The Dragon Charmerby Jan Siegel
Why I picked it up: It was the sequel to Prospero's Children
My rating: 6/10
This book takes place twelve years after the events of Prospero's Children and Fern is preparing to marry a man a lot older than her and everyone knows she doesn't love her, even Fern. Fern has refused to use her magic for the last twelve years, causing her powers to build up. She is noticed by ancient and sinister forces who want to use her for their own gain and she has to use all her charm to out manipulate them and return to her own world before it's too late. Oh, and there's this dragon who needs to be charmed.
I was tempted to give this book a higher rating. Mainly I'd say the first half of the book was a 5 and the second half was a 7 at least. In this book, Siegel decided to introduce the character of Fern's best friend (from university, I believe) named Gaynor. For the first half of the book, Gaynor was the main character before it switched back to Fern. Unfortunetly, I didn't like Gaynor from the start probably because I felt she was stealing Fern's fire. I found her boring and unnecessary and thought she would have been fine as a character with the same level of focus as Caracandal or her brother.
The title The Dragon Charmer refers to a man who can do just that and is a very minor character in the book. I really liked him and wished he was in it more. And seriously, Fern only falls in love with characters who are doomed to die! It's really annoying! I just want her to be happy. Maybe with the next book...
ps - Azmordis is getting old. I can only take it for so long having an ancient god saying how much he wants Fern's powers and never succeeding but never being destroyed. The Witch Queen is the final book in the sequel and I'm not entirely sure if I would have picked it up if I hadn't already bought it but I'm going to read it. Maybe some redemption? I've read the first chapter (I finished The Dragon Charmer about a month ago but took a reading break for essay focus) and Gaynor is still there. Looks like there's no getting rid of her!
Next book - The Witch Queen (sequel to The Dragon Charmer)
