A romance with fantasy trappings and a lot of politics. I liked it, though it's something of a guilty pleasure. ( )

Dragon Prince is the literary equivalent of spraying EZ-CHEEZ straight into your mouth. The good guys brandish their cloaks while the bad guys twirl their oily mustaches.

The plot concerns a prince (Rohan) who has to maneuver through silly court politics in order to protect his kingdom from the tyrannical High Prince. And his girlfriend-with-magical-powers (Sioned) has to deal with a conflict of loyalties. And there's battles! And there's dragons! And despite various moments of violence -- rape, murder, incineration -- there's startlingly little dramatic tension.

( )

I really thought this was going somewhere. I was wrong. ( )

These books are a treat- written by not a trained writer but a trained historian, they combine several unique threads.

The basic setting is a early Medieval/Dark Age autocracy, where the central protagonist- Rohan- dreams of transitioning into what we would describe as a constitutional monarchy defined by the rule of law. He is the scion of generations of warlords and kingdom builders, interestingly heir to all of their ruthlessness and ambition, but with it turned toward building a stable tomorrow not dependent on the justice of the strongest ruler around.

Rawn, given her background, has a firm grasp of society and different cultures; the one major gripe I had reading these is her continent, in terms of travel distance, is just too small. The population sizes are correct for 5th-7th century cities, towns, and warfare- but the distances involved are just not there.

Roelstra, the main villain of the piece, is definitely informed by the villains of older literature or perhaps romance, but is a wonderful fit here- he is a sociopath and "native" psychologist; deftly manipulating those around him without their being aware he is doing so.

The magic system is also different. Sunrunners have the ability to instinctively weave light- sunlight, moonlight, and (spoiler) even starlight- and send their consciousness down it, to both observe distant items and communicate with other Sunrunners mind-to-mind. Training in a religious community, they have historically been strictly a-political, bound to silence regarding their communiques- and one is the romantic interest of Prince Rohan.

And in this world, there be dragons.

While the world is believable, this is a character-driven story. If characters with believable depth aren't something you enjoy, preferring riveting action, perhaps not the book for you. For myself, highly enjoyed. ( )

such delicious trashy trope-y fantasy; I love it as much now as I did when I was 20, tho its flaws are much more apparent ( )