The Dragon Quintet: Five Original Short Novels - Softcover

Card, Orson Scott; Lackey, Mercedes; Moon, Elizabeth; Swanwick, Michael; Lee, Tanith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0746005849 ISBN 13: 9780746005842

Publisher: Tor Books, 2005

Synopsis

An abiding presence in myth and literature from around the world, the dragon has been reborn in modern fantasy fiction. The classic winged fire-breathing reptile often associated with evil (they do despoil villages and demand virgin sacrifices, after all) tends nowadays to be more kindly disposed to humankind, sometimes aloofly offering magical wisdom, sometimes actively involved in human lives, whether as a servant or friend. In this volume, originally compiled exclusively for the members of the Science Fiction Book Club and not available in stores, editor Marvin Kaye has skillfully gathered brand-new contributions to the hoard of dragon lore by five top fantasy authors.

Orson Scott Card---an expert at writing from a child's point of view, as evidenced in his bestselling Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow---offers a gothic yarn set in contemporary suburbia. "In the Dragon's House" tells about the mysterious dragon that lives in the wiring of an old house, palpable only to a young boy who in dreams shares its body and feels its true size and power. But what does it really want?

Mercedes Lackey, prolific author of the Valdemar saga, writes of a slave boy who is chosen to care for a warrior's dragon. Vetch (and the reader) will learn much about dragon behavior . . . and this special dragon's secrets may be the key to his freedom. (Lackey was so taken by young Vetch that she expanded his adventures into a novel with the same name as this story---"Joust.")

Tanith Lee is no stranger to dragons, which appear quite often in her award-winning fantasies. The fable "Love in a Time of Dragons" is imbued with her signature atmosphere---Old World, moody, erotic-as a kitchen maid goes a-questing with a handsome champion to slay the local drakkor. But the tale takes a surprising twist. . . .

Elizabeth Moon, author of the popular Esmay Suiza and Heris Serrano series, takes a break from military science fiction to give us the tale of a young man forced by lies to flee his village . . . into an adventure of dwarfs and dragonspawn, of trust and wisdom, and, ultimately,
af0 "Judgment."

Rounding off the collection is Michael Swanwick's "King Dragon," a strange amalgam of twentieth-century technology and faery magic, in which the award-winning author invokes a truly sinister and repellent creature-a being with the soul of a beast and the body of a machine-part metal, part devil . . . all-merciless.

About this title

About the Author

Orson Scott Card is the author of the science fiction classic Ender's Game, as well as dozens of other bestselling novels. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mercedes Lackey is the author of the bestselling Heralds of Valdemar series and many other works of fantasy. She lives in Oklahoma. Tanith Lee has written many books for children and adults, including Tales from the Flat Earth, as well as nearly two hundred short stories. She lives in England. Elizabeth Moon is a native Texan and the author of books including Kings of the North and Oath of Fealty. She lives in Florence, Texas. Michael Swanwick is the multiple award winning author of Stations of the Tide. He lives in Pennsylvania. Marvin Kaye is the author and editor of more than forty books. He lives in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly

There be dragons of all spots and stripes in this solid anthology from editor Kaye (The Vampire Sextette), showcasing original fantasy novellas by five of the biggest names in the genre. In Orson Scott Card's uneven "In the Dragon's House," a Bradburyesque gingerbread gothic, a lonely orphan named Michael discovers a magical but somewhat sinister "dragon" in the old mansion he lives in with other disenfranchised children. Elizabeth Moon's "Judgment" is a wise, Tolkien-toned piece, complete with dwarves and stolen eggs that contain powerful "pretties" capable of turning villagers into dragons. Tanith Lee's gorgeous "Love in a Time of Dragons," the volume's single erotic entry, tells the tale of an abused servant who falls in love with a dragon ring. The most satisfying of the lot is Mercedes Lackey's "Joust," which she later expanded to a novel by the same name. The determination of Vetch, Lackey's serf turned dragon-boy, to escape from a war-torn land echoes the theme of Michael Swanwick's more sophisticated but extremely dark "King Dragon." Swanwick delivers the most chilling dragon, a warship with a monster's mind who tries to enslave Will, another boy transformed by revolution. Kaye obligingly recommends a range of dragon-related novels, films and Web sites in his afterword.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0746005849
• ISBN 13: 9780746005842
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 302
• Editor: Kaye Marvin