"Fantastic finale to an excellent fantasy trilogy"

For years the magi, a magical evil organization, has worked in the shadows to gain power; now they have come out in the open with the Eye of Light, a weapon of mass destruction. The war between Alta and Tia goes on because the magi feed off the essence of the dying and become even more powerful. Those with psionic powers, the god touched are being drained of their power to feed the insatiable hunger of the magi.

The magi believe that the fighting force of the Jousters and there dragons are dead but in the desert city of Sanctuary, far from the magic of the magi, a dragon wing survives led by Kiron who once was a serf and a dragon boy in Tia. Sanctuary welcomes all the refugees who are fleeing the magi. The magi plan to use the Eye against the Tia army that is invading Alta; Kiron must rescue the woman he loves and rally the people so that when the earthquake hits as a byproduct of using the Eye, they will be able to evacuate in an orderly manner so that some of Alta will survive.

Book three of The Dragon Jousters" is a fantastic finale to an excellent fantasy trilogy. Kiron has grown from a subservient serf (lower than a slave) to a man who leads a mighty force that can take on the magi and save thousands of people. Much of the novel takes place in SANCTUARY as the people make a dead city come alive. The dragons have a special bond based on love and trust with their humans and fans of Anne MacCaffrey's Pern series will want to read this very special series.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 31, 2005

Summary

The Magi continue their evil machinations in the sequel to Alta (2004) by draining the powers from other magic workers to enhance their own and to keep themselves young. They also have developed the Eye of Light, a terrible weapon that can kill anything in its path. Kiron and his fellow jousters and dragons, together with some members of the royal family and friends, are forced to flee into the desert to a lost city now known as Sanctuary. They know they need to hide from the Magi and increase the number of jousters and dragons to wage a war. Refugees from both Alta and Tia begin to straggle into Sanctuary, seeking asylum. The jousters make desperate forays to rescue those being drained of their powers and get set for the forthcoming battle with the Magi. The tension is palpable throughout as Lackey wraps up the trilogy begun by Joust^B (2003) in fine style, remaining true to the characters and their world.