The Obsidian Chronicles are a trilogy by
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Lawrence Watt-Evans (born 1954) is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer).
Biography
Born in Arlington, Massachusetts, as ...
. The three books are ''
Dragon Weather'', ''
The Dragon Society'', and ''
Dragon Venom''.
It centers around a boy named Arlian and his quest for vengeance against the
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s that destroyed his hometown and killed his family, and against the man who sold him into
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, the mysterious and ruthless Lord Dragon. Along the way, Arlian will uncover the secret behind draconic
reproduction
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...
, and even how to make a
god
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
. Eventually, coming face to face with the specific dragon who killed Arlian's beloved grandfather, Arlian discovers that even the dragons are not wantonly evil and that in fact their lot is rather tragic.
As openly stated by the author, the series borrows many basic plot elements from
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
' classic
Count of Monte Christo: a young man is deeply wronged and consigned to a completely unmerited, harsh imprisonment; he befriends an older fellow prisoner, through whom he gains potential access to great treasure - but only if he could escape; the older prisoner dies, and the young protagonist does manage to escape, against all odds; he gains the treasure and uses it to establish for himself a position of great power and wealth; he embarks on a campaign of systematic revenge against all who had wronged him, but revenge gives less than a perfect satisfaction - and when finally brought down, many of those who wronged him seem less than completely evil. These Monte Christo elements are, however, placed in a fantasy framework (especially, the prominent role played by the dragons) and all the details of the wrong done to the protagonist and the revenge he takes are completely different from Dumas' book.
Fantasy novel trilogies
Books about dragons
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