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Elvenbane
Mercedes Lackey & Andre Norton
Elvenbane first book in the Halfblood Chronicles Trilogy.
A collaborative effort from fantasy grande dame Norton and relative newcomer Lackey
(the paperback Magic's Price), this tale of magic and intrigue offers a mixture of standard
genre elements and an engaging plot. When Serina Daeth, favorite concubine of the
Elf-Lord Dyran, conceives a half-blood child by him, she flees his wrath into the desert,
where she quickly succumbs. But the child, born in Serina's dying moments, is rescued by
a friendly dragon and raised with her own draconic brood. As the child Shana grows, she
develops prodigious sorcerous powers--so strong that it seems she might be the fabled
Elvenbane, powerful enough to free the enslaved humans from their elven oppressors. The
dragons come to fear her unplumbed power, though, and cast her out. With a renegade
elf-lord and his half-blood servant, and the aid of her remaining dragon friends, Shana
prepares to challenge the elfish supremacy. Though battle is joined, a sequel is plainly on
the way. Thoroughly rooted in genre traditions--with elves, dragons, unicorns, and
sorcerers--but some variations make it more enjoyable than the average example: theses
elves and unicorns, for instance, are cruel and dangerous, where in most fantasies they are
shining examples of superhuman purity. Overall, then, despite shallow characters and a
lack of real tension (we never doubt that Shana and friends will succeed), an entertaining
adventure.
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