I guess I've embarked on an effort to read this series backwards - I read 'Steelhands' (the fourth) and then moved on to this book (the third.)
I'm definitely still missing a lot, as far as background info. However, I enjoyed this one a bit more.
It's a fairly simple plot - a bunch of different people all find themselves questing around for the same thing, and gradually come together for a dynamic showdown... along the way there's a lot of wandering about the desert - but the characters are engaging and entertaining.
Two of the main characters, Thom and Rook, reminded me a lot of Felix and Mildmay in Sarah Monette's Melusine books. If you enjoy that type of fantasy (which I do), I'd hazard a guess that you'd like these too. ( )

Although I'm still enjoying this fantasy series it seems I have to work harder each time to maintain an interest in the story. What started out as totally engrossing in "Havemercy" has rather waned a bit in this entry. It was nice to re-visit with Thom and Rook, and to see their sibling relationship progress. Although I also liked Malahide and Madoka (along with her much less developed tag-along, Badger) I really wasn't drawn into their stories. Overall this entry seemed maybe more wordy than necessary and at the same time less detailed than what I might have liked. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

Despite the fact that I have an ER copy of "Steelhands" I really feel the need to take a break from this universe so I'm putting it off just for a little bit. Hopefully once I get to it (shortly, I promise) it will go a little faster than this one did. ( )

Warning: Spoilers

Here's the thing: I love this series. But this book fell short of the previous two. Like Havemercy and Shadow Magic, Dragon Soul is narrated by the alternating first person views of four main characters. Two of them, Rook and Thom, were also narrators in Havemercy. I love these two characters. The two new ones, Madoka and Malahide, are what brought the book down for me. Practically every time I got to their parts, I fell asleep. I just didn't care about them as characters, and maybe that's my bias, because I was already so committed to Rook and Thom's story. They both seemed very unoriginal. Malahide referred to others as "my dear" a lot, which was one of Shadow Magic's Caius trademarks. Madoka's personality was too much like Rook's. And Rook, Madoka, and Malahide, at some point in the story, all thought the phrase: "the universal sign for ________". What are the odds of three different characters thinking this exact same phrase? Apparently very high.

One thing I love about the series is how great the characterization is. And even though this has always resulted in more description than dialogue, it never negatively affected the overall story for me until this third installment. All too often, discussions were mixed in with such long, descriptive analyzations in the current narrator's mind that by the time he or she answered, I would forget what the other person had said or what the conversation was even about.

On a more positive note, I enjoyed Rook and Thom even more in this book, something I didn't think possible. It was great reading about their influences on each other. I loved when they met magician Sarah Fleet, Havemercy's maker. And could anything be more heart-wrenchingly bittersweet than when Rook and Have get to say goodbye?

So, to sum things up, I really do love this series. Therefore, I would recommend this book, but I know that when I get around to rereading it, I'll probably only go through the Rook/Thom parts. I've been a fan of the authors for a long time (I'm talking back to the Shoebox days), but for me, this book was 50% awesome and a 50% snore-fest. ( )