Synopsis (from Goodreads): On steamy Pryan, never-ending sunlight and plentiful rain have created a jungle so vast that humans and elves dwell high in the trees and only dwarves live anywhere near the ground. From the treetops the aristocratic elves sell weapons to the other races, whose incessant warfare sends a steady steam of profits and essential resources skyward. Now, generations of dissent and race hatred will not heal — not even under the threat of annihilation at the hands of legendary Titans. Armed with little more than their wits and prophecy, an elf, a human, and a dwarf must unite to try to save the world from destruction.
At first this book doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with the previous book, Dragon Wing. The setting is on a completely different world and we’re introduced to a whole new set of characters. Then, we meet up with Haplo and his dog again as he continues his mission for his lord.
This book is rife with racial hatred. The three races – humans, elves and dwarves – all hate each other. The elves believe themselves to be superior to all the races, humans hate that the elves see themselves as above them and enslave their people. The dwarves just seem to want to be left alone in their underground homes and distrust both humans and elves.
There was a part that stuck out to me when Paithan, the main elf character, is looking down on his human slaves, thinking about how beneath him they are and comparing how they have dark brown or black skin to his pure white skin. Now, this book was published in 1990, I was around 6 at the time so I don’t remember what was going on in the world at the time, but this scene really kind of hit me with a lot that is happening in the world now. As this book continues, the racial fighting and mistrust continues and it really seemed like a slap in the face. The more it came up, the more cringey it was.
Weird as it is going to sound, Haplo’s dog is my favorite character so far in this series. Haplo isn’t bad, he has depth, which a lot of the other characters seem to lack, but there’s something about the dog. He’s definitely more than he seems.
The other characters aren’t that memorable in my opinion. They each play their part in the story. I really felt like most of the relationship development just wasn’t there. When two of the characters are supposed to be falling in love, I just didn’t find it believable. It was too generic and predictable.
Then there’s the strange human wizard who calls himself Zifnab. He babbles on like a senile old man, argues with his dragon, who goes back and forth between wanting to eat the wizard and acting like an English butler. This wizard also babbles things that reference our world. Things like Gandalf, modern technology and even alludes to a conversation he may have had with George Lucas. This is never truly explained. Who is this man and where did he come from? Is it meant to imply that he’s actually from the real world? Honestly, I hate when stuff like that happens in fantasy novels. This is a completely different world from our own, I don’t want or need any kind of references to our world thrown in. I find it ruins the fantasy and just annoys me.
The plot, at least, was somewhat thrilling. Giant creatures known as tytans are destroying everything in their path. Weapons do nothing to stop them. There is a very real sense of dread and danger as the main cast of characters are fleeing for their lives, trying to get to their own people to warn them of the impending danger.
Judging from things Haplo says near the end of the book and the way the first two book have gone, I’m going to guess that the next book is going to take place on another of the four world, with only Haplo and his dog carrying over into the next book.
My rating for this novel is 3 out of 5 stars.
Have you read this series. Let me know what you think of it in the comments. Do you agree with my review?
Thanks for reading!