Alta (Dragon Jousters #2) by Mercedes Lackey

Look, complex litfantasy this is not, but as always, what I am appreciating about Mercedes Lackey's writing is that sometimes you just need straight-up, uncomplicated escapism. And her love for animals – and the care of her made-up dragons – shines through in the writing. Yes, there are some absolute coincidences that drive the plot forward, with Vetch/Kiron being in the right place at the right time, but honestly, I'm here for the dragons and the nod at ancient Egyptian themes that run throughout the world building.

Book two sees Kiron establish himself in Alta after fleeing from enslavement in Tia with his dragon Avatre. But all is not well in his homeland, as he discovers, and despite the prestige he has managed to garner, thanks to his relationship with Avatre – a tame dragon as opposed to the ones that artificially subdued so that they can bear riders – he needs to overthrow an insidious horror threatening the very fabric of his home before they can deal with the threat posed by the belligerent Tians.

Yeah, some of the world building is a little on the nose, as if Lackey has only slightly polished off the names and gods of ancient Egypt, and yeah, the characterisation and plotting is somewhat on the surface, but I'm still sufficiently engaged with the story. It's fun. It's light. And it has dragon-flavoured adventure. Bite me.

Joust (Dragon Jousters #1) by Mercedes Lackey

On my continued mission to pick up books by authors whose works helped shaped me as writer, I'm so glad I've made the time to read Joust by Mercedes Lackey. For those of you familiar with Jane Yolen's and Anne McCaffrey's worlds, you'll be on familiar turf with this one, which I feel will appeal directly to people who enjoy the minutiae of caring and training dragons. If you're looking for a high-romping adventure with flashy swords and fire-breathing beasties, this is not your book.  

We start the story with Vetch, an Altan serf tied to the land that has been conquered by the Tian people. A twist of fate sees him serving as a dragon boy for a well-respected Tian dragon rider, or jouster, as they are called, and he quickly immerses himself in this new, fascinating world. Vetch realises that the dragons might be key to his freedom, and when certain events played out (I won't spoil), I could already see where the story was headed. And oh, was it satisfying.

Now apart from the dragons, the other reason why Lackey's world scratched my itch was that she based her Tian culture on the ancient Egyptians, which was a bold choice that I enjoyed very much, even if some of the naming conventions were a little too close to the original. Then again, I am an armchair Egyptologist, so I know perhaps a little bit more about the culture than the average Joe Public. As always, Lackey paints a vivid picture that makes her writing easy to immerse into in Technicolor detail. 

The other thing is that Lackey knows her stuff when it comes to falconry, and she's based her dragons' behaviour and physiology on raptors, which helps to lend a veneer of plausibility to the overall premise. (My introduction to her writing was with her Mage Wars books that featured her gryphons...)

The question I keep asking myself is why have I not made a concerted effort to read more of her books. She's an absolute joy, and her stories have thus far never failed to hit the mark with me. 

Joust is an easy-to-read, comfortable fantasy novel that offers a slow build that's clearly an origin story setting up for the three books that follow. I'm immediately rushing off to get the next one...