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A review by thecanary
Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs
5.0
Dragon Bones opens with a plot concept that startled me with its familiarity. Ward is the oldest son of the Lord of Hurog, forced to pretend to be the family idiot to weather his father's abuse and paranoia. (A decision very similar to that of Ilya, from Mercedes Lackey's 1997 retelling of the Russian fairy-tale in Firebird.) But here, the story catches its stride and the sense of familiarity fades.
When Ward's father dies, the young man inherits the castle, the cursed and dying fields outside, a mysterious ghost only he can see, and the tenuous right to rule. But as far as anyone knows, Ward's an addled fool and the secret in the caves beneath Hurog Keep is worth killing for.
Written in third person, the story follows Ward and a select few other characters through exile, war, court intrigues, and betrayals. Joe Manganiello's reading of the audiobook version brought out the book's humor and wit, and the solid pacing had me listening enthusiastically right up to the very unexpected conclusion.
If you're looking for a character-driven fantasy with an element of who's-pulling-strings (the fantasy equivalent of a whodunnit), I wholeheartedly recommend Dragon Bones.
Read the first part of my rundown of Patricia Briggs various series here.
When Ward's father dies, the young man inherits the castle, the cursed and dying fields outside, a mysterious ghost only he can see, and the tenuous right to rule. But as far as anyone knows, Ward's an addled fool and the secret in the caves beneath Hurog Keep is worth killing for.
Written in third person, the story follows Ward and a select few other characters through exile, war, court intrigues, and betrayals. Joe Manganiello's reading of the audiobook version brought out the book's humor and wit, and the solid pacing had me listening enthusiastically right up to the very unexpected conclusion.
If you're looking for a character-driven fantasy with an element of who's-pulling-strings (the fantasy equivalent of a whodunnit), I wholeheartedly recommend Dragon Bones.
Read the first part of my rundown of Patricia Briggs various series here.