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Summary
Summary
Lanen Kaelar has dreamed of dragons all her life. But not just dreaming, for Lanen believes in dragons.Her family mocks her that dragons are just a silly myth. A legend. But Lanen knows better. And she means to prove it. One day she sets out on a dangerous voyage to the remote West to find the land of the True Dragons.What she discovers is a land of real dragons more beautiful-and surprising-than any dream she could have imagined.
Author Notes
Elizabeth Kerner , as the daughter of a Navy doctor, has always found the simple question 'where are you from?' one of the most difficult. Born in Florida in 1958, she spent much of her early life being moved around the Northeast and the South of the US, including a brief but glorious sojurn in Kodiak, Alaska in 1969. She started writing while in high school in New Orleans and no-one has managed to stop her since. She received her MA in English Language (Philology) from St. Andrews University in Scotland in1981, being one of the first Americans to complete a full degree course at that institution, and promptly joined the unemployment line. She spent a number of years as a non-fiction editor of medical and scientific books and journals, but when she moved to Hawaii in 1988 a whole series of new possibilities arose and she was variously employed as a grunt in the woodworking industry, an office manager for the Big Island AIDS Project, a trainee in furniture restoration and an apprentice goldsmith. By this time, however, her writing was starting to go somewhere, and her first novel, Song in the Silence, was published in 1997 by Tor.She now lives with her best-beloved husband Steven in a small town just outside of Edinburgh Scotland, and from her upstairs window can just see, if she leans out, the looming towers of the nearby power station. If anyone would care to dynamite several inconvenient homes that are in the way, she would have a sea view. Any reasonable offers considered.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Tall and outspoken, much like the mother she never knew, Lanen Hadronsdatter, later to be known as Lanen Kaelar, "the Far Traveller," is far from the meek, dutiful female her stepfather wants her to be. Not until after his death is Lanen able to leave home and set off on the journey she has always dreamed of making: sailing to the remote Dragon Isles, only source of the rare and potent lansip leaves used to defeat old age, in order to search for the mysterious True Dragons. Little does Lanen know that her yearnings were prophesied centuries before her birth. In the Dragon Isles, she will find a kindred spirit and an impossible love that will trap both her and her soul mate between the ages-old enmity of dragons and demons. Kerner's first novel suffers from frequent shifts in point-of-view, slow pacing and some convenient coincidences. Her lively characters and sense of adventure will appeal to fans of romantic fantasy, however. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
In Kolmar, tall young horse-farmer Lanen Kaelar dreams of meeting the True Dragons of the remote West. Soon, a Harvest ship, braving the terrible winter storms, will set off for Dragon Isle to seek valuable lansip leaves and fruit (they heal ills and prolong life). Though the chances of a successful return are small, Lanen will be aboard, along with Marik (he may be Lanen's father; he certainly has sold his firstborn child to demons). On Dragon Isle, Lanen meets Akor, the magnificent silver King of the Dragons, and finds that, somehow, she can speak with him telepathically; they fall utterly in love. But their love is forbidden by the Council of Dragons because of ancient strife between dragon and human. Meanwhile, Marik and his sorcerous sidekick, Caderan, are plotting all manner of wickedness. Eventually, Marik will grab Lanen (she is his daughter) and attempt to feed her to a demon; Akor, grievously wounded in defending her, is magically transformed into a man, and Marik has his brains scrambled by Akor's vengeful subjects. Other than the distracting and vexing multiple first-person narrators, a solidly detailed and impressively developed debut. Expect sequels.
Booklist Review
Every time it looks as if dragons had been done to death, along comes a yarn like this to revive them. Lanen Kaelar has always dreamed of dragons. Now she sets out on a long, perilous, winding road to find them. As she proceeds, magic seems to be pursuing her; perhaps that is because she may be the child of a father who promised his firstborn to demons. The dragons she seeks are ultimately not the ones she has dreamed of, for they are divided among themselves over whether the best way to preserve their ancient culture is to deal with humans or to shun them. With excellent narrative technique, wit, and intelligence, Kerner weaves these strands into a brisk story capped by a plausible happy ending. Her very superior debut deserves its place in most fantasy collections. --Roland Green
Library Journal Review
Abandoned as a baby by her mother, orphaned at 23 by the cold man she thought was her father, Lanen Kaeler leaves home to find Dragon Isle of which she has long dreamt. This adventure fantasy by a gifted storyteller belongs on most fantasy collection shelves. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.