Dragon Blade: The Book of the Rowan (Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan, Book 4) - Softcover

Norton, Andre; Miller, Sasha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765346605 ISBN 13: 9780765346605

Publisher: Tor Fantasy, 2006

Synopsis

Over a year has passed since the defeat of the Great Foulness, and the ravaged earth has begun to heal. Lost for generations, the signet rings of the Four Great Houses---Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan---have been restored to their rightful heirs. And Ashen NordornQueen, mistress of the Land of Ever Snow, looks forward to a life of peace and happiness with her beloved husband and their newborn son---only to learn that an ancient evil still threatens all that she holds dear.

The Mother Ice Dragon, the fearsome progenitor of her deadly breed, has awakened from slumber to menace the world anew. Legend holds that only the Dragon Blade, forged from the scales of her vanquished mate, can slay the deadly female dragon, but the Dragon Blade has been lost for ages.

As Ashen embarks on a perilous quest to find the mystic sword, she leaves her castle and homeland in the care of her closest friends, including Rannore, Lady of the Rowan, who soon faces danger of a different sort....

Dragon Blade continues the saga begun in To the King a Daughter and continued in Knight or Knave and A Crown Disowned.

About this title

About the Author

Andre Norton has been called the Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and has enthralled generations of readers with her work. She passed away in 2005.

Sasha Miller is the author of Ladylord. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

From Publishers Weekly

At the outset of this fourth book (after A Crown Disowned) of the Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan Cycle, Ashen NordornQueen and her husband, Gaurin NordornKing, expect to take a much-needed rest from their travails against the Great Foulness that earlier beset their kingdom, but instead they discover they must face further adventures and danger. The royal pair, along with their infant son, have settled into the castle of Fire and Ice in the NordornLand, looking forward to taking their place as beloved monarchs. For their coronation as co-regents of Rendel, however, they receive a gift which launches their next perilous journey: Ashen must find and dispatch the dreaded Mother Ice Dragon who, if roused, would do far more damage than the Great Foulness. Meanwhile, back at the palace, intrigues are afoot. The formidable matriarch, the Dowager Queen Ysa, returns to her meddlesome ways, and Gaurin accepts a new family member into his household, a half-brother who might not be who he seems. The story continues along predictable lines with the requisite happy outcome, though Norton and Miller leave room for another installment. The plot is tepid and the characters rather simplistic, but the story is an amusing and easy read.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Fantasy
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0765346605
• ISBN 13: 9780765346605
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336