The Last Dragonlord by J Bertin
Weredragons, Drama and Romance in a Light, Fast-Paced Plot
Linden Rathan is the last of the weredragons, and although at six centuries he is considered young, none can understand why his soulmate remains undiscovered.
The Last Dragonlord, by Joanne Bertin (1998) is a fun, energetic romp of a romantic fantasy. Reminiscent of the novels of Mercedes Lackey but without Lackey’s grounding in moral and sociological thought, The Last Dragonlord is a fast-paced story about weredragons, bards, magic, political intrigue, and love - so long as you don’t take it too seriously.
Romance, Fantasy and Intrigue: The Plot
Linden Rathan is the last of the Dragonlords - a race of long lived weredragons who are respected as lawkeepers and revered akin to royalty. The Dragonlords are born to “truehumans” and only realize their nature midway through a normal human life, when the dragon half of the soul wakes. Every Dragonlord eventually meets their soultwin - the person who carries the matching pieces of their dragon and human souls - yet Linden is alone. Since Rathan woke in him, six centuries ago, no other Dragonlords have been discovered.
Linden’s life is changed when the trying political necessity of mediating a dispute over the succession in distant Cassori becomes more convoluted than anyone could have wished. Disaster strikes and ultimately involves four Dragonlords, a vengeful former lover, dark magery, a poisoned prince... and Linden’s soul mate.
Weredragons
Perhaps the greatest strengths of the novel are Bertin’s intelligent Lysanian horses and the long-lived weredragons.
Like some werewolves, these are people who can change shape between dragon and human at will. Unlike most shapeshifters, however, these weredragons are said to be the result of a dragon soul and a human soul which have merged - and then split a different way, with half of each of the original souls separated into two bodies. Each weredragon carries half of a human soul and half of a dragon - and must find his or her “soultwin” to be whole - a tidy and interesting new approach to soul mates.
Also likeable is the way in which, unlike most, several of The Last Dragonlord’s central characters had realistic, previously established friendships that were never fully explained, which lent a sense of mystery and of realism to the relationships.
Trouble In Paradise
The flaw of The Last Dragonlord is its characterization, which is weak at best and contradictory at worst.
Linden and the other Dragonlords are presented as wise, noble people - yet their behavior consistently falls short of both good sense and good manners. Other characters who are supposedly sneaky, devious liars make revealing remarks and facial expressions throughout that give away their true intent - but no one notices.
Remarkably, however, the novel has an equal balance in strong male and female characters - a rarity that is much appreciated in romantic fantasy.
As light, fluffy adventure/romance, The Last Dragonlord is great fun and has some good fantasy elements going for it. As epic fantasy or even an exciting draconic adventure, this novel falls short.
Joanne Bertin has penned a sequel to The Last Dragonlord, entitled Dragon and Phoenix (1999). The endnotes to the latter mention a forthcoming novel, Bard’s Oath, which has not yet been released.
