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[personal profile] bunnyjadwiga
That you MUST MUST MUST all rush out and read Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley?
I read it. Then I went out and bought a copy, in hardback, because I had to have it. It's delicious. It's tightly written, the loose ends are nicely marked as Deliberate Loose Ends Thank You Very Much.

The main character, Jake, is believeable while still allowing for a certain amount of MarySue on the part of the reader. It's not cute. It's dense. There's lots of suspense and subtle character development. There are dragons and politicians and reserved Native Americans and cranky people and baby animals and it's still not cute.

The blurb from Robin's website:
Jake Mendoza lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining Draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild. Australiensis has always been controversial: its detractors say it is extremely dangerous and unjustifiably expensive to keep and should be pre-emptively destroyed. Its friends say there are no records of it eating humans and it is a unique example of specialist evolution and must be protected. But it is up to eighty feet long and breathes fire.

On his first overnight solo in the park, Jake finds a dying dragon. A dragon dying next to the human she killed. Jake knows this news could destroy Smokehill — that the dead man is a poacher and had killed her first will be lost in the outcry against dragons.

Then he notices that this dragon had just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive.

And it is a federal offence to assist in the preservation of the life of a dragon.

Date: 2008-07-30 09:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] florentinescot.livejournal.com
What else have they written? (I think Robin is a man, but I'm not certain). I know I've read something else that they've written .....

Date: 2008-07-30 11:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h3salthea.livejournal.com
Robin is femme..and has written some really good stuff...

Date: 2008-07-31 12:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] florentinescot.livejournal.com
Wonder which Robin I'm thinking of. I'll go hit Amazon .....

Date: 2008-07-30 11:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] katyaehal.livejournal.com
Oh sure and I couldn't have seen your post before I put books on hold at the library. And I love Robin McKinley. I read a book of her's when I was in middle school and as an adult I couldn't remember the author or the book but I could remember all the details and a wonderful librarian helped me figure out what the book was. It resides in the box of books that I won't get rid of-LOL

Date: 2008-07-30 11:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h3salthea.livejournal.com
Oh, look...something to look for the next time we're at Borders...(other than Calligraphy and illumination books, that is...and manga...)

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