jo Thompson) chosen by international IBBY as an Outstanding Book; short-listed for the CBC's Crichton Award.
2011 --Awarded the A Bertram Chandler Award for Lifetime Achievement in Australian Science Fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 12, 2010
I love this book to DEATH. I've read it through four or five times, and the same goes for the the sequel Dragonfang, which is almost as good as the original - and though Dragonsight and Wardragon are perhaps not as brilliant as these first two novels in the series, they're nothing to sneer at, because they're all wonderful.
Brilliance! Paul Collins has created loveable, interesting characters that you become enthralled with from the first word. And the world he creates is amazing - simply amazing, the magic and the creatures and the mystery, the romance! You couldn't ask for anything more in these books.
I'll keep reading them for the rest of my life and never tire of the stories.
Brilliance! Paul Collins has created loveable, interesting characters that you become enthralled with from the first word. And the world he creates is amazing - simply amazing, the magic and the creatures and the mystery, the romance! You couldn't ask for anything more in these books.
I'll keep reading them for the rest of my life and never tire of the stories.
December 2, 2014
I read this novel when I was 13 years old, and I absolutely adored it and it's sequels. Jelindel was one of the first heroines that I connected to almost instantly. Although we were in entirely different situations, Jelindel and I shared so many common traits, a love of literature and adventure, and an inherent belief that there was more out there than what we knew.
I recently saw this novel in a book store and could hardly believe my luck; I'd been searching for what felt like an eternity for this book (although it was only 5 years). At 18 years old I re-read this novel and it only reaffirmed my original conclusion. I still feel connected to Jelindel, Paul Collins has done a phenomenal job of creating a character that young girls can look up to and explore the world through, and it gave me the same feelings of excitement and adventure this time through as I remember it doing half a decade ago.
A novel that can be enjoyed preteens and adults alike, and is definitely worth a read, no matter how old you are. I would recommend it and its sequels for anyone 13+.
I recently saw this novel in a book store and could hardly believe my luck; I'd been searching for what felt like an eternity for this book (although it was only 5 years). At 18 years old I re-read this novel and it only reaffirmed my original conclusion. I still feel connected to Jelindel, Paul Collins has done a phenomenal job of creating a character that young girls can look up to and explore the world through, and it gave me the same feelings of excitement and adventure this time through as I remember it doing half a decade ago.
A novel that can be enjoyed preteens and adults alike, and is definitely worth a read, no matter how old you are. I would recommend it and its sequels for anyone 13+.
July 10, 2010
This book is the start of a rather good series involving magic, fighting and betrayal of all kinds.
A little girl of the age of 14 escapes the assassination of her entire family by pure luck and is forced to go from being part of a noble, rich family to attempting to survive on the streets of the city. To stop anyone who might mean her harm she dresses up as a boy in hopes this will also help her find a way to earn some money as well.
Jelindel, manages to find work as a scribe and even make a friend with a street urchin but the two of them suddenly get involved with a mysterious enchanted mailshirt that has everyone after them.
During this book she grows and starts to find her place again in the world. The connnections formed with other characters and her own personal growth is expressed really well. The 'bad guys' are also interesting, and yet the stage for when you know no good will come to our heros as long as they are around.
A little girl of the age of 14 escapes the assassination of her entire family by pure luck and is forced to go from being part of a noble, rich family to attempting to survive on the streets of the city. To stop anyone who might mean her harm she dresses up as a boy in hopes this will also help her find a way to earn some money as well.
Jelindel, manages to find work as a scribe and even make a friend with a street urchin but the two of them suddenly get involved with a mysterious enchanted mailshirt that has everyone after them.
During this book she grows and starts to find her place again in the world. The connnections formed with other characters and her own personal growth is expressed really well. The 'bad guys' are also interesting, and yet the stage for when you know no good will come to our heros as long as they are around.
August 7, 2013
There is a lot about this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It consisted of a rich and detailed world which followed its own rules about magic consistently. The story mostly follows the quest of a young girl scholar, Jalindel, to find all the dragonlinks which are powerful weapons. There are many twists and turns along the way and political plots and intrigues which keep it interesting, although I did sometimes find myself confused about certain events.. But all in all, it was a fast paced adventure starring a character with a brain which (when her cramps weren't being considered) was a pleasure to read. I look forward to book 2.
October 6, 2013
Best book ever! I absolutely loved this book and just could not put it down. The twists, shocking revelations and mystery will keep the reader in suspenseful longing. After reading this I am desperate to keep reading the series. Is is truly one of those books you wish would never end.
If you don't particularly like reading and need a book full of action and unexpected twists to keep you hooked this is it! An unbelievable and incredibly well written book about adventure, loyal and honour that will keep u wishing for more and that people 13+ will treasure and love.
If you don't particularly like reading and need a book full of action and unexpected twists to keep you hooked this is it! An unbelievable and incredibly well written book about adventure, loyal and honour that will keep u wishing for more and that people 13+ will treasure and love.
May 11, 2012
a good book, i had no clue that it was the boy who had the last lnk even though it gave many clues
July 29, 2013
Great read!
November 23, 2024
The Mediesar dynasty is marked for death when Count Juram speaks out against the Preceptor. The second youngest daughter, Jelindel dek Mediesar narrowly escapes the slaughter of her entire family and decides it best to shed her identity if she wants to live. To that effect, she transforms herself into the male scribe, Jaelin and keeps her head down - until she's drawn into a quest to find the six missing links of a legendary enchanted mailshirt that's said to come from another world and grant untold power onto it's owner.
This is a very strange book. Jelindel was great. She was smart, resourceful and kind and I liked her explorations into the magic of the world. I was fond of her friendship with Zimak at first, but I grew irritated by his character. Daretor, I didn't much like at all. His honour was ridiculously extreme and he was so black and white it was stupid. As for their friendship I found it really odd. It seemed like they travelled for years but didn't really like one another at all? I really hated that when it was revealed Jaelin was female, Zimak and Daretor both stopped acknowledging her worth and stopped trusting her. That bothered me a lot and frankly I did like the priestess Kelricka and the friendship her and Jelindel have. I would've liked to see more of her but I figure that she'll appear in the next book.
As for the plot, it was all over the place. I didn't really understand the motivation for the quest or why any of them agreed to it to start with. I get why they had to leave the marketplace in D'Loom but not why it was necessary to find all the links and destroy the mailshirt. Well, I got Daretor's logic - he was just an irrational moron but the other two didn't have a good enough reason for it. The worldbuilding was strong but not very well explained. I would've liked more explanation about paraworlds and science vs. magic. Although from the sounds of it this will be explored more in the sequels.
The reasoning for why the Mediesar family were killed was kind of weak. I also didn't really understand Fa'red's comment about Count Juram. I kind of hope there's more answers as to the why in the sequels - because it just feels thin and random as it is right now.
A decent fantasy quest with lots of worldbuilding and plot, even if it could do with some restructuring. 3 stars.
This is a very strange book. Jelindel was great. She was smart, resourceful and kind and I liked her explorations into the magic of the world. I was fond of her friendship with Zimak at first, but I grew irritated by his character. Daretor, I didn't much like at all. His honour was ridiculously extreme and he was so black and white it was stupid. As for their friendship I found it really odd. It seemed like they travelled for years but didn't really like one another at all? I really hated that when it was revealed Jaelin was female, Zimak and Daretor both stopped acknowledging her worth and stopped trusting her. That bothered me a lot and frankly I did like the priestess Kelricka and the friendship her and Jelindel have. I would've liked to see more of her but I figure that she'll appear in the next book.
As for the plot, it was all over the place. I didn't really understand the motivation for the quest or why any of them agreed to it to start with. I get why they had to leave the marketplace in D'Loom but not why it was necessary to find all the links and destroy the mailshirt. Well, I got Daretor's logic - he was just an irrational moron but the other two didn't have a good enough reason for it. The worldbuilding was strong but not very well explained. I would've liked more explanation about paraworlds and science vs. magic. Although from the sounds of it this will be explored more in the sequels.
The reasoning for why the Mediesar family were killed was kind of weak. I also didn't really understand Fa'red's comment about Count Juram. I kind of hope there's more answers as to the why in the sequels - because it just feels thin and random as it is right now.
A decent fantasy quest with lots of worldbuilding and plot, even if it could do with some restructuring. 3 stars.
September 18, 2019
Likable silly novel about a girl who masquerades as a boy and goes on an adventure with two men. I say silly because the novel doesn't seem to take itself seriously, and it goes into deep left field a couple of times with forays into more familiar worlds.
No character building to speak of, some of the dialogue is cheesy and the world isn't as fleshed out as it could be, but it's a fun ride, and never boring, so kudos for that.
No character building to speak of, some of the dialogue is cheesy and the world isn't as fleshed out as it could be, but it's a fun ride, and never boring, so kudos for that.
November 26, 2018
It took me a long time to get into this book. I liked Jelindel, and Zimak was pleasant to start with, but after awhile he really started to annoy me. The story was interesting and unusual and in the end I enjoyed it.
May 2, 2020
Reading this book for the forth or fifth time, it was like coming back to old friends.
I have an idea for a prequel, @Paul Collins: tell us the story of how Fa'red got the mailshirt to begin with! I would read that 4+ times, too!
I have an idea for a prequel, @Paul Collins: tell us the story of how Fa'red got the mailshirt to begin with! I would read that 4+ times, too!
February 3, 2015
This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
Jelindel's family has been murdered, and she is just struggling to survive out in the real world. Throw in a thief and a warrior consumed with honour, and you find that they make an incredible team.Which is good, because they're trying to hunt down missing links of a chain mail shirt in order to destroy it forever.
The characters are fleshed out nicely, and I was able to empathise with them. The only complaint I continue to have is that the characters don't really show much growth - particularly Jelindel's sidekicks. Even Jelindel herself doesn't change much, except to be more plucky.
Something I truly respect about Jelindel is her search for knowledge for knowledge's sake. I couldn't understand why she just didn't take all the skills from the dragon links! More skills are never a bad thing. Even if she didn't use the powers (which wouldn't seem very honourable), they would still be useful to have waiting around. That might have made the following books more exciting in terms of her abilities. Simple binding words get way too much importance - or maybe that the simplest things in life work best.
The plot is quite straightforward, but there are some diversions from the set path that you can't begin to predict. My partner had trouble getting into it, she's a slow reader. She commented the beginning was quite slow. I like the beginning! But I've always enjoyed simple things like learning lessons and working in an everyday life just for a change.
I have reread this series more than once over the years, but obviously not for 3+ years now! I would choose it as an excellent novel for reluctant female readers, or to a beginning fantasy reader.
Jelindel's family has been murdered, and she is just struggling to survive out in the real world. Throw in a thief and a warrior consumed with honour, and you find that they make an incredible team.Which is good, because they're trying to hunt down missing links of a chain mail shirt in order to destroy it forever.
The characters are fleshed out nicely, and I was able to empathise with them. The only complaint I continue to have is that the characters don't really show much growth - particularly Jelindel's sidekicks. Even Jelindel herself doesn't change much, except to be more plucky.
Something I truly respect about Jelindel is her search for knowledge for knowledge's sake. I couldn't understand why she just didn't take all the skills from the dragon links! More skills are never a bad thing. Even if she didn't use the powers (which wouldn't seem very honourable), they would still be useful to have waiting around. That might have made the following books more exciting in terms of her abilities. Simple binding words get way too much importance - or maybe that the simplest things in life work best.
The plot is quite straightforward, but there are some diversions from the set path that you can't begin to predict. My partner had trouble getting into it, she's a slow reader. She commented the beginning was quite slow. I like the beginning! But I've always enjoyed simple things like learning lessons and working in an everyday life just for a change.
I have reread this series more than once over the years, but obviously not for 3+ years now! I would choose it as an excellent novel for reluctant female readers, or to a beginning fantasy reader.
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March 6, 2016'The Jelindel Chronicles' is one of those series that you love to read so you can track the characters through exciting quests and coming-of-age turning points in their lives. Paul Collins has written an action-packed, fantasy saga, full of twists and turns. In this quest of good versus evil, Jelindel is a young 14 year old daughter of the noble Mediesar family, who are slaughtered one night by the evil Preceptor and his ally Fa’red. The 14-year-old Countess Jelindel is the only one to escape, and disguised as a boy, Jaelin, lives on her wits in D’Loom until drawn into the saga of the Dragonlinks – a two-year quest for finding, reuniting and finally destroying all the chain mail links from a magical, destructive chain of armour, reputedly belonging to an ancient god who had fallen to earth and been destroyed.
In her quest, Jaelin/Jelindel gets mixed up with the noble young warrior, Daretor, who is under a cloud, and with Zimak, a street urchin and thief who has no honour and who, like Daretor, has a dark secret. The arcane knowledge and power she discovers as she slowly tracks down the mailshirt and links, leads to her taking on the magical powers of an Adept, outwitting and defeating many more powerful Adepts and adversaries. By the end of Book 1, ‘Dragonlinks’, Jelindel has seemingly resolved the problem of the mailshirt, but Daretor and Zimak suffer a horrible fate. Paul Collins has written 'Dragonlinks' with lots of verve, wry humour and originality, and this first book in the series ends with a bitter twist. Looking forward to reading the rest of the 4-part series. This book reminds me of other series I've enjoyed such as 'The Gift' by Alison Croggon; 'Deltora Quest' & 'Rondo' by Emily Rodda; 'The Ranger's Apprentice' by John Flanagan.
In her quest, Jaelin/Jelindel gets mixed up with the noble young warrior, Daretor, who is under a cloud, and with Zimak, a street urchin and thief who has no honour and who, like Daretor, has a dark secret. The arcane knowledge and power she discovers as she slowly tracks down the mailshirt and links, leads to her taking on the magical powers of an Adept, outwitting and defeating many more powerful Adepts and adversaries. By the end of Book 1, ‘Dragonlinks’, Jelindel has seemingly resolved the problem of the mailshirt, but Daretor and Zimak suffer a horrible fate. Paul Collins has written 'Dragonlinks' with lots of verve, wry humour and originality, and this first book in the series ends with a bitter twist. Looking forward to reading the rest of the 4-part series. This book reminds me of other series I've enjoyed such as 'The Gift' by Alison Croggon; 'Deltora Quest' & 'Rondo' by Emily Rodda; 'The Ranger's Apprentice' by John Flanagan.
January 3, 2012
Jelindel is a teenager watching the stars when all her family and friends are killed. Disguised as a boy she makes her living as a scribe in a market place where she meets Zimack who gets paid to run messages. Through him she eventually meets Daretor, a swordsman. Through events that are forced upon them they travel together seeking links that are part of an aienl mail shirt that has the power to change the seat of power in the world. So naturally, everyone else wants it as well...
I started out really enjoying this book but started losing interest in it half way through. The characters aren't very well defined and you are not sure what their motivation is. I kept reading to find out what happened but found the ending quite unsatisfactory. I don't think I'm interested enough to read the rest of the series.
I started out really enjoying this book but started losing interest in it half way through. The characters aren't very well defined and you are not sure what their motivation is. I kept reading to find out what happened but found the ending quite unsatisfactory. I don't think I'm interested enough to read the rest of the series.
August 16, 2011
Dos livros mais banháticos que já li! Até certa altura até parecia engraçado, eis senão quando um dos personagens abre um portal para um mundo paralelo (até aqui tudo bem) MAS o mundo paralelo tem os nossos hospitais e as ambulâncias são designadas de dragões!!!!
Mesmo assim acho que vou ler os 2 seguintes da saga. Só para confirmar.
Mesmo assim acho que vou ler os 2 seguintes da saga. Só para confirmar.
June 2, 2014
Good, but the heroine a little .. too strong? I love her, but I saw it a little unrealistic after completely changing her life like that not to see more regret, especially loosing those who became her adoptive kinda family as well after that. Love her smarts however, and I didn't guess the twists. :)
March 23, 2015
Read this book after picking it somewhat randomly off the library shelf. It was a fairly good tale with some moderately relatable characters and a somewhat interesting storyline. Parts of it did not come together well for me, so I am only giving it three stars. Enjoyed reading it but would not rush to recommend it to others.
April 20, 2020
I really don't know how to describe this book. All in all, in my opinion, the pace was off and parts of the story didn't come well together.
Tânia @MyLovelySecret
Tânia @MyLovelySecret
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August 14, 2011I couldn't get into it, so I gave up. I'm not giving it a rating because it wouldn't be fair.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews