SENDING OF DRAGONS

The concluding volume in the Pit Dragon trilogy: Akki, Master's daughter, and Jakkin, former slave and dragon trainer, achieve full rapport with the dragons—and discover both the promise of their planet and the obstacles to its fulfillment. At the end of Heart's Blood, Akki and Jakkin were fleeing from both government and rebel factions on Austar IV. They survived the harsh night only by burrowing in the body of Heart's Blood, the dragon that Jakkin had raised and who had died in their defense. The experience, heartbreaking for Jakkin, brings telepathic rapport between the two, and opens full communication with the children of Heart's Blood. In exploring the mountain fastness, they find a hidden race of men who have discovered not only the telepathy induced by dragon's blood but the way to extract metals on resource-poor Austar IV. Realizing that neither the hidden race nor the government recognizes the full potential of the dragons and of Austar IV, Akki and Jakkin escape—with a resolve to use their new knowledge to bring an end to the feudalism and dragon enslavement on their planet. Yolen has created a full, passionate world to engage our concern; we care about Akki and Jakkin, about the dragons, and about the resolution of Austar IV's conflicts. If the concluding volume seems to end too abruptly, and with questions unanswered, mark it to the gathering storm on Austar IV and not to its historian. Engrossing and engaging.