The Fire Dragon

Book Description

Katharine Kerr has enchanted readers with her magical Deverry and Westlands cycle, and now she brings to a breathtaking conclusion the epic saga begun with The Red Wyvern and The Black Raven.

The final chapter begins in the holy city as it rises from the ashes of Deverry's long wars. Prince Maryn prepares to claim the high kingship, but still the rebel Boar clan stands fast against him. And at court, his illicit passion for the young dweomer apprentice, Lilli, threatens to revive a curse that only she -- at her own peril -- can lift.

It is a drama that will be played out centuries later in the city of Cerr Cawnen. Among the many who take refuge in the lakeside citadel, nestled in a volcano's shadow, are a Westfolk band guided by the elven enchantress Dallandra and protected by Rhodry Maelwaedd and his fiery guardian dragon.

Meanwhile, from the north come the savage Horsekin slavers, ancient foe of the Westfolk, now bent on the domination of Cerr Cawnen. They are awaited by the sorceress Raena, their self-sworn high priestess and the votary of an evil goddess. Now, as Rhodry and Raena renew their timeless enmity, the fate of the city and every soul within it hangs in the balance -- and on an act of self-sacrifice dangerous beyond imagining.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal The true ending of the tragic tale of Prince Maryn's ill-fated love for a woman touched by magic comes to pass over two centuries later in the rivalry between Rhodry Maelwaedd and the sorceress Raena. As the fate of the Westfolk hangs in the balance, the workings of fate repeat an ageless cycle of love and betrayal. Kerr's multivolume Deverry saga reaches a turning point in this conclusion to the story begun in The Red Wyvern (LJ 11/15/97) and continued in The Black Raven (LJ 11/15/99). Purchase where the series has a following. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist The latest in Kerr's outstanding Deverry saga picks up its two major story lines where The Black Raven (1999) left them. We learn the fate of Branoic, Lillorigga, and Bellyra at the end of the civil wars and glean some indication of the effect of the curse tablet that first turned up in The Bristling Wood (1989). We also follow the adventures of many souls who are reborn two centuries later in Caer Cawnen, the free city of the North. The Westfolk, guided by Dallandra and guarded by Rhodry and the dragon Arzosah, bring young Jahdo home. But the city also hosts opposing bands of the Horsekin, both of which want Caer Cawnen as an ally in upcoming wars. Raena, still fervently believing in the goddess Alshandra and hating Rhodry, plots as she did in previous incarnations. Roland Green Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved