Song of the Dragon-Tracy Hickman

Song of the Dragon
Tracy Hickman
Daw, Jul 2010, $24.95
ISBN: 9780756406073

The elves of the Rhonas Empire are a sadistic warmongering race who practically made humanity almost extinct and subjugated all other sentient species like the Manticore, Chimerians and the Goblins. The Rhonas attack and defeat the Dwarves. Drakis the human and the rest of his warriors are slaves, controlled by Aether magic, are now fighting the dwarfs.. Drakis finds and takes as booty the dwarf Jugar; his magical artifact the Heart of Aer and his treasure for their master. Jugar takes the Heart of Aer and throws it at the House Aether Well causing the slaves to recall what their masters did to them re torture and degradation.

Drakis, two Manticores, two dwarves, and a Chimerian escape. Jugar preaches to anyone in contact with Drakis that he is the savior of prophecy. He believes the human is the one who will come again when he is needed most. He is gathering a following, but one of those who escaped with Drakis is a traitor while others are being killed by the Iblii (Inquisition) who have been in touch with Drakis and heard the message. Drakis is unsure whether he is the one from the prophecy, but will go to the Northlands where he should find either answers or death.

Readers learn about the various races through representatives who bring their respective culture alive without slowing down the plot. Drakis, freed from the enslaving Aether magic, keeps his sanity while others freed lose theirs when memories return to swamp their minds. He is a doubting Thomas but after the elves try to kill him, he vows to learn whether he is the Drakis of prophecy or just a namesake trying to rally the various enslaved races against the oppressors. Epic fantasy fans will enjoy the enthralling opening Annals of Drakis saga.

Harriet Klausner