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Dragonsword | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Gael Baudino | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Dragonsword | Dragonsword, Duel of Dragons, Dragon Death | ||
Solomon Braithwaite is an agin professor of ancient Britain at UCLA. But in the magical land of Gryylth, he is the powerful, muscular Dythragor Dragonmaster. And in both worlds he is an arrogant, prejudiced, chauvinist jerk.
But he is also aging. A new dragonmaster must be found. And so Suzanne Helling is called by the dragon Silkabor to fill the role. But Gryylth is as prejudiced as its protector. Women are kept pregnant and in the kitchen, sometimes by force. Will the people accept a woman with power? Will she accept them? And can she learn from a teacher who hates all that she is and stands for, and do it in time to stave off the horrible magics wielded by the inviading Dremords?
The book is unfortunately a bit date. Actually, a lot dated; Suzanne is an ex-hippie, and she retains a lot of their mindset. This provides a good part of her internal struggle - the woman who reveres life and hates war must learn to kill - but it's sometimes a major slap in the face to realize that this is all essentially taking place a few decades ago. Other than personal histories, there's nothing whatsoever to show when this is, so it was jarring.
This would have been less of a problem if Suzanne's past (and Solomon's, for that matter) were not such an integral part of their characters. Suzanne, for instance, was supposedly present at the Kent State shootings in 1970, and it has affected her ever since. This, in turn, is a mixed blessing. It makes the characters a good deal deeper than most characters in the "transported to another world" genre, but it keeps cropping up over and over.
Which was the other problem. Baudino made both the world-hoppers almost psychotically obsessed with their pasts. Nothing could be done without the characters (and thus the readers) being reminded of Solomon's lousy marriage or the Kent State shootings or some other episode of their lives. Combined with the unavoidable feminist message behind the setting and Suzanne's influence on it, the book comes across as heavy-handed to the extreme. More than once I wanted to shake them and shout, "Get over it!"
Baudino does create a wonderful setting in Gryylth, however, and I do not mean just with the themes of the book. There is a twist thrown into the mix halfway through regarding the secret of Gryylth's existence which is really rather a neat touch. Once you know what to look for, it's almost beautiful, because everything just sort of fits given the concept. It's nearly worth reading for that aspect alone. Also, many of the characters are complex entities, and several of them change and grow throughout the novel. (Of course, given the theme, in some ways they have no choice.) The conflicts - physical, mental, and social - are also fairly complex and realistic, if a little overblown at times.
This book probably isn't for everyone. While not epic fantasy, this is not especially light reading. This is for those who want their stories to Mean Something. For that crowd, this will probably be a big hit. For those more like myself, more concerned with the story than the meaning, it is sometimes a little too strenuous in its messages of tolerance. Even so, it can hardly be called bad. The characters, as well as Gryylth's secret, are significant redeeming qualities.
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