Dragons…the creature that most exemplifies the fantasy genre. There are many takes on dragons in the fantasy genre, in Dragonslayer, the first installment in Duncan Hamilton’s saga aptly titled The Dragonslayer, the writer follows very closely with perceived tradition of the genre as a whole and the iconic mascot of the genre. There are knights, a young ruler trying to step out of his late father’s shadow, dragons, an advisor that isn’t completely trustworthy, and magic. Many things to expect from what many deem “traditional” fantasy, but Hamilton spins some of his own ingredients into the stew.
Once a member of the King’s personal guard, Guillot dal Villevauvais spends most days drinking and mourning his wife and child. He’s astonished—and wary—when the Prince Bishop orders him to find and destroy a dragon. He and the Prince Bishop have never exactly been friends and Gill left the capital in disgrace five years ago. So why him? And, more importantly, how is there a dragon to fight when the beasts were hunted to extinction centuries ago by the ancient Chevaliers of the Silver Circle?
On the way to the capitol city, Gill rescues Solène, a young barmaid, who is about to be burned as a mage. He believes her innocent…but she soon proves that she has plenty of raw, untrained power, a problem in this land, where magic is forbidden. Yet the Prince Bishop believes magic will be the key to both destroying the dragon and replacing the young, untried King he pretends to serve with a more pliable figurehead.
Between Gill’s rusty swordsmanship and Solène’s unstable magic, what could go wrong?
The dragons have been gone for hundreds of years…to the point few believe they ever existed. That is until what amounts to a royal archaeological dig accidentally wakens the dragon Alpheratz. Our primary focal point for the story; however, is a disgraced knight. A man you may say is brought back for that tried and true final fight – Guillot. Exiled from the main kingdom of Mirabaya to his familial lands of Villerauvais, Gill’s days are occupied with minor squabbles of his demesne, but mostly drinking wine. He is woken from self-pity when an agent of the Prince tells him of a disturbance in the kingdom, small villages are reporting very unsettling things. Gill has been told similar things from his own people, with their livestock killed or missing.
Much like dragons being forgotten, magic has similarly disappeared. To a larger degree, magic is even scorned and forbidden, for those suspected of practicing magic are eliminated. A young woman in Gill’s village – Solene – is suspected of being a witch and is summarily set for execution. That is, until Gill steps in and saves her life. Those two characters provide much of the point of view for the story, but the other primary POV would be that of the woken dragon, Alpharatz. We get a few views into Alpharatz’s head which provides a more “truthful” context of dragons once high place in this world. The dragon makes for a very interesting character, not evil, but very much an antagonist for this story and to humanity as a whole. I’m not spoiling anything at all when it turns out that Alpharatz is responsible for the disturbance in the kingdom as well as Gill’s lands. As such, Gill is asked to come out of exile to kill the dragon.
In Gill, Hamilton plays with the trope of the grizzled veteran reluctant to return to the fray. Gill’s fears, anger, and self-pity help to give him such a realistic bent and his character arc from when he is introduced as a drunk to his waking from that haze is a strength of the novel. Solene follows an equally rewarding character arc, as she comes to realize what her burgeoning powers of magic can mean. Her full background is somewhat of a mystery, but we’re introduced to her as a village loner, but she is far from a country bumpkin. Her smarts show through in how she navigates the treacherous pathways of court and how the world at large views those who wield magic. I also thought the way they played against each other and complemented each other to be quite captivating…I want to see them together more. But I suppose that’s the point here in the first volume of the series – make it so that the readers want more.
Hamilton has spun a great series starter with Dragonslayer. In the novel, he’s laid the foundation for a fairly familiar fantasy world with echoes of our own world, introduced characters who evoke empathy and whose plight this reader wanted to follow, and played with the most iconic of fantasy creatures in a fun, familiar, and refreshing fashion. As stated in the previous paragraph, Hamilton has very successfully made me want to read more.
Recommended.
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
Trade Paperback | 300 Pages
Tor Books | July 2019
https://duncanmhamilton.com/
Excerpt: https://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=9781250306739
Review Copy courtesy of the Publisher
