City of the Lost Review -- December 12, 2003

By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer

Available at Amazon.com.

Initiative Round
City of the Lost is a Dragonlance novel by Mary H. Herbert that weighs in at 320-pages. The cover depicts LInsha Majere standing proudly before a great bronze dragon's eye. The Lost City retails for $6.99.

"At a lonely outpost on the edge of the world, two dragon overlords threaten to upsetthe region's fragile peace. One has entrusted Rose Knight Linsha Majere with a terrible secret. When a magical storm hammers all of Ansalon, the precarious order is shattered, and Linsha must embark on a desperate quest to save the city from the onslaught of an unstoppable enemy."

City of the Lost , Book 1 of the Linsha Trilogy, centers around Linsha Majere, daughter of Palin and Usha Majere and granddaughter of Caramon and Tika Majere. Linsha is a Rose Knight in the Solamnic Order assigned to the Missing City, an outpost in the middle of nowhere, in the Plains of Dust. It is here that the brass dragon overlord Iyesta entrusts Linsha with the knowledge of a secret clutch of dragon eggs. When war comes to the Missing City in the form of an army brought together by a rival dragonlord, Thunder, it falls to Linsha to defend both the city and the secret.

I used to love Dragonlance. I first read the Chronicles when I was in my junior year of high school. I read the Twins trilogy during my college days. I even read a few of the Tales series. The problem was that TSR took a good thing and ruined it by pimping it out to anyone with a typewriter! I'm not saying that some of the subsequent novels weren't well done, but it seemed that there was a book written for any character that had ever been mentioned, even in passing, in the original two trilogies. I gave up trying to follow them after Tales, and it wasn't until Dragons of Summer Flame that I returned. Since then, I hadn't even looked at a Dragonlance novel until this one.

I'd never read any of Mary Herbert's work before now. She's a strong writer, bringing the reader directly into the story and immersing them in the background. Her familiarity with the setting is obvious and her descriptions of the Missing City are both rich and compelling. She's made it interesting, though I do have a little trouble envisioning the surroundings (the Plains of Dust). I think that a map might help in this respect.

Linsha Maejre is newly assigned to the Missing City, a ruined city in the Plains of Dust ruled over by a brass dragonlord named Iyesta (Splendor). From the beginning, it is apparent that Iyesta and Linsha are close friends, and when a trio of dragons in Iyesta's care disappear, she suspects foul play. She and Linsha travel to the lair of Thunder, a neighboring blue dragonlord who denies having anything to do with the triplets' disappearance. Without proof of his involvement, Iyesta and Linsha return to the Missing City where Iyesta, still concerned over Thunder's plans for expanding his territory and the presence of several armies they spotted while visiting, reveals to Linsha a clutch of metallic dragon eggs. The dragonlord swears the human to secrecy and extracts an oath that Linsha will guard the eggs should anything happen to Iyesta.

Later that evening, the Missing City is rocked by a storm of staggering proportions. During the storm, a company of Solamnic Knights, including the recently-returned commander of the local garrison and Linsha, are ambushed and slaughtered. Linsha is the only knight found alive, and her dagger has been buried in the commander's back! Her pleas of innocence fall of deaf ears and she is imprisoned in the Solamnic stronghold and sentenced to death.

Will Linsha live long enough to keep her promise to Iyesta? Is Thunder's intent to take over the Missing City? What happened to the Triplets? Read it and find out.

Critical Hit
The characters are well-developed, particularly Linsha and Crucible. Linsha comes across as a woman of strong morals who strives to change the Knighthood to fit her own conception, rather than being changed by the Knighthood to meet their standards. Crucible, on the other hand, is the kind of person... er... dragon, that I'd like to have for a companion. He's crotchety at times, but he's got a soft spot for his friends.

Critical Fumble
In order to really get a feel for Linsha's character, you really need to have read the novels in which she previously appeared; Odyssey of Gilthanas and The Clandestine Circle. The character is well-developed enough to stand on her own, but so much of City of the Lost hinges on Linsha and her background and while it is covered here in enough detail that you can keep up with the story, you get the feeling that you don't really know the character. A similar problem arises with the setting. You really needs a strong working knowledge of at least the major events of the past few years in the campaign setting, which I came in lacking. As someone who hasn't picked up a Dragonlance novel since Dragons of Summer Flame, I was at a loss and found the story difficult to follow at times.

Coup de Grace
Despite the dependence on background, the story flows smoothly and is an enjoyable read. It was engaging enough that, while I won't say that I couldn't put it down, I did find myself looking forward to the conclusion (though it segues into the next novel in the trilogy). My interest has been piqued enough to pick up the next book, just to see where the story goes.

Final Grade: B