Arlian had never left his home village in the Obsidian Mountains. The green hills, white peaks, and black glass were all he had ever known of life, and though he dreamed of travel and adventure, he knew deep in his heart that he would probably never leave.Until the dragon weather came. Incredible heat, oppressive humidity, dark and angry clouds . . . and dragons. Dragons with no feelings, no empathy, no use for humans; dragons who destroyed his entire village and everyone in it. Everyone, that is, except Arlian.Orphaned and alone, Arlian the child is captured by looters and sold as a mining slave. Seven years later Arlian the man escapes, fueled by years of hatred for the dragons, bandits, and slavers that took his youth away--and a personal vow to exact retribution from those who have wronged him.As Arlian makes his way through life, he is obsessed with the concept of justice, and that obsession informs every task, every decision. Even Black, the man he befriends and grows to love as a brother, has little influence against Arlian's obsession. His entire life has one purpose, and one purpose only: to mete out justice.But can one righteous man change the entire world for the better Or is he doomed by his own actions to become as unjust as those he seeks to destroySummary:Dragon Weather - Monte Cristo goes fantasyRating:3In Dragon Weather, young Arlian's village is destroyed by dragons, and he vows to one day escape from slavery and get even with those who wronged him. It's not exactly a novel concept: the `orphaned boy' and the `quest' are common fantasy elements. But once you get past the clichC3A9s inherent in such a beginning, you'll start to see why this Count-of-Monte-Cristo-esque tale of injustice and revenge is an award-winner. As Arlian pursues his destiny, he learns that dedicating his life to vengeance is no easy task; that there might be more injustice in the world than he can atone for; that not everyone who has committed a sin is necessarily evil; and that he himself may have more in common with his enemies than he could possibly imagine.Summary:Compent fantasyRating:3I read this novel sitting in a bookstore for a couple of hours waiting for my wife to get off work. As a book to read lightly for a few hours it works quite well. A great or notable contribution to fatasy it is not. The story is plot heavy, and while nothing in it is new or groundbreaking, it is engaging enough to keep your intrest. The main character is a man who sees all aspects of the world through his view of justice, and most of the novel is based on hime tring to extract revenge for crimes done to him and the moral dilemias he faces in tring to do this.The novel is very plot driven, this is not really a character study, and there is a certian sense of detactment between the reader and the protagonist. Some people seem to love this giving this book great praise, so if you are a fan of plot driven novels this would be a good canidate for you. If not, it can take up a boring afternoon.Summary: Decent ReadRating:4This is one of Lawrence Watt-Evans better efforts in recent years. I really loved his early work. The Lord of Dus series and The Misenchanted Sword. Somewhere in the middle, he lost me. Nothing in his books was really grabbing me. An interesting back cover blurb and a nice cover made me pick this one up. While it is a good read, it certainly has some faults in storytelling. I think that the good outweighs the bad however, and the story contains a few unique ideas. So if you are a dragon fan, this will probably be a good read for you.Summary: Read The Count of Monte CristoRating:1For the first half of _Dragon Weather_, Watt-Evans basically rehashes one of my favorite books, _Count of Monte Cristo_. However, he doesn't do it quite so well as Dumas did. Of course, that's a high standard, and any book, in my mind, would suffer from a comparasion with Dumas.There were several problems with this book. First of all, there was the writing. It was not very well paced. Several important plot points were virtually glossed over in sentances, where as a few were mentioned ad nauseum.Secondly, Arlian has very, very hypocritical ethical standards. He bases his wealth on a series of burglaries, but he justifies it because the nobleman he robs holds slaves and hurt some of Arlian's friends. While slavery is wrong, it is not right to steal from someone. He is shown as being persistant in taking his revenge, but he takes it to such extremes. He does feel some remorse for some of the actions, but it's almost an afterthought. Compared to Edmond Dantes, Arlian leaves a sour taste in the mouth.Thirdly, I did not feel that the world of Dragon Weather was very well developed. It didn't really seem to have very good underpinnings. All of the characters use nicknames, sometimes several. The reason is mentioned offhandedly, but is not really delved into. Aside from the nicknames, not much information is given about the culture.Finally, an inordinate amount of the story relies on heavy, heavy coincidence. For example, several of the looters who find Arlian and sell him into slavery can recognize him. Arlien also convinces one man to leave his job to teach him to swordfight, in just a matter of minutes of meeting the man. Arlien and the leader of the looters belong to the same secret society. This type of thing goes on throughout the book, and it's really hard to ignore.I would only recomend Dragon Weather if you are interested in some light bedtime reading. It is ultimately a forgettable novel. Science Fiction Chronicle decribed it as the best fantasy novel of the year. If that's the case, 1999 was a "ho hum" year for fantasy all around.Summary: Revenge!Rating:5I really enjoyed reading DRAGON WEATHER. The author uses great descriptive words to make you feel as if you're right there in the story. It all starts with a young boy named Arlain. One hot summer day, dragons come and kill his family and destroy his village. After the attack, a group of men come and pillage the remains of the village of Obsidian. They find Arlain and decide to sell him into slavery. From these humble beginnings he rises in his campaign to kill the dragons and get revenge on those who wronged him. I personally like fantasy books and as a lover of this particular genre, I tip my hat to DRAGON WEATHER. It host an excellent cast of mythical creatures and gives a new spin on old ones, such as the dragons not actually breathing fire, but spitting a highly combustible venom. The environments are vast and well described. The characters develop their own personalities and make you hate or love them. All in all, it was a great read and I suggest it to any one who is a fan of fantasy and adventure.
