Monster's Legacy, The (Dragon Flight) - Hardcover

Grade 7 Up?A fierce and mysterious attack on an absent Earl's holdings leaves only three survivors: Sarita, a talented embroideress; Rhys, a skilled woodsman who befriends her; and Valoris, the Earl's two-year-old son. The two young adults soon discover they share a common talent: both can sense the future, but in different ways. Together they hide from pursuers and protect the young heir until they can warn the returning Earl. Their flight leads them to the lair of the Loden, a legendary monster. The creature has long ago departed, but they use what it has left behind (its skin and an egg) to help them in their quest. After the violent attack described in the first two chapters, most of the action focuses on the ways in which Sarita and Rhys explore their emerging mental powers. The mystery and importance of the Loden gradually unfold through Norton's smooth, well-paced narrative. The characters are generally appealing, but largely because of their shared predicament and the ways in which they respond to it. Their individual personalities and the interactions between them are not particularly memorable. Many fantasy readers will enjoy Norton's latest, but it is not as engaging as Tanith Lee's The Black Unicorn (1991) or Susan Fletcher's Flight of the Dragon Kyn (1993, both Atheneum).?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7^-10. The intent of Dragonflight, a generally fine fantasy series that began with Robert Silverberg's Letters from Atlantis (1990) and includes Tanith Lee's Black Unicorn (1991) and Gold Unicorn (1994), Brad Strickland's Dragon's Plunder (1993), and Esther M. Friesner's Wishing Season (1993), is to provide YAs with novels by leading genre authors, with illustrations by noted sf/fantasy artists. The latest in the series, by one of the masters in the field, will not disappoint fans. Gentle Sarita, apprentice embroiderer, flees into the wilds with Earl Florian's very young son when the earl's holding is invaded and all within are murdered. Luckily, she encounters Rhys, one of the earl's huntsmen, who had been wounded but escaped by playing dead. The three manage to evade pursuers and make their way to the mountains said to be inhabited by the dreaded Loden, a monster who preys on humans. The quest here is for safety, both for the three who flee and for the kingdom; the talisman is a silver awl that had belonged to Sarita's mother; and the talents involve the ability to foresee. Mix in fast-paced adventure, a sense of constant danger, and a mystery about long-gone dragons and their legacy--and you have a very satisfying tale. Sally Estes