This was an interesting book. I picked it up at the library while in search of a new fantasy author. I'd never heard of Lynn, but she had good recommendations from two of my favorite authors on the back of the book, so I thought I would give it a shot.I did enjoy her writing style - it was interesting and easy to read. The plot of the story held my interest and kept me reading, right up until the end. The characters were well-formed and ... overall, it was pretty good.I had some issues. First, it seemed that the main character was homosexual. Not that that's an issue, I really dont' care if he's homosexual or not, but she didn't -state- it as such. There was a sentence at the beginning about him getting up from "...the bed that they shared..." (referring to a male friend) and later there were some tender moments between those two friends, even though the friend had betrayed the main character. Nothing sexual was ever mentioned, just alluded to... and the people complained because the main character (who was a king) had not taken a wife and produced an heir. His reasoning for this, according to the main character, was that his mother had died when giving birth to him and his twin brother, and he didn't want to put any woman through such a thing. This, coupled with the allusions, also gives credibility to the theory that he was homosexual.But then, at the end of the book ... the battle is over, the enemy is defeated, the child is saved... and then there are three more chapters that don't seem to bear any relevance to the story at all. About a band of theives that comes from the north part of the country and steals some horses, and blah blah blah. It's not until the epilogue that we find this is how he finally meets the woman he will fall in love with - her brother is part of the band of theives so he meets her in this fashion. And in the epilogue he is caught by the rescued child going to visit her secretly.But then... what about the possible homosexual relationship with the friend? Does this continue? Does the friend become jealous? Does the woman ever find out? Did he just ... decide he likes women after all, or had he liked them all along? I realize this was not the point of the novel, but it seems like a loose end that wasn't tied up, and was definitely not a necessary part of the novel. The best friend could have easily betrayed him -without- them also being lovers. He could have found the woman at the end -without- the three unnecessary unrelated chapters and an epilogue...
I hadn't heard of this author before, but I'm glad I found this book. It reminded me of Ursula Le Guin, both in the subject matter but also the writing style. There are several sad moments but also excitement - the fight near the end was memorable. The secondary characters were well-drawn.I wasn't too sure about the ending - the last three chapters or so didn't really add to the plot. And one of my favourite minor characters was unnecessarily killed off. Finally, another reviewer notes that suddenly the main character starts to speak in a very archaic manner, which he hadn't done up till then. I also noticed that and found it a bit annoying.Apart from that it was a good read.
What do You think about Dragon's Winter (1999)?
I am (or at least was) very fond of Lynn's early work, but this book has never held together for me. Some of it is the lack of concrete detail; her characters never see anything in depth, there is never colour or texture or taste, just the objects itself, and I am too fond of the density of living for that to suit me. But also the characters do not hold as people; they have no nuance, no reasons beyond the simple. I am almost afraid to reread her early work now, for fear I will dislike what I used to love.
—Cassandra
I would have really liked to have given this book a higher rating, but it simply isn't possible to do so. The idea of the book was great. Dragon (Karadur Atani) and Tenjiro, Dragon's twin brother, held a lot of promise. Their story could have been epic. Unfortunately, Lynn failed to deliver.In the minor characters she managed to develop them more, though not completely. But somehow she left the twins with very little development. By the end of the story, you're left to guess at why certain decisions were made.And I have to admit, I was very disappointed with the plot development and pacing of the plot. For more than 200 pages Lynn built up to this epic showdown between the twins which she quickly settled in just a few paragraphs. What a disappointment! And then she spent a good number of pages after the battle describing events that really were unnecessary.....save one, which I won't discuss as I don't want to give away too much information. But even that one thing wasn't enough. As she left so many questions unanswered.As I sit here writing this review I still want some resolution to the relationship between Dragon and Azil! Azil was a major part of the story and it was his relationship to Dragon that really set things in motion. Yet, the reader has no idea what happened to him once Maia comes on the scene.
—Anna Rebecca
This book is better than the cover on my version makes it look. It has some interesting concepts and it's reasonably well written and plotted. I was going to give it better than 'it was ok'. But then the story climaxed, followed by sixty-five pages of dénoument. Sixty-five pages! That's something like fifteen percent of the book, and it didn't add anything that couldn't have been done with far fewer words. The last section was boring, pointless, confusing and far too long. Which is a shame. Feel free not to read 'part five' at all, you won't miss anything. In fact if you cut it out, this would be a three star book instead of two.
—James Shrimpton
