The Dragon Knight

The Dragon Knight Series, Book 2

By: Gordon R. Dickson

Narrated by: Eric Burgher

The Dragon Knight is the second book of Gordon R. Dickson's Dragon Knight series. The novel begins five months after the battle at Loathly Tower which took place in The Dragon and the George.

©1990 Gordon R. Dickson (P)1990 Tantor Media

Entertaining and Different

Some of the whimsy of the first book in this series is no longer present in this volume. While this is still more of a fairy-tale or Mort de Arthur-style story (rather than the typical epic fantasy style), it takes itself significantly more seriously.

Jim and his friends are tasked with rescuing the English Crown Prince from the clutches of a powerful French wizard (or perhaps sorcerer) to prevent the French from defeating an English army. There's a water elemental/sylph, French dragons, and a wizard's tower hidden behind a thorn maze.

The action is done well, not least because Dickson was a long-time member of the Society for Creative Anachronism and had experience with medieval combat styles. The characters are rather flat, with the story driven more by plot than personality. The magic is largely unexplained, which is a bit of a problem, since the details of how the magic works are a core element of the story.

Overall, this is not much like anything other than de Camp and Pratt's "Incompleat Enchanter" stories. If you're looking for a typical epic fantasy, you're likely to be disappointed. But taken on its own terms, this book is quite entertaining.