Review: Great beginning, but the magic fades
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 27, 2011
Lana is the medicine woman of her village, which is one of many villages with the plague.  She heads into the Ashen Forest, occupied by the elusive dragons, to find a cure.  She didn't expect to find Alaron, the Keeper of the Forest, and be swept into a new world filled with magic.Lana's story begins well, especially with a very interesting tryst with Alaron.  Her motivations are clear in the first half of the book and I thoroughly enjoyed her story.  Alaron is everything that is mysterious and he does come clean about his identity early in the book.  Honestly, I found his character to be rather flat and lacking the many dimensions I crave in main characters.The plot grabbed me when Lana and Alaron first meet.  I loved watching them interact and her discovery of him.  Strangely, I felt the first plot ended about half way through and then a second muddled plot took precedence.  At this point, a human king enters the story.  Is he good or bad?  Honestly, I never could tell.  Also, I felt Lana lost her clear character motivation.  Why the drastic plunge into her education of Alaron's world?  Then, I pondered the ending, finding it very drastic.  I wish this short novel were actually two separate stories:  Lana meeting Alaron and then everything that happened after.  I feel that the second half of the book really needed more details, instead I felt this portion of the plot was rushed, attention skipped during important times, and too much focus on intimate happenings between characters.Lady of the Drake started with a fantastic bang, but the big beginning fades.  I liked the characters and the premise, but a lack of details as well as character motivations in the latter half of the book left me confused.  By the end, I was completely disenchanted and had a difficult time finishing the book.BookingIt Grade:  C-