Dragonsbane

When a courtier comes riding into Jenny's path, flourishing his words and falling off his horse gallantly, she can't help but shake her head. Especially when she learns that he's there to convince Lord Aversin to slay a dragon for the kingdom. And as a witch and his lover, Jenny can't help but be dragged into this adventure. Overall, a rather dull book. The characters read very world weary and that translates into the book as well. Most of it is tromping through the wilderness to get to a place with a rather pragmatic and dismal tone. I'm all for practicality, but for some reason this book just reeks of it. Which makes it a little dull. It's satirical in a toss cold water on you sort of way. It's the type of book that literally says hey, your Dragonbane is a hick and adventuring actually is cold and wet and icky. But there's no spark of humor or entertainment in this book at all. Just pragmatic Jenny with her little magic and down to earth John with his good intentions to help out his king and his lands. I did appreciate a lot of aspects of the book. Gareth was both annoying and entertaining. I absolutely loved the ending and the idea that there is a spirit animal in every person. I loved Jenny's interaction with the dragon, and oh my gosh, that description of music and gold that was just beautiful. But... this book was just so practical and almost boring. Two stars for a good concept. But at the same time, two stars for making it rather grey and dull. Recommended only for those who want to read about a down to earth kind of adventure.