Joanne Bertin - Bard's Oath

In The Last Dragonlord and Dragon and Phoenix Joanne Bertin created a world unlike our own, where Dragonlords soar in the skies above the many realms of the land. The Dragonlords’ magic is unique, giving them the ability to change from dragon to human form; to communicate silently among themselves; and other abilities not known to mortals. For many millennia, the Dragonlords have been a blessing to the world, with their great magic and awesome power. And though they live far longer than the humans who they resemble when not in their draconic state, these fabled changelings are still loyal to their human friends. Now in Bard's Oath, their magic is not the only power abroad in the world. And not all the magic is as benign as theirs. Leet, a master bard of great ability and vaulting ambition, has his own magic, but of a much darker nature. Years ago, death claimed the woman he loved, setting him on a course to avenge her death, no matter the consequences. Now, mad with hatred and consumed by his thirst for revenge, Leet has set in motion a nefarious plot that ensnares the friend of a Dragonlord, using his bardic skills . . . and dark powers only he can summon, to accomplish his bitter task. Raven, a young horse-breeder friend of the Dragonloard Linden Rathan, is ensnared by Leet and under the bard’s spell, is one of the bard’s unwitting catspaws. When accused of a heinous crime, Raven turns to Linden, and while Dragonlords normally do not meddle in human affairs, Linden comes to Raven’s aid, loath to abandon him in his time of desperate need. But Raven, and others victimized by Leet, are at the mercy of human justice. Can even a Dragonlord save them from a dire fate before it is too late?

Comment: This is the third installment in the Dragonlord series by Joanne Bertin. I have read the first two books years ago and now I've finally got tho this third one, which I was lucky to have gotten in paperback format since nowadays the prices are prohibitive.

This third story takes the main characters, Linden and Maurynna, along with their friend Shima, to a fair where they will see about horses but mainly about other friends, especially after the adventures they went through in the second book. However, something is not going very well for some of the elements of the group they meet and become friendly with, and when one of their close friends is even accused of a murder he didn't remember committing, they feel they have to help. This leads them into investigating an old tale which might not be as forgotten as many would think...

After finishing this book, as I often do, I checked out some reviews by other readers and that also helped to remember some things from the past books. One thing I had completely forgotten was that there had been years since the release of the first two books and the release of the third. For me this wasn't as hard to deal with because I wasn't aware of it when I finally got the third book - probably soon after it became available in paperback format - and because it took me years between the second and this one to start it anyway.

This said, I can understand why the distance in time for many readers was a challenge, it's not easy to wait between installments, and even more so when it became obvious that this third installment was not going to be about the aftermath of what happened in book #2. The plot of this third book is centered about a slice of life situation, let's say, in which the main characters attend a fair and need to interact with many other characters and help with what is going on. I can imagine how this disappointed some readers but, for me, it wasn't a big deal.

The plot takes quite a while to develop because the author does include a lot of setting up and many, many things happen at the same time, obviously to lead somewhere at the end. I didn't mind this as a whole since most of the characters are likable and the situations presented in a way that made me curious. However, it's true that there are a few passages from one or two characters 'POV which felt boring and took too long, required too much attention and I wasn't a fan of it.

It can also be said that the boring aspects of so much detail regarding situations which feel too far out, along with the lack of follow up explanations for events and information given in the first books made for a very disconnected plot. Like I said this didn't bother me, but something did. Due to how this is played out, the actual plot of this book, the one we infer from the synopsis, only starts happening a little after half way. Again, I liked the main characters so it wasn't that bad, for the most part, to read about secondary issues, but it does seem too much time was spent on those.

Apart from these things, I did have a good time and, in general, consider this to have been a worthy story because it was entertaining and once the main pieces were put together, this was one of those stories of good vs evil and a good person being helped and the bad guy denounced. I knew where the story was going and how it would end but it was still captivating to read and to see what would happen next for the characters involved.

It's true there isn't a lot about the dragons beyond the basics and the information we get and/or learn ins't truly necessary for the resolution of this plot. As some readers say, with so much yet to be developed about the dragons and everything related to them, was this truly the best way to keep the series going? Perhaps not, but for me it was still engaging, for the most part. It doesn't seem more books are coming in this series, but who knows. If a new one is released, I'd read it.

Grade: 7/10