Previous SFF Author: Simon Raven
(1954- )
Melanie Rawn is the three-time Locus Award–nominated author of the bestselling Dragon Prince trilogy and of the Dragon Star trilogy. She graduated from Scripps College with a BA in history and has worked as a teacher and editor. Rawn lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and also writes historical fiction. Here’s the official Melanie Rawn website.
Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE trilogy is finally being produced in audio format by Tantor Audio. The series begins with Dragon Prince (1985) and follows the inhabitants of a continent divided into several princedoms and ruled by a nasty and ruthless High Prince who has 17 bratty daughters but no male heir.
At the beginning of Dragon Prince, the prince of the desert region of the continent is killed while dragon-hunting and is succeeded by his son Rohan.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Star Scroll by Melanie Rawn
The Star Scroll (1989), the second novel in Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE trilogy, picks up fourteen years after the end of the first novel, Dragon Prince. You’ll want to read Dragon Prince before starting The Star Scroll. This review will contain spoilers for Dragon Prince.
Life has been pretty easy for Prince Rohan,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sunrunner’s Fire by Melanie Rawn
Sunrunner’s Fire (1990) is the third and final book in Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE trilogy, but it is not the end of the story. The story continues in a second trilogy called DRAGON STAR. While the immediate tension of Sunrunner’s Fire is resolved by the end, there are looming issues that remain, making Sunrunner’s Fire feel like another middle book.
The story begins just after the end of the previous book,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I’ve been reading Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE and DRAGON STAR trilogies because the audio versions of this late 1980s / early 1990s fantasy epic are just now being released in audio format and Tantor Audio has sent me review copies. Stronghold (1990) is the first book in the DRAGON STAR trilogy but it’s really just book four of the DRAGON PRINCE trilogy. I have no idea why the epic was divided into two trilogies since you must read DRAGON PRINCE if you hope to have any clue about what’s going on in DRAGON STAR.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Dragon Token by Melanie Rawn
I tried and failed to finish The Dragon Token, the second book in Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE trilogy (really the fifth book in her DRAGON STAR trilogy). These novels are currently being released in very nice audio formats by Tantor Audio who has generously sent them to me for reviews. I feel bad for quitting, because these are such excellent audio productions narrated by Christa Lewis, but I am just so bored with them and each book is quite long.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 1 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Golden Key by Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott
Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott collaborate here to create a novel that is very hard to put down — despite its formidable length and flattish characters. What drew me in was the carefully designed world, the totally believable magic, the overall mood, and the centuries-spanning plot. This novel is set in Tirra Virte, an Italy-ish province where all official ceremonies and transactions are recorded not with words but with paintings. I thought for a moment — “Hey!
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott, Melanie Rawn | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Melanie Rawn’s Touchstone is the first book in her planned GLASS THORNS trilogy. Unfortunately, it was a struggle to get through and I finished it with little interest in continuing the story, though it did pick up a bit toward the end.
Touchstone is sort of The Commitments meets Dragon Realm. In Rawn’s world, the major form of entertainment is a sort of theatrical performance which makes use of magic to convey a more full sensory and emotional experience.
Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Melanie Rawn | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Epic: Legends of Fantasy by John Joseph Adams (editor)
Epic: Legends of Fantasy, edited by John Joseph Adams, is an anthology of stories written by some of the biggest names in epic fantasy. The book clocks in at over 600 pages not just because it’s very difficult to tell short epic stories (though some of these authors do manage to pull it off) but because here the authors are not just telling epic legends, they are legends in and of themselves. George R.R.
Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Aliette De_Bodard, Brandon Sanderson, Carrie Vaughn, George R.R. Martin, Juliet Marillier, Kate Elliott, Mary Robinette Kowal, Melanie Rawn, Michael Moorcock, N.K. Jemisin, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Patrick Rothfuss, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Trudi Canavan, Ursula K. Le-Guin | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Simon Raven
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…