Master of Dragons

War of Vengeance #2

by Chris Wraight

For millennia, the elves of Ulthuan and the dwarfs of the mountain realm have been friends and allies. Now that time is over and the War of Vengeance has begun. Prince Imladrik, master of dragons and Ulthuan's finest warrior, is ordered to leave his beloved homeland and lead his host in a war he does not believe in. Facing the fury of the dwarfs, the jealousy of his brother and the ever-present threat of Malekith's dark elves, Imladrik must balance his love for his wife and home with the thrill of battle.

Genres: Fantasy

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Chris Wraight is a British author of fantasy and science fiction.

His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.

He is based in the south-west of England.

Reviews

[Bookwraiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. The switch in focus to the elves perspective on the war was eye opening, as the dwarfs looked damn bad. Realism at its best since no one in a conflict is truly without guilt and no one can say they are blameless in the horrible violence of all out war.

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note to self: I read this in the War of Vengeance Omnibus.

Wow. This was one of the best Warhammer fantasy novels I've read in a long time, and I've read a lot. The character of Prince Imladrik was so intriguing, and his relationship to Morgrim, the dwarf prince (his friend *and* opponent), was tragic. This novel was paced so well. Even though you knew how it was going to end (if you are aware of Warhammer lore), you always thought there was a way they might have worked things out. When they didn't, when the prospect for peace was finally curtailed, the tragic emotion I felt was real. The Dawi cam be such stubborn bastards, but that is their way. The Asur were true to their hearts too, deeply at war with themselves. Honestly, the fight between Morgrim and Imladrik had me rapidly turning the pages. This overdelivers.

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot damn! Chris Wraight tackles the 2nd tale in The War of Vengeance(or The War of the Beard), and by the gods does he do a good job of it!
He takes the characters from the first novel, where they were great on their own, and really builds the character of each one.
The more I read, the more I couldn't put it down, and if you are a fan of warhammer or just fantasy in general, this is a series that you should NOT miss!
Oh man that ending!

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a few chapters to pick up, but once it got going it never stopped. Quite action-packed and is a good middle book as the stakes are raised. There is no going back now with the war. I did not expect it to rhyme with the first book at the end. Now we have two major deaths borne of pride, the first death being of the prideful and the second being inflicted by the hurt and prideful on our only noble character.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody awesome!! Can't say it was better than book one, but this book felt unique as it was from the High Elf POV. But it enthralled me from the get go and the two plot points revealed at the end, one of which connects it to another series was awesome and got me excited. Can't wait for the next two books.

[Dartigeres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first book in the series, this book focuses on one races perspective, the elves this time. It follows the Master of Dragons Imladrik, with Liandra another dragon rider and Drutheira a druchii being the primary view point we see from. The book is well written, but you can see where characters where added to move the plot along and to drive a wedge further between the two races. It also shows the great weakness of both the two races, the inability to forgive, stubbornness, and to see their own faults. Coupled with the inability to understand one another and outside forces working against them, bring them to war.

This book takes place right where the first one left off, you see the addition of the character Caradryel in the very beginning of the book when he and the ship he is on gets saved by Imladrik and Draukhain (the blue dragon he rides), having made nothing of this life up to this point Caradryel decides he will serve Imladrik to gain power and prestige, which by the end does not work well for him as he has made mistakes along the way.

Imladrik returns home to his wife Yethanial and son Thoriol, the only thing he want is some time at home and to focus on the druchii problem. He gets to have neither, to takes his son Thoriol, who up to this point and through most of the story turns out to be rather whiney and childish, to see if he can speak to a dragon to become a rider he fails. Thoroil then runs away gets drunk and duped into becoming a common archer and sent to colonies, which progress the plot and the hatred between the two races further into the story. Imladrik after his sons failure returns home to find his brother Caledor II waiting for him. Caledor II tell him he will be sending him back to the colonies, Imladrik does not want to go and tells him such. A argument between to two ensue and it is shown the Caledor II is a even worse ruler then the previous book shows, he is easily swayed by one of his retainers into believing that Imladrik wants to be king and that others support this, none of which are true. In the end Imladrik returns to Tor Alessi

Back on the old world the dwarfs are still stewing about the death of their prince in the other book, and have gathered an army from the other holds to march on Tor Alessi to destroy it, Morgrim Bargrum is the leader of this army.

The Druchii are running around the woods and happen upon one of the tortured dragon, which eats one of them because he is possessed by a demon, before breaking out of its cell. As it is breaking out it destroys it cage making the remaining Druchii run for the exit, one of their numbers does not make it and gets possessed by the demon, who then tries to kill another of its members by taking Sevekai over the side of the cliff which, does not kill Sevekai but he does eventually become a wood elf. This brings the Druchii party down to three members Drutheira, Malchior and Ashniel. Drutheira become the rider of the black dragon and goes after her enemy the red dragon rider Liandra.

When Imladrik arrives in Tor Alessi he is meet by the council of Five Liandra of Kor Vanaeth, Salendor of Athel Maraya, Aelis of Tor Alessi, Gelthar of Athel Toralien, and Caerwal of Athel Numiel. Liandra and Salendor openly want a war with the dwarfs, Aelis is more neutral, Gelthar want to wait and Caerwal secretly want a war with the dwarfs. Imladrik says no to war though bolster the forces and tries one last shot at peace with the dwarfs, which gets destroyed when a column of dwarfs is found dead killed by a dragon. Which is thought to have been Liandra’s work but was the result of the black dragon destroying Kor Vanaeth and its ensuing fight with Liandra and the red dragon.

War broke out the dwarfs assault Tor Alessi but Imladrik holds the dragons back knowing the damage they can bring. When the walls are breached that is when the dragon come into play six of them in total they are just to clear the dwarfs from the walls and give the elves some room but Draukhain smell the blood of Caledor, and Imladrik see his son on the wall of Tor Alessi and thinks he is dead. This sends him into a rage and all of the dragons follow suit, they slaughter the dwarfs and force them to retreat. when Morgrim sees the destruction wrought by the dragons he is sickened and thinks the elves are blood thirsty monster, even though he and his cousin the deceased prince slaughter every elf in some cities to include the children. He swears to kill Imladrik then retreats.

Thoriol is taken from the healers for the common elves up to where the nobles are and is saved. His father tells him he was worried about him then yells at him when he does not understand what he did wrong.

Liandra and Drutheira flight with their dragon both dragons die and they end up in the badlands. Liandra takes Drutheira as a prisoner and takes her to Oeragor. Where the dwarfs led by Morgrim and Brynnoth attack Oeragor. Imladrik arrive too late to save the city but tries to find Liandra. During this Draukhain is injured severely and partialy barried under a tower. Imladrik and Morgrim square off to fight. Morgrim starts winning then the tides turn in Imladriks favor until Draukhain wakes up and the runes on Morgrims ax energize and Imladrik is killed. Morgrim at this point releases this may have been a mistake a feels a bit sorry for killing him. Liandra brakes thought the dwarfs and runs to Imladriks side, she yells at Morgrim and he allows her to take Imladriks corps and Draukhain back to Tor Alessi. Drutheira is rescued from the dungeons by the two remaining druchii in her party and they escape and head for the river vitae. Liandra take Imladrik back to Tor Alessi and the book ends.

[Goran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fantasy book, tragic, dramatic, filled with cool dragons. :)

Now, SPOILERS:

Damn but the dwarves are spoiled children playing at war. Morgrim, presented as the noblest of dwarves, even has the temerity to complain to Imladrik that the Elves defeated the dwarf army that was about to sack and murder a major Elven city. But it was Elves that were savages because they used dragons!!!
And this is quite in keeping with dwarves - previous novel ended with Dwarven High King claiming vengeance because Phoenix King (who is arrogant idiot overall) had the gall! The temerity! To defeat the dwarven kings only son in a fair duel that the son requested. How dare the Phoenix King not let his son kill him!!!

[Christopher]

Master of Dragons is a great continuation of The War of Vengeance with the Dwarves and Elvess facing off and the war really getting started! :D At the same time the thread of the overall true plan of their joint enemy is subtly laid clearly setting things up for the next books! :D At the same time though there are some very unexpected plot twist throughout with battle going either way that lay down things for future events and the book has a huge cliffhanger! :D

Master of Dragons is fast paced, gory, brutal, full of grand armies, politics and action packed! :D Brilliant and highly recommended! :D

[Michael Da Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Master of Dragons is a fun and competent sequel to the original War of Vengeance novel.

I will admit that when the original book opened up to a 20-page action scene, I was a little nervous. Warhammer is all about killing and fighting, of course, but I find that the universe is at its best when it is exploring the elements that surround and contextualize those battles.

The Great Betrayal did a great job at depicting the people behind the events, and I felt like Master of Dragons lived up to that standard, and in many cases surpassed it.

This novel follows the elves, for the majority of the time, showing their perspective (mainly Imladrik's) on the ongoing war with the dwarves. Like Morgrim for the dwarves, Imladrik is a more human character, who has emotions beyond extreme prejudice, extreme pride, etc., that enable us to relate to his thoughts.

The book has good battles, intrigue, and even some romance. None of it felt forced, and I really enjoyed the focus on the "in-between" scenes, when people weren't chopping each other to bits.

My only real gripe is a very subjective one. As a long-time Dwarf player, my friend (who played High Elves) and I used to love arguing 'in-character' about who was responsible for the infamous War of the Beard. Each army book presented a biased version of events, and there was no definitive answer.

Now, there is. While the dwarves were definitely jerks, the elves are pretty unequivocally the antagonists here, even in their own novel. While not a big deal, it did ruin a tiny bit of that real-world feel the whole event had.

Altogether, a very fun read for fans of the setting.

[Oliver Eike · Rating 3 out of 5]

While i give it might deserve 4 stars im only giving it 3. Why? Tt isnt quite as good as the first one. Let me tell you why...

Elves. Yes, they can be interesting and exiting, but in Warhammer they rarely are. Imladrik was a better character in the first book. So was Morgrim. The only character that was better in the second book was Snorri and Liandra. Oh and Drutheira.

The War of vengance continues, it is 20-30 something years after the first book. Dragonriders are deployed and the war grows quickly in intensity due to them.

While there are some interesting things to learn from this book about the setting, it isnt all that interesting. The plots of interest are all shut down before getting of the ground and the not quite so interesting plots drone on.

But it is still worth a read if you like Warhammer.

[Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have found this book quick slow paced and not as enjoyable as it predecessor which I enjoy more. I found Chris writing style easy and understandable but not as descriptive as I would of liked from this series. Now at the middling of the story I have just started to enjoy this book.