Dragon Rule
E. E. Knight
Roc, Dec 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451462954

They may be siblings, but the dragons are as different from one another as night is from day. AuRon the scale-less grey wants nothing to do with humans as he prefers isolation with his mate. Wistala the female believes dragons and humans cal live in harmony together. Copper lives in the Lavadome at the bottom of a dormant volcano; as the Tyr emperor of the Upper World and Protector of the Grand Alliance. He believes dragons are superior to humans.

He forms an alliance with the crumbling Hypatian Empire, providing a dragon protector to each province. The Hypatian increasingly become dependent on the dragons to maintain and even expand their power. AuRon and his mate Natasatch are appointed Protectors of Darius, the only dragons King Nef will accept. Darius was part of the old Ghioz Empire and the Hypatians fear he will withdraw from the Grand Alliance; an act they oppose. AuRon's mate convinces him to take the position while the Tyr's crippled qeen asks Wistala to be the Queen-Consort as she fears there is a plot a foot to dispose Copper. After being on the job awhile Wistala agrees with the assessment of her brother's mate, but no one has made a hint of a move so far.

The fifth and final Age of Fire fantasy has the three dragon siblings going their separate ways but the threat to one is perceived as a menace to all so they reunite as part of the Grand Alliance. AuRon has still not forgiven his brother for what he did when they were hatchlings, but finds to his surprise that blood is thicker than resentment most of the time. This is an exciting finish filled with many escapades, but it will be much more fulfilling by reading the previous entries to better understand how the dragon threesome got to this point where they must rely on one another or their species becomes extinct.

Harriet Klausner