- The first book in the Dragon Throne series, The Stone of the Stars (0-446-69098-8), was published in Aspect trade paperback in 2/04 and has already gone back to press for a second printing. The mass market edition will be published by Aspect in 7/05 and will tie in with this novel. The second novel in the series, The Empire of the Stars, will be published in Aspect trade paperback in 11/04. - Alison Baird, a highly decorated Canadian writer, is the author of The Witches of Willowmere (Penguin, 2002). The Wolves of Woden (Penguin, 2001), and The Hidden World (Penguin, 1999). She is a Silver Birch Award regional winner for The Dragon's Egg (Scholastic, 1994), received an Honorable Mention for the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for Dragon Pearl (St. Martin's Press, 1996), and was a finalist for the IODE Violet Downey Book Award for White as the Waves (Creative, 1999). - Dragons remain one of fantasy fiction's most popular creatures. The illustrated dragon cover will clearly position. The Archons of The Stars as fantasy, which outpaces science fiction in genre sales.
Alison Baird is a resident of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and a graduate of Trinity College, University of Toronto, where she earned her Honours B.A. in English and her M.A. degree.
As an author she had an early start, publishing her first poems when she was 12. Her first book, The Dragon's Egg, was published by Scholastic Canada: it was a national bestseller and a Regional Winner of the Silver Birch Award (a children's choice award). It is now featured on school curricula across the country. The Hidden World and White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick were both CCBC "Our Choice" selections, and White as the Waves was shortlisted for the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. Baird has also written two trilogies, the Willowmere Chronicles and The Dragon Throne. The Stone of the Stars, the first book of The Dragon Throne, received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly.
Baird's short fiction has appeared in On Spec magazine, a Canadian periodical of original science fiction and fantasy for adults. Her story "Dragon Pearl" received an Honourable Mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror published by St. Martin's Press. Another short story, "Moon Maiden," appeared in the acclaimed young adult anthology What If. . .? Amazing Stories Selected by Monica Hughes (Tundra Books), which was an ABA Kids’ Pick of the Lists and was featured on the New York Public Library’s Recommended List.
The Archons of the Stars is concludes The Dragon Throne trilogy, in which the stakes are driven higher. Ailia and Mandrake struggles with their destinies... Both want peace, but Mandrake's allies keep pushing him to accept his fate as Valdur's avatar. Ailia learns more about her heritage even as Mandrake learns more about what his "allies" actually want.
It took me a while to finish this book. It was hard for me to get into. Don't get me wrong -- I'm a fan of description, mythology, and well-developed worlds... but I don't need to be told every single detail. My brain was swamped. I would rather have had more conflict and character development. That being said, Mandrake was a great character, and I loved him to bits. His motivations for every action was strong, and although he was a villain for most of the series, I sympathized with him. However, I did not connect as well to Ailia, the protagonist. This book gets 3.5 stars from me.