Sign in with Facebook
Dragondoom
by
Dennis L. McKiernan (Goodreads Author)
(Description taken from back cover of book)
A thousand years before the Winter War, proud Elgo, valiant prince of the hard-riding, hard-fighting Vanadurin, and his warband defeat the seemingly invincible dragon Sleeth. The fabulous wealth in the drake's lair is brought home amid great rejoicing. But little did they realize that there was more in their bounty than gems and g...more
A thousand years before the Winter War, proud Elgo, valiant prince of the hard-riding, hard-fighting Vanadurin, and his warband defeat the seemingly invincible dragon Sleeth. The fabulous wealth in the drake's lair is brought home amid great rejoicing. But little did they realize that there was more in their bounty than gems and g...more
Paperback, 485 pages
Published
February 1990
by Bantam Spectra
(first published 1990)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
896)
Oct 15, 2012
J. M. Brink
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
This is, frankly, one of my all time favourite fantasy novels. I nearly read the copy at my local library to death until I found a copy of my own at a used book store in the late nineties (this was during that unfortunate OOP phase), and have proceeded to reread that till parts of it are protected by tape.
I cannot recommend it highly enough. Mithgar keeps to the tropes of fantasy cleanly enough to be accessible, and easily understood by anyone who has ever heard of an elf, or a dwarf, warriors,...more
I cannot recommend it highly enough. Mithgar keeps to the tropes of fantasy cleanly enough to be accessible, and easily understood by anyone who has ever heard of an elf, or a dwarf, warriors,...more
McKiernan has been accused of largely borrowing themes and plotlines from Tolkein for his Mithgar books. The Iron Tower looks similar to Lord of the Rings. And Dragondoom bears some resemblance to The Hobbit. Even so, most fantasy is some variation on Tolkien, so I'll give him a pass on plagiarism.
This story is about a war between men and dwarves resulting from pride and greed. During the war, both sides are harassed by a dragon. In order to defeat the dragon, a woman and a dwarf set off in sear...more
This story is about a war between men and dwarves resulting from pride and greed. During the war, both sides are harassed by a dragon. In order to defeat the dragon, a woman and a dwarf set off in sear...more
Simply one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. Mckiernan took the tropes of dwarves and dragons and owned them! Imbuing them with a life all their own rather than being short humans that like to mine and large flying reptiles that happen to breath fire and lust after treasure.
To me, Mckiernan redefined the high fantasy genre with this book of Mithgar...and all his Mithgar books are exhibit the same scope and quality that lights a fire in the core of my being and arouses my imagination.
I do...more
To me, Mckiernan redefined the high fantasy genre with this book of Mithgar...and all his Mithgar books are exhibit the same scope and quality that lights a fire in the core of my being and arouses my imagination.
I do...more
„Zwergenkrieger“ ist der Auftakt zu der 19-teiligen Reihe rund um die Fantasy-Geschichten des Landes „Mitghar“, einer Welt, in der es vor Zwergen, Elfen, Riesen, und Drachen nur so wimmelt. Beginnen tut die Legende rund um Mitghar mit der rothaarigen Elfen-Prinzessin Elyn und dem widerborstigen Zwerg Thork, welche eine große Aufgabe zu erledigen haben. Sie sind dazu auserwählt, trotz der Feindschaft zwischen ihren Völkern, den sogenannten „Kammerling“ zu finden, welcher für Frieden sorgen soll....more
Completely out of the blue, found this little gem sometime around '92. Its most likely my favorite book ever.
Originally, McKiernan wrote a total rip off of Tolkein, but then he kept going, and this is the reward.
The worst trope that fantasy writers fall back on is prophecy and Fate and Chosen Ones and all that crap. D.M. eventually DOES in future novels, but its not horribly overt in this book, giving it a sense of freedom that characters generally dont enjoy in other fantasy.
I've mentioned it...more
Originally, McKiernan wrote a total rip off of Tolkein, but then he kept going, and this is the reward.
The worst trope that fantasy writers fall back on is prophecy and Fate and Chosen Ones and all that crap. D.M. eventually DOES in future novels, but its not horribly overt in this book, giving it a sense of freedom that characters generally dont enjoy in other fantasy.
I've mentioned it...more
This was a great book! Long after I read it, the characters were still fresh in my mind. What I enjoyed most about the book is the unlikely relationship that developed between a human and a dwarf.
The story is set during war times and two characters, each from their own side of the world, must journey to find a magic war hammer that would help each of their cities fight an undefeatable foe. The two main characters are Elyn, a princess from Jord, which is a nation of humans and horsemen, and Thor...more
The story is set during war times and two characters, each from their own side of the world, must journey to find a magic war hammer that would help each of their cities fight an undefeatable foe. The two main characters are Elyn, a princess from Jord, which is a nation of humans and horsemen, and Thor...more
I consider this the best of McKiernan's Mithgar series. He presents both sides of the central conflict in such a way that you don't know who to cheer for. The story is excellent and the presentation is further enhanced by the narrative jumping back and forth on the timeline - revealing the cause after you're teased with the effect.
Warning: Don't try this at home!
How does a black mage become evil? One way is to seek the answer to this question: "Who lives in the mirror when there is no light?".
Warning: Don't try this at home!
How does a black mage become evil? One way is to seek the answer to this question: "Who lives in the mirror when there is no light?".
I generally love McKiernan's writing style - but this one put me off a bit with jumping back and forth in time. I think it would have worked just as well or better if written in time-line order. But as always - great character development and again as always, McKiernan pulls you into the story/setting and makes you care.
I am a fan of Mithgar and as such I have yet to come across a Mithgar book I didn't like. Of course some are better than others and it's been a while since I read this particular book, but this is one of the best books on Mithgar.
Found this book by chance(just glancing around at a bookstore) many years ago and still consider it among the best fantasy novels I've ever read.
For some reason, it took me years to read this book when I first bought it. And I enjoyed every second of it!!!
Ok, so I never made it past the 4th chapter. This book looked like it would be really good...and it probably is. However, the writing is a lot more "sophisticated" than I'm used to, and I had read sentences more than once to understand (and, sometimes even then I couldn't understand). By the second chapter I had looked up almost a dozen words...more than one of those words I couldn't even find a definition for (for example: the word "forecantle". I've read hundreds, if not thousands of books in...more
Great book!!!!!!!!!!! Man, I usually don't root for the good guys but damn, I have to here.
Interesting enough story, but affected archaic language, a pet peave of minge
Mary taught with this in "Mentoring en Masse"
This was the first book I read by McKiernan. McKiernan's Mithgar series is a take on (less kind description would be a "rip off")
The Lord of the Rings
, and this book is a take on The Hobbit with a dwarf and a human (a woman!) taking on the quest. It is tragic and beautiful. I think it is the best in the series.
Nov 22, 2011
Wendopolis
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
worth-a-second-reading,
favorites
I loved this book so much. I've read it many times, and the relationship between the dwarf and the human gets to me every time. Too bad his other novels don't live up to this one.
Once I got used to the High Fantasy style, I liked it very much, though that did take a good third of the book...
I like good epic fantasy and because of that I've read a lot of poor and mediocre ones as I search for the best. Mckiernan strikes me as somewhat shallow or surface in his books. You may enjoy it, I didn't dislike it. I just wasn't that into it. I've read better by the same author, but by the same token I've read at least a couple ot others that are about the same.
I am bored at work so I am adding books that I have read in the past that I have really liked. It is embarrassing to like a fantasy book with dwarves and dragons and admit it made me cry. But it had a touching romance that I didn't expect.
One of my favorite fantasy books. Surprising but gentle bouts with racism and love. This book actually made me cry. And it has like, swords and stuff.
One of McKiernan's best books.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
McKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Elec...more
More about Dennis L. McKiernan...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
12 feb. 13:57