Forgotten Realms: The Rage (Year of Rogue Dragons #1) Book

Richard Lee Byers, author of Dissolution (War of the Spider Queen Series), weaves a fast paced adventure in The Rage, book one of The Year of the Rogue Dragon Series (2004). The setting is the Moonsea in Forgotten Realms (FR) and the story focuses on the evil plot of the Cult of the Dragon and the insanity that is afflicting the Dragon species.

Byers introduces readers to an interesting hunting party that consists of: Dorn Graybrook, an orphaned former gladiator who happens to be a half-golem; Will Turnstone, a former Guild thief; Pavel Shemov, a priest of Lathander, the god of dawn; and Raryn Snowstealer, an arctic dwarf hunter. This band of hunters primarily earns their coin by slaying large beasts, including dragons. After saving a wounded woman named Kara, a bard, the five find themselves thrown together to puzzle out the cause of the dragon frenzies.

Each chapter begins in the familiar FR style, providing the "Year of…" and the DR date, allowing Faerûn historians to easily place these events into the Forgotten Realms timeline. Some readers may recognize the Cult of the Dragon leader Sammaster, a lich, and will enjoy meeting the unexpected ally to the hunting party, Taegan Nightwind, an Avariel Elf, Maestro and Bladesinger. Dorn and Taegan struggle through their own individual resentments and try to come to terms with personal revelations but these insights do not present the characters as weak or whinny by any means. Readers will also enjoy Jivex (a faerie dragon) and Chatulio (a copper dragon) as they express their wit and humor throughout the tale and will be intrigued by the unlikely ally the group fines in Brimstone, a smoke dragon vampire.

The book is not a stand alone novel but readers will quickly become immersed and impressed by Byers knowledge of dragons and fencing. For fans of any type of Dragon related novel, this book and subsequently the series, is worth the time to read. Readers who wish to know more about dragons, types, powers, descriptions, and demeanor, will enjoy the variety that Byers presents. The novel does not leave the reader with a "cliff hanger" experience but defiantly the feeling the story is not at its end. Readers may want to buy the complete series before beginning this adventure, as they will defiantly want to continue this story!