Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott

If you like stereotyped, cliché-ridden, sword and sorcery fantasy, avoid this book. If you like straightforward simple plots that tick carefully through events in chronological order, avoid this book. If you like to see everything tidily sewn up at the end of a novel, with all loose ends tucked carefully into the warp and woof of the story, avoid this book.

If you like complex, evocative and haunting stories, read it. If you like innovative artistry, read it. If you like to have plenty of things left to wonder about at the end of the book, read it. In my opinion, there are still a few rough edges here - most notably Korinyes's secret - but Last Dragon is still very much worth reading.

What impressed me about this book is that it pulled me in, despite a format that normally does not appeal to me: the puzzle-piece approach. Bits and pieces of the dying Empress's memories are fed to us without context and it is up to us to fit them together, although it becomes apparent after a little while that we are mostly following two fairly chronological timelines, starting at two different points in the past. I don't normally have a lot of patience for this kind of thing, but McDermott made it work.

You don't have to be a lover of fantasy to appreciate Last Dragon. You do have to like your reading intelligent, complex and gritty. As of yesterday, it is available in bookstores and can be easily ordered online.

P.S. - I'm scrapping the whole star system. I really prefer discussing books to rating them.

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