DRAGONS OATH by P.C. and Kristin Cast- a review by Sandy
Dragons Oath is a House of Night YA (Young Adult) novella written by the mother-daughter writing duo of PC and Kristin Cast. Set in the early 19th century, the storyline, featuring vampyres Bryan ‘Dragon’ Lankford and Professor Anastasia, is a prequel to the current day HON series. The novel begins in the present, shortly after the ‘murder’ of Dragon’s beloved mate Anastasia, but quickly flashes back to the early 1800s where the storyline continues.
When I sat down to read this novella, I was pleasantly surprised. Although the YA genre is sometimes filled with teen angst and broken hearts, this storyline did not have any of the usual …’whoa is me’. Perhaps, the characters were a little older or more mature, because I was reading a prequel to the series but I was pleased with the Cast’s departure from the recent HON novels.
Bryan is high spirited, physically gifted with beauty, a talented swordsman and a sexually promiscuous young man, when his father cast him aside and out of England. As the middle and smallest son, of the Earl of Lankford, Bryan had never considered his lifestyle a detriment to his family, but soon realized that no amount of pleading or begging, would invoke sympathy or forgiveness from the one man who despised his existence. Before setting sail, Bryan is ‘marked ‘ as a fledgling vampyre and escorted aboard the ‘dragon’ ship bound for the Americas.
Three years later, Professor Anastasia, a well loved and respected professor of magic and spells, at the House of Night campus, summons the High Priestess and her mate, to discuss the rumors regarding one-Dragon Lankford and his rambunctious and dynamic entreaties with both the male and female students at the HON. With the blessing of the High Priestess, Anastasia casts a ‘drawing’ spell to reveal the ‘dragon’s ‘ true nature to all those who feel the need to express their love and admiration to the gifted swordsman. But the reveal shows more to Anastasia than she is willing to admit. The ‘older’ Bryan comes forth, a shadow from the future, to reveal his true nature-one heart/one soul with Anastasia for all eternity.
Dragon’s Oath is a quick and easy read. Background information is always a welcome bonus for a reader such as myself, and allows those who follow a particular series, insight about the characters we know and love. Although, this particular storyline is not necessary or required to understand the series thus far, it is a short story that added a little something extra about two characters, who will no longer grace the pages of the House of Night series.
Released July 2011
LENOBIA’S VOW to be released January 31
Sandy
