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05/01/2006 Entry: "CRYSTAL DRAGON by Lee&Miller; - Bittersweet but interesting (Leila)"

Just finished it. A bit bittersweet, of course. Interesting take on chaos, order, destruction, life. I can't say it's my favorite of the Lee&Miller; works, but it's a fine book.

I may have been asleep but there were a few transitions in the book that seemed rough to me. One, the initial sorcerer sequence and its place in the story. Who were these people? Why did their masters require the help of these women? I didn't get it.

Two, Cantra becoming the inept mathematician. We know she's about to kill a personality, but when in this book or the previous did this very special skill of hers appear?

And, biggest of all, the evacuation of the ruling families of Solcintra. One minute I was onboard Cantra's new ship exploring it with her, and the next thing we know, the planet's being evacuated. The in-between part was a bit of a blur for me, and perhaps I need to go have a reread.

So we now have the complete elements of the origins of Liad and the founding of Clan Korval, and tree. I want more stories taking place after the events of I Dare! --Leila

--CRYSTAL DRAGON at Amazon, The Great Migration Duology, Book 2
--CRYSTAL SOLDIER review, The Great Migration Duology, Book 1
--CRYSTAL SOLDIER at Amazon, The Great Migration Duology, Book 1

Replies: 4 Comments

I'm a Miller & Lee fan but did not buy their latest because I was annoyed. I think this book should have come out *before* their last book (Sword of Orion?). When authors write trilogies or duologies, IMO the books should come out one after another as soon as possible. To have a nonrelated book come between is an insult to fans who wanted the next book ASAP. I realize Miller & Lee might not be to blame and perhaps I'm "punishing" the wrong entity, but I felt the need to make a statement, albeit a very tiny insignificant one.

Posted by Sheree @ 05/03/2006 04:19 PM ET

I think this book should have come out *before* their last book (Sword of Orion?). When authors write trilogies or duologies, IMO the books should come out one after another as soon as possible. To have a nonrelated book come between is an insult to fans who wanted the next book ASAP.

Erm. I sorry that you're annoyed, but, honestly, what you propose -- that authors publish all the books in a trilogy/duology/seven-book series OneRightAfterAnother just...isn't possible for a number of reasons, among them, contracts, how many books a publisher is willing to take a risk on at once, and the fact that most authors don't write two/three/seven books all at once and have them ready to go immediately.

In the particular case-- Sword of Orion was contracted by Phobos Books, not Meisha Merlin, which contracted the Crystal books. The contract for Sword... specified a date by which we were required to turn in the manuscript. After we met that obligation, it was totally up to the publisher when -- or if -- they put the book on the shelf. In the meantime, the contract for Crystal Dragon had a publishing date of February 2006. Meisha Merlin has been publishing the new Lee and Miller book in February since 1999, and fans of the books know to look for the new one then.

So, again -- sorry for your annoyance, but the publishing order is out of our hands.

And I do hope you enjoy Crystal Dragon eventually.

Posted by Sharon Lee @ 05/05/2006 09:35 AM ET

Thank you for your very polite response, especially when you were probably wanting to hit me over the head for being an ignorant idiot! I didn't realize they were different publishers (I never notice/pay attention to publishers). You've won me over. I'm ordering my copy from Amazon today (altho I won't get it till the the end of the month when the latest Novik gets published since I always get the "free shipping" option).

Posted by Sheree @ 05/05/2006 11:04 PM ET

I hate "me, too" posts, but I do hope the owners aren't ill or worse. This is one of my favorite sites!!

Posted by Nancy @ 06/28/2006 09:10 PM ET