Elven Star, Margaret Weis

I’ll start by saying that Pryan is another fascinating, otherworldly planet, unique in scope like Arianus in Dragon Wing and Aberrach in Fire Sea. The planet is turned inside out, meaning its surface is on the inside, subjected to constant daylight by four “stars” centered at the core. Naturally, this creates a planetary greenhouse effect, which causes the jungle-laden surface to sprout mega trees the size of continents.

Elven Star is also interesting for its diverse cast of species and characters. Elves, dwarves, humans, giants, dragons, and one kooky wizard bring balance to a story loaded with contrasting personalities. The thing that really enhances this book, at least for me, is the coupling of forbidden romance with raw, apocalyptic adventure. Not to mention the well-placed comic relief; there’s no shortage of wisecrack humor and dramatic hysterics. The unstable relationships between Alethea & Roland; the dragon and Zinfab; Roland and Rega; the dwarf and pretty much everyone; Zinfab and pretty much everyone; Haplo and pretty much everyone; is the chaos one might expect after centuries of racial instability yields to the sudden unification of a global alliance, much like in Lord of the Rings.

It has its moral perks and immoral downfalls as well, from the breaking of race barriers to betrayal and abandonment (Haplo, you dick!). Don’t let the first hundred pages of character development turn you off, or the fact that it’s far different from Dragon Wing. The action and drama come at you in full force for the remainder of the book. Once the giants invade the land it’s an unrelenting page turner. One of the most intense passages I've ever read was when the giants first rumbled onto the pages- when Paithan and Rega were trapped on that enormous mushroom.