Fortress of Dragons

The fourth in the series, The Fortress of Dragons, spends most of its pages in the heads of Tristan and Cefwyn, though it is not without events. The birth of Cefwyn's bastard son, the politics and rallying of the Guelen forces for war, and long marches with unreliable, sometimes downright treasonous companions.

A stunning and spellbinding conclusion to the story begun two books ago. At least as good as the original and probably better.

Matters have come to a head, Tarien with Cefwyn's bastard son and her sister Orien wish for th potential heir to be born, whilst Tristen at Emuin's advising strives to delay the moment so that wizardry and not sourcery may come to the fore. Meanwhile in Guelmarra Cefwyn trys to deal with teh northern barons and prepares to march in war against the upstart rival Tasmorden's claim to his wife's Regency. However without wizarly advice he can only do his best, and as the current of luck in the world sway from one power to another, it is Tristen's wishes that may decide the day.

Tristen is now almost grown up Mauy's show more Summoning having done its work, but the central issue of who exactly is he, is still to be resolved, and he has many choices to make.

As battle finally looms with armies divided, and the enemy soucery still not conquered it is down to the hearts of men to decide the fate of more than a kingdom.

Dramatic, detailed, with awe inspiring magic this is a fitting and worthy finale to one of the best fantasy series around. show less

While there are lots of fireworks at the end of this chapter of the "Fortress" series, I'm finding that it isn't as slam-bang as I had hoped. I enjoy the depth of the characters, some of them are too given to chewing over their relationships with each other. There's also a jarring note caused by having some terms about the medieval combat as portrayed by Cherryh having too much in common with twentieth century missile based combat. Perhaps a chat about the mental states required for re-enactors would help? I'll finish with this group but I'm a bit disenchanted.

Battles lines and plans are drawn between King Cefwyn and the traitorous warlord Tasmorden, but is the self-appointed ruler of Elwynor the only traitor? And is the conflict merely between mortal men, or are The Shadows of magic orchestrating the conflicts? And where in all this mess does Tristan, the Shaping, fit in?

Excellent fourth and final book of the Fortress saga. Bravo, Ms. Cherryh!

After four books, I expected something more spectacular to the ending. But I still really enjoyed it.

Fortress of Dragons ends the story arc that began in Fortress in the Eye of Time. In this book, Tristen makes many discoveries about himself, Cefwyn continues to battle treachery among his nobles and Ninévrisë has to deal with her husband’s wild oats. Mixed into the action and political intrigue is Cherryh’s usual arcs of character growth, interactions, and relationships.

At the end of Fortress of Owls, it is revealed that the convent where Orien and Tarien Aswydd had been held prisoner had been destroyed by men wearing uniforms identifying them as soldiers from Guelessar. Having nowhere else to go, they ran for Amefel, and both women end up in Tristen’s custody. Tristen also makes the discovery that Tarien is pregnant, and the show more father is Cefwyn. This is not a good thing to have come up, and things get worse when it turns out that Hasufin is planning on possessing Tarien’s baby (which temporarily turns Tarien into a temporary ally).

Read the rest of this review at A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances show less

See Fortress in the Eye of Time.