The third book in Robert’s Vane series turns into a bit more single-minded focus, and delves deeper into the backstory, while keeping a decent pace and a good level of humor.

As with the previous book it follows back-to-back. The events of the second book have seen the schism between the two dragon leaders – brought to an end, but worse things were unleashed at the same time. As the dragons of Ni-Yota flounder in the need to follow traditions and choose their next leader, Bayloo is drive to act. Along with Harlan, he presents unusual ideas which, despite distrust from some, have some success. Even though it comes at the cost of being seen as insane and a heretic.

With the imminent danger passed, Bayloo decides to search for answers. This passage delves deeper into the larger backstory, even though Bayloo gains less than he hoped for and, in some aspects, more questions than answers. To make it worse, the plague has reached the archive, and Balyoo’s visit was the final blow – so the meager knowledge he gained seems to be all that he can get now.

And his return back to the capital isn’t exactly pleasant – but sets up the next book nicely.

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Read date: 19.-28.4.2023
Published: 14.7.2021
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,58/4,6
My rating: 90% (same as book two)
Length: 278 pages (Kindle Edition)
My highlights

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A significant theme in this book is the difference between Bayloo as a human-raised dragon and the other, free dragons. This leads to both humor (especially inner monologue from Bayloo) and conflict as Bayloo makes choices driven by human understanding of war and ignorance of dragon customs. And, sometimes, quite harsh pragmatism. That said, Bayloo’s story is not just peril, there are nicer parts to it.