I truly need to apologize to Richard Knaak and the folks at Sea Lion Books. They provided me with a review copy, and somehow the review was lost in a mountain of emails, and is not being posted until now. I hope they will forgive me for this mistake. Please enjoy this review of Dragon Mound.
Dragon Mound is a novel written by best selling author Richard A Knaak, and is the first in a trilogy of books. The story introduces us to two main characters from the present day, Sir Evan Wytherling and Mardi Sinclair. Evan is a knight over 200 years old, who is on a seemingly never ending quest to find Sorcerer-King Novaris, and he may not rest until he does. Given all the seemingly necessary tools to do so, he set out over a century ago from the area of Pretor’s Hill on his quest, and now has come full circle, returning to the site or the battle of legend.
Mardi is a woman who has been well educated, but who still believes in the ideals from a time of Knights and honor. She does, though, have her doubts about the battle that the elders of Pretor’s Hill say had happened all those years ago, as all she has known is the boring town she has grown up in. When Evan arrives in town, horrified that a town was built on the land tainted by magic used the battle of the past, he is certain he will find terrible things as a result of the evil magic used. Instead, he meets the ever curious and talkative Mardi, who instantly takes to the knight, and there begins their adventure together.
Knaak is an author who is well known for writing well told stories with intriguing characters and events that draw the reader in, and this is no exception. The book is a voluminous tome, but getting through the book will be a reward that any dedicated reader will be very happy to have accomplished, as the story is one that is well worth the read. The story is a complex one, with shifts from present to the past, and the reader may need a bit of flippinf back and forth to keep some of it straight, but after a few chapters things begin to settle into place.
I look forward to book two in this trilogy, and and eager to see where the series concludes, and how the characters, locations, and heroes of the story resolve their own personal demons, and desires. As with many books, it may take book two to truly find your footing in the series, but reading only book one without the others released did not leave me missing too much. I give this 4 out of 5, and recommend our readers pick this book up.
