Bones of the Dragon

Dragonships of Vindras #1

by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

Welcome to the World of Dragonships! Skylan Ivorson is a sea-raider of the Vindras and eventually becomes the Chief of Chiefs of all Vindras clans, an honor he truly feels he deserves as one who has been blessed by Skoval, the god of war. But sometimes a blessing is a curse in disguise. Skoval and the other ancient gods are under siege from a new generation of gods who are challenging them for the powers of creation… and the only way to stop these brash interlopers lies within the mysterious and hidden Five Bones of the Vektan Dragons. It will be up to the Vindras people, as the dragon-goddess’s champions, to undertake the quest to recover all Five. The fate of the Old Gods and the Vindras rests on their recovery--for this is not only a quest to save the world. It is also a quest for redemption. Filled with heroes and heroines young and old and exotic adventure in a magic-forged world, this is a series that fully illustrates the mastery of world-building and storytelling that has made Weis and Hickman into the bestselling fantasy co-authors of all time.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dragons, Dragonlance, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

414 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.

Reviews

[Tammie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skylan Ivorson is a sea-raider of the Vindras and eventually becomes the Chief of Chiefs of all Vindras clans, an honor he truly feels he deserves as one who has been blessed by Skoval, the god of war.

But sometimes a blessing is a curse in disguise.

DNF @50%

This was our book club book this month and I'm pretty disappointed in it. I really enjoyed The Dragonlance Chronicles and The Deathgate Cycle but unfortunately Weis and Hickman did not win me over with this one. The biggest problem I have with this book is that I hate just about every one of the characters, especially the main character, Skylan, which is sad because I really love the characters in their other book series.

Skylan is just dumb in my opinion. He's like the big dumb jock that has an inflated ego. And when it comes to women he thinks like a narcissistic sexual predator. For example, he wants this one woman in the book and refuses to see that she doesn't want him. He convinces himself that she really does want him even though she doesn't and has never given him reason to think that she does. This is the worst character they've written since Mina from the War of Souls. I hated that character so much I wanted her to die a horrible death and that's how I feel about Skylan. This is just one example of why I dislike him, but it was one reason too many. I've heard he improves greatly in the next book, but I just don't care.

I also really hated what was done with another character in the book that started out sympathetic because of her abusive situation, but then she ends up not being so sympathetic and it felt like the book was trying to justify Skylan's awful opinion of her and the way she looks. Also the hairy nipples...what did I just read??? Sorry but I don't even want to try to explain that. Needless to say I will not be continuing on with this series.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woo hoo, I finally finished this beast!

Not that I outright disliked it, per se, it's just that I could never seem to get in more than 15 pages or so in a sitting...and this was with my baby daughter out of town!

I liked the world-building, though I thought the conflict with the ogres took too long to finally kick off and then it seemed to go on overlong. Things really picked up after the Vutmana thingy, and I was gratified to see super-bro Skylan humbled and made accountable for his terrible choices and behaviour in the finale.

I'll also agree that the sudden appearance of a certain character Wulfe! this universe's Tasslehoff, I suppose helped shift the focus from an unlikeable protagonist to a curious youngster. One almost wishes they'd found a way to structure the story to introduce him sooner, rather than later.

I'm curious to see what happens in Secret of the Dragon, though with so much else on the reading list and a lot going on it might not be until the new year that I get around to it.

[QS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest: I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I actually liked the main character. But I didn't. My dislike of Skylan coupled with my discomfort of the culture of his people made me feel pretty ambivalent for the majority of the novel.

On the other hand, I adored the plot, and loved the blatant rip-off of Norse mythology. Needless to say, I will be purchasing the next book in the series once it comes out in paperback. I'm hoping that, as the series goes on, Skylan will mature greatly and I'll spend less time wanting to strangle him. I really do have hope for the next books, if only because I'm familiar with these writers from their time writing Dragonlance together.

(P.S. I am way too tired to be writing a review. Oops?)

[Mikko Karvonen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far too familiar concept, highly unpleasant main character (not that there was much to the other characters either), serious overdose of (mostly unnecessary) exposition, awkward language, and glaring lack of background research. You would thinking writing dozens of rather popular fantasy books would teach authors something about the art of writing, but it seems that Weis & Hickman have taken several steps backwards instead.

[Reblua · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, I did not enjoy this book until the last 25 pages or so. The characters were shallow and I couldn't find myself liking any of them.

[Adam Bolander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Review: Bones of the Dragon, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Bones of the Dragon is a book I picked up at a used bookstore for a couple dollars. The cover looked neat and the blurb sounded interesting, and hey¬— it was only a couple dollars! I could spare that much, even if it turned out not to be that great... which is exactly what happened.

Bones of the Dragon stars Skylan Ivorson is one of the Vindrassi, a race of sea raiders very similar to the Vikings. His father, the chief of the Torgun clan, plans for Skylan to someday take his place as chief, but isn’t happy with Skylan’s hotheadedness. When an army of ogres invades the Torgun’s waters, neither Skylan nor anybody else expects the message they bring: the gods of the Vindrassi are dead, and have been replaced with younger, different gods who favor the ogres over the humans. As proof, they carry the Vektan Torque, a bone of one of the five Elder Dragons given to them by the Vindrassi’s own Chief of Chiefs, Horg. With it, they can summon the dragon, whose power is great enough to tear creation itself apart. If the Torgun don’t want this to happen, they will have to bow in servitude to the monsters. But the proud clan won’t settle for this, and the battle for the Vektan Torque begins.

I didn’t like Bones of the Dragon. I didn’t like it so much that I couldn’t finish it. It’s not badly written, and I think it’s safe to say that Weis and Hickman aren’t bad writers by any means. It’s just that, while the prose works, the story itself does not. For the half of the book I read, I alternated between two different moods: boredom and disgust.

Yes, I was bored reading this book. It’s a shame too, because not only does the plot sound awesome, I’ve never read a book featuring Vikings as the main characters before. This could have turned out to be a really cool book. Instead, Bones of the Dragon is kind of a drag. It spends way too much time world building, to the point where the authors repeatedly interrupt the plot just to give us mundane details. Like, I really don’t care about the finer details of the Vindrassi’s longhouses. Just tell me it’s a house that’s long and narrow and get on with the story, please! No need to tell me how they’re made, or what kinds of board games they play when they’re snowed in. And then, when something interesting does happen, it happens with so little flair and pizzazz that if someone were to be narrating the story aloud I swear they’d be speaking in a monotone voice. This is fantasy for Pete’s sake! That kind of storytelling is unacceptable!

The other emotion, disgust, mostly came from our hero, Skylan. If he were telling the story in first person, I think he’d probably call it, “Viking Jock, and the Story of how I’m Awesome and Everyone Loves Me.” You know the stereotypical high school football jock? The one who’s a braindead moron, but the fact that he’s handsome and can throw a football makes everybody love him no matter how bad he treats them? Put a Viking helmet on his head and replace the football with a sword, and you’ve got Skylan. He’s arrogant, egotistical, selfish, but nobody can get enough of him. I get what Weis and Hickman were going for (or at least I hope do, since I didn’t finish the book). The douche bag who matures becomes a better guy by the end of the book is an old, but still nice, trope for a story to follow. Problem is, we still have to like the douche bag for some reason before that happens. Think of Kuzko from Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. Biggest jerk on the planet, but we liked him as a main character because he’s quirky, goofy, and fun to be around. Skylan isn’t like that. He’s a douche bag, and nothing but a douche bag. A better Disney comparison for him would be Gaston from Beauty and the Beast… and he’s supposed to be the good guy. What only makes it worse is that Skylan is constantly screwing up, giving the author’s plenty of room for him to grow as a character, but instead everybody just forgives him because he’s so gosh darn awesometastic, leaving him completely unchanged as a character. Maybe he does change later in the story, but I care so little about him that I don’t want to slog through the rest of the book to see it.

I found the tone of the book a little confusing as well. Or rather, I felt like the book itself was confused. Some parts of it were typical adventure fantasy with swords and monsters and brave heroes, but other times it felt like Weis and Hickman were trying to turn it into A Song of Ice and Fire. When some of the characters suddenly began throwing the f-word around, it felt so unnatural and out of place that I had to stop and stare at the page for a few seconds. I don’t know, maybe this is Weis and Hickman’s signature style, but I wouldn’t know because this is the first book by them I’ve ever read. Whatever the case, it felt like they were trying to copy Martin’s gray and gritty style just to set themselves apart from the more innocent fantasy series, like The Legend of Drizzt.

In the end, Bones of the Dragon is a well written story. You can tell that Weis and Hickman know what they’re doing when they put pen to paper. The problem is that the story itself isn’t very good. I feel like they did their best, but this just isn’t a style that suits them. I was closed Bones of the Dragon halfway through, disappointed. Not disappointed in the same way Throne of Glass disappointed me, but maybe that’s because there was virtually no hype surrounding this book when I bought it. Regardless, I was only out a couple of dollars for it, so it’s not a disappointment I’m particularly upset about.

I give Bones of the Dragon, by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, a 2 stars out of 5!

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite my enjoyment of fantasy, I've never read a single DragonLance book, and probably wouldn't have picked this up either, if I hadn't been asked to review it.

It's a fairly interesting start to a new series, but either not terribly well-written, or I'm just way above the target age, because I did find it rather simplistic at times, and during the first half of the book, the main character came across as a gigantic arrogant git. Had it ended there, I would only have given it two stars.

It improved in the second half though. Through tragic events Skylan was forced to make difficult decisions and mostly rose to the occasion. Following his growth made the book worth reading, even if nothing else had. Also, I grew to like several of the other characters and found myself interested in their futures - despite my initial reservations.

Had half stars been implemented, I'd have given this 2.5. As it is, it's closer to a 3 than a 2.

[Alexandra Chauran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I broke a sweat trying to like this book, but by the end it grew on me. The whole first half was painful, however, because all of the characters were utterly unlikeable. Good world building, but wow, what a pack of jerks who deserve whatever comes to them. Now, I understand where an author is going when she's setting up a character for redemption, but with absolutely no likeable qualities in any of the characters until a fun new character was introduced half-way through the book... Well, if I wasn't enjoying the deep baritone of the audiobook narrator I would have quit. After suffering through a great portion of this long book, however, there was enough intrigue and drama to hold my interest. I almost want to know what happens next. I feel like these authors should team up with the author of The Wolves of Ragnarok and together with his character development and these ladies' world-building and mythology development they could knock out an amazing novel.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a typical first book of a series. There is a lot of time spent on building the world and cultures of the Vindras. Weis and Hickman do that we great style as they always do.

I was a little disappointed in the characters, it felt as though all the characters were very flat, hopefully as the series grows so will the characters. I do have to say I hated Skylan, he was annoying and really not likeable as a main character.

The book really does pick up after a while, the last one forth of it had me reading and reading. It was a struggle in the beginning but I did get pulled in and can't wait to see where the series does go from here.

If you're looking for a whole brand new world, I was a little disappointed that this is a warrior/savage based camp. There wasn't much new as far as ideas goes, so I'm hoping that'll be something else that the authors expand on in the future.

[Luke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept waiting to discover that some god had once again stolen the world. Gave up about 1/3 of the way into it. It felt like a bad mashup of Zelda and Dragonlance.

[Matthew Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second time that I've read (or in this case listened to) this book. It has been a few years, but I remember thinking the first time how big of an idiot Skylan was, and this time I feel exactly the same way. I like the book, and it is very well written, but it's hard to read about a character that is so easily unlikable because of all the horrible decisions they make (and don't get me started on the macho rape culture attitude). I look forward to (re)reading more and (hopefully) allowing Skylan a chance for redemption in the rest of the series.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed other Weis & Hickman books I've read, so I gave this one a try on audio. The main character was pretty unlikable and the narrative seemed a bit drawn out. However, I still found myself wanting to listen to this story. Based on better reviews, I might give the other books in the series a shot.

[Doug · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book does not have one likable character. I expected more from the authors. And while they are evidently trying to build an epic world, it’s an epic fail. So many words and pages devoted to telling us about things instead of just showing us. This entire book, all 400+ pages, could have been told in 150 pages.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent half of the book hoping that the main character would die a horrific and horrible death. I cannot remember the last time I have so thoroughly despised a lead character. Despite of my abiding hatred, the book eventually won me over enough to give it a tentative three stars. However, I am highly motivated to turn it into two stars if the second book is not an improvement.

[Elar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viking style fantasy story situate in the alternative earth. The pace is quite nice and steady, but a story is rambling all over the place without direct goal. Narration from Stefan Rudnicki is very enjoyable.

[Rhonda Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would have gotten a five, but at a certain point the author decided to tell rather than show what was happening. But I enjoyed it enough that I'm dying to read the sequel.

[Dirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
Plot: good execution of a 'somewhat familiar' plot.
Worldbuilding: good viking-like setting, though a bit heavy handed on exposition.
Characters: a well written, but (intentionally) unlikable, egocentric main character.

[Ben Lund · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book caught my eye as I was wandering through my library. I really liked the Dragonlance books as a young pre-teen. Fantasy wasn't cool yet, and these books were something I hadn't encountered before. Throughout the years I have caught onto other series by them, the Starshield books, the Deathgate cycle and so on. When I found this book I thought 'why not, I've gone along with them this long.'

The problem with writing for so long and so many books is that you find a certain way of doing things, and a lot of tropes evident in earlier books are present here as well. Weis and Hickman like creating characters that are DEEPLY flawed. This allows them to undergo a transformation of character or 'come to a realization' later or throughout the book. Almost all the characters have that quality, with the exception of maybe two people. I hoped at one time or another, that someone I was reading about would fall off a boat and get eaten by a shark. (Spoiler: No one gets eaten by a shark).

Also, not a lot happens. Everyone gets on a boat, and you think they are finally going to leave and get on with the story, and they end up coming back home. Then they have to travel somewhere and you think "NOW there're on their way" and they come back home. When they finally seem like they are getting somewhere...it's the end of the book.

The reason it gets two stars is because despite all it's tropes and false starts, at the core is a halfway decent story. You can see where the authors want to get to, it just seems like they took the most meandering, convoluted route to get there. I probably will pick up the second book at some point to see what happens to everyone, but it's not at the top of my to read list. A story is there, it's just not meaty enough for me to sink a weekend into.

[Math le maudit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman efficace, mais pas de quoi se relever la nuit.

L'histoire se déroule au sein d'une nation de barbares dont l'organisation est très proche de celle des Vikings. On y suit l'histoire de Skylan Ivorson, jeune fils de chef qui se croit promis à un grand avenir.

Présomptueux, arrogant et impulsif, Skylan trop persuadé de son destin et de la faveur des dieux à son égard, accumule les mauvais choix et plus le roman avance, plus sa marge de manœuvre s'étrécit. D'autant plus que les dieux de son panthéon, assaillis par de nouveaux dieux plus jeunes, sont en train de disparaître.

On assiste ainsi à la fuite en avant de Skylan qui, malgré sa volonté de mener son peuple à de grandes choses s'enferre de plus en plus dans le mensonge et les contradictions entre ce qu'il voudrait faire ou dire et ce qu'il peut réellement se permettre. Jouet des dieux mourants de son panthéon, Skylan Ivorson aura visiblement un long chemin à parcourir pour parvenir à ses fins.

L'écriture très classique de ce roman de fantasy, et le trop peu de personnage secondaires vraiment fouillés ne permettent pas de faire de ce livre un incontournable, mais en font néanmoins une lecture agréable.

[Marian Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that I decided to read only because it was already on my Kindle from when my husband read it. I'm so glad. I really fell in love with these authors and I'm frustrated to no end that I have to wait for the sequel! I don't trust writers to finish their works, but I'm hooked to this one.

There were epic god-wars and excellent representation of the impact characters made to the world, whether they intended to or not. I also loved the Norse culture it portrayed. Weis does a great job bringing in the different pantheons and cultures in a fantasy setting. At moments I thought it was too obvious, subsequently a bit childish, but then I really enjoyed the ancient European cultures in a fantasy setting. The plot was certainly original with a lot of surprises that make sense, but are unexpected during the read.

[John Hubenthal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, the language was really disappointing, from what I've come to expect from these two. The story was interesting enough, but sunk a peg for each reference of earthy base material and bad language. It would be in the PG-13 range at least, which is always off-putting to me in a book.
Perhaps I ought to mention that a major theme in the book involves the complications which arrise due to the compounding of lies. Imaginatively, there is also an element of summoning dragons, which become constructed and take the appearance of whatever was used in the summoning, whether sand, water, earth, etc. These were both strongly positive aspects of the story which I enjoyed.

[Jonas Salonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this was a surprise! I have read over a dozen books from Weis & Hickman. The Drangonlance Chronicles were one of the first fantasy books I read as a child. I read the Chronicles again some time ago and oh man are they simple. They read like somebody had written down how their D&D-night went. I do apreciate them as they are good books for a new reader but in no way are they good literature.

Some of the books that followed the Chronicles were downright awful. Even the plots were uninteresting and the way the stories unfolded were just overly simplistic (the Amber-series...).

And now this book...

I was actually blown away! The story is interesting, the world likewise. The main characters are also written good enough especially if you keep in mind that they really are teenagers. And for once the main characters being teenagers doesn't annoy because that is the way the world was at the depicted time. On the other hand it's also nice that there are many older characters involved. Unlike some readers Skylan, the main character, doesn't stop me from reading the book. He is really annoying but that is just the way he is. Many times I hoped I could smack him around a bit but why should every main character be loveable? His poor decisions and immature character make for good plot twists and maybe he learns something from his mistakes?

At some parts the book could have used some editing as same things are told a few times. Also everyhting in the writing is not super hot but I was really immersed in this book and was really surprised at how good the book was compared to other Weis & Hickman books I have read. The main thing is probably how fluently the story evolves and how much there are details. Some time ago I would not have believed it but I really recommend this book if you like somewhat gritty fantasy, vikings, dragons and stuff like that.

[KayDee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I love Margaret’s Weis Dragonlance series and was looking forward to this series. I didn’t feel it was on the same level of enjoyment. This series is has more adult subject with no filters.

The world building is believable and I like the Viking flavor mixed with Orges, Dragons, Giants, Fae, Druids, immortals and magic!

The main character Skylan drove me nuts!! He is the typical dumb warriors that lives for the next fight and misses every important aspect that is around him. He has a good heart and is entirely selfish in a lovable way! I want him to catch on to all the important events building up around him and be an influence because I like him and hate how stupid he is at the same time. That’s talent to be able to create a character that I love and hate.

The aspects of the book that withdrew from the positives is the lack of bridge between events. Some transitions were cheesy and I felt a bit out of the characters personality. One example is Draya’s reaction to meeting Skylan. It’s like her brain switched off. She has all these concerns and then BAM, hunky 18 yr old warrior arrive and she is 🤤. Which leads to disaster after disaster and all she think is how moonstruck she is. Same goes for Skylan. He boast about sleeping with half the village and doesn’t notice when an older women wants him.

I will continue to read the rest of the series because I want to see the characters grow and the bad guys to be wacked off!!

[Shane Coffey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit of a challenge for me. It was my first novel from Weis and Hickman, and after the legendary status the Dragonlance books have garnered over they years, I guess I was expecting something more. The pacing of the narrative is inconsistent, with some jarring changes in plot direction. Foreshadowing those in some way would have helped, and an early establishing scene or two in a couple of 'alien' locations that come in quite suddenly toward the end of the story might have prevented my cognitive dissonance. There are also a couple of odd inconsistencies, such as a character being described as introspective and somewhat taciturn in the first few pages, only to have him delivering long stretches of dialogue soon thereafter. My biggest disappointment, however, was in the lack of effort to "file off the serial numbers" of the gaming campaign I suspect lies at the story's foundation. Too many instances of, "Oh, she does arcane magic, and they only like divine," or, "Oh, I see what spell that was; guess he failed his saving throw." That may be fine for some, but it was distracting for me.

That said, the main character's arc is consistent and satisfying. He isn't a smart man, and at times his actions are painful to watch, but in a way that feels relatable and honest. If you're looking for a fantasy version of the conflicts between the Norse and the Romans, complete with dragons and gods, this may be worth your time.

[(Grace) Kentucky Bohemian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massive Egos, Treachery, and Hidden Agendas...
...What could go wrong?
I'm not sure why I'm a sucker for these epic tales. Maybe it's because they contain within them everything a reader could want: adventure, romance, political intrigue, and plenty of villains.

This story of the Dragonships and the people who sail them is no exception, although it is quite exceptional. It's extremely well written and features unique and diverse characters that are full of depth-and less than perfect.

The main character, Skylan, is a great example. He's young, likeable, strong, and heroic. He's also brash, impulsive, and prone to react without thinking matters through. I love that the main character was so flawed. He's got a good heart, and a good head for battle. But the blood runs in his veins like fire and leads him to reckless actions with strong consequences. To me, it makes him a bit endearing because he's not the typical perfect hero.

As with all epic tales, be prepared for a huge cast and multiple plot lines. This is not a simple story, but rather a complex, sweeping adventure full of love, heartbreak, treachery, and gods who treat humans as though they are pieces on a game board. Be prepared as well for the fact that this book is not the end of the story, and leaves characters hanging in some precarious situations.

[Yesenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book on my shelf for a while. I finally got to read it and I never wanted to punch someone in the face like I did this main character. So he was "God blessed" when he was born and everyone treated him like so. They spoiled him, let him get away with leaving bastard children and the way he treated people when they did not agree with him was above and beyond awful! I rooted for the bad guys on this one. I wanted him proven wrong, brought down for his behavior and for the people around him to see how they really needed to open their eyes. They needed to stop allowing him to get away with so many lies just because he was good looking and the "Chief of Chiefs" Even the Gods cut him a lot of slack considering his actions got a lot of people killed and yet he's supposed to be the hero?
The way this story is written is the reason I kept reading. I enjoyed the world that was created. The way the Gods were powerful and yet had to fight younger Gods to keep their place seeking help from humans to find the bones of super dragons. It just sucks that the only character I truly liked had to die.
I'm not sure if I will continue on, at least not anytime soon. I'm too upset right now with the main character. I get that maybe the point is to follow him to maturity but the way he's so blind to others feelings, not taking no for an answer and almost forcing himself on the girl he says he loves is just too much

[Kia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was good!
Skylan the main character was 'team too much' a lot of the time! He's extremely hot-headed and arrogant. I even screamed at him a few times! But, oddly enough, I still liked him! I love fantasy books that explore religions/gods in detail. I enjoyed reading how the gods were apart of the Vindrashi's everyday life. It was also interesting to see even the gods have their own flaws. They can also fight wars, lose, and die! This brought the gods down to earth. Making them more humanlike than godlike! My favorite character was Wulfe. The young boy, whose actually half fae, had an awesome spirit. I like the way he bounded to Skylan; doing whatever he could to protect him!
The main thing I didn't like was Garn & Aylean's drawn out nonsense! They should've told Skylan the truth from the beginning! Smh

Overall, if you like books with fighting, gods/goddesses, faes, dragons, love triangles, Vikings...you'll like this one! It isn't a fast read, I should point out. But I actually liked that because the authors were about to really explain the world of the Vindrashi!

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to give this three stars but in the end decided it wasn't worth it. Skylan the protagonist is utterly unlikable and he even sexually assaults another character, twice! The gods are assholes too which makes it hard for the reader to sympathise with them. The book praises the authors for worldbuilding skills but Bones of the Dragon feels lazy. The protagonist's people are ripped off the vikings, and the villains, the Romans. No creativity there. Little bits of trivia are thrown in like, the ancient empire that made everyone speak the same language - mentioned in one sentence and never heard from again. Pacing, the book is slow to build up tension and lots of exposition is given to the monologues of the characters which are a bore to read. Easily the worst series from Weiss and Hickman, tying with Sovereign Stone. PS, there is typo on the dust jacket - Torval is misspelled as Skoval.

[Kylie Sparkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of dynamic characters and an expansive religious system I honestly enjoyed the entirety of this book. I have seen alot of complaints from other readers, but I found the story and characters to be enticing and interesting. The main character, Skylan, is an 18 year old male in a Viking type culture, valuing strength and honor above all. He possess great vigor and has the respect of his fighting men and entire clan; all whilst also being said to be born under the prophecy of the warrior god. Therefor the authors do well to write this character as a narcissistic and self-centered young man. Throughout the story we follow along as Skylan's poor, egotistical choices begin to turn tides against him. By the end of the book instead of chuckling or rolling your eyes at Skylan's imprudent decisions you are left rooting for his success and willpower to overcome his adversities.

Also there are lots of interactive dragons, forever biased 5 star.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Myönnän avoimesti, että pikaluin tämän ja skippasin kaikki tylsät kohdat. On aika yllättävää (ja hienoa) että Weis pystyy edelleen luomaan kokonaan uudenlaista fantasiaa, vaikka hänellä on jo pitkä ura takanaan. Tämä kirja saakin täydet pisteet omaperäisyydestä: vaikka viikingeistä ja lohikäärmeistä on kirjoitettu paljon, yleensä niitä ei yhdistetä, etenkään tällä tavoin. Kirjan huonoimpana puolena on sanottava, etten kamalasti pitänyt Skylanista, joka toimi ajattelemattomasti. Käsitän, että se oli välttämätöntä tarinan kannalta (suuri osa tapahtumista oli seurausta Skylanin ajattelemattomasta toiminnasta), mutta se oli silti ärsyttävää. Garn oli mielestäni paljon parempi hahmo, ja haluaisinkin lukea kirjan, jossa se rauhallinen ja harkitseva on päähenkilö ja hänen kuumapäinen kaverinsa sivuhahmo.