Product Description

A former slave girl gambles with her freedom to return to the land of her bondage--a world of deadly magic and deception.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38689 in Books
• Published on: 1995-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780441002733
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

lively and enjoyable
"Steal the Dragon" is the tale of an escaped slave, Rialla, who returns to the land where she was enslaved. As a spy, she hopes through her efforts to support a peace accord that will end slavery. But to effectively spy, Rialla must (at least for awhile) become a slave again.

Briggs takes a slew of nasty topics -- murder, torture, rape, slavery -- yet avoids dropping the reader into despair or depression. This novel is enjoyable, lively and mainly light hearted, despite the weighty topics. The common fantasy/sci-fi flaws are all avoided -- point of view hopping is kept to a minimum, characters behave in a consistent manner, and we aren't hit over the head with an author's message.

"Steal the Dragon" is less polished than Briggs' later works, and lacks that extra spark that makes a 5-star book. Still, I enjoyed it greatly and warmly recommend this book to you. This book pulls you into an interesting alternate world, full of magic and excitement and joy. If you enjoy this book, also consider K. Morrow Pinson's "Forged Without Fire".

A game of chess.......
I got this book from the library and I'm so glad I found it!

Rialla -being a runaway slave from Darran- is asked to spy on one of Darrans lords and prevent his assassination. She would be disguised as a slave traveling with his mercenary brother, who is also her dearest friend.

Being a slave again will awaken her dormant powers & thrust her into unseen dangers of evil mages, night creatures & strange healers.
Nothing happens as planned and no one is as they seem.

There aren't any dragons in this story, Steal a dragon is a game they play that is similar to chess...A game of strategy & cunning.

A very good fantasy read, strong heroine, full of action, mystery & love.
Read it if you can get your hands on it.

A fast-paced fantasy with a touch of romance
Those who have come to Patricia Briggs having read "Moon Called" will find that this book is very different in style from that werewolf/vampire story. "Steal The Dragon" is a fantasy like "Dragon Bones" and "Dragon Blood" as well as her "Raven's" duology. Despite the use of the word "Dragon" in the title of this book it isn't related to the other two dragon books - the only occurrence of "Steal the Dragon" in this book is as a game rather like Chess.

Rialla is an ex-slave working as a horse trainer in Sianim. She comes to the attention of the Spymaster as she is an empathy as well as an ex-slave. Machinations are afoot in a neighbour land, the place where Rialla was formerly a slave, and the Spymaster wishes her to travel, along with Laeth, a mercenary, to that land to see if they can prevent the assassination of Laeth's brother who is working for peace and the end of slavery in his land.

Of course things don't go as planned and Laeth ends up arrested for the murder of his brother. Rialla is severely injured but is nursed back to health by Tris, the local healer. She soon works out that there's more to Tris than meets the eye as his healing abilities seem almost magical - in a world where magic is feared. Tris and Rialla plot to rescue Laeth from his death sentence for killing his brother but this opens a whole new can of worms.

There are many interesting aspects to this book. Rialla's former life as a slave makes very good background, the way in which slaves have to damp down their emotions, the way in which they become dehumanised after a long period in slavery and the dangers in which Rialla places herself in returning voluntarily to slavery as a disguise. The book has a lot of magic in it which sometimes I felt was a little annoying - if there's a problem then someone has the magical ability to deal with it - but the story is very interesting and it's not always clear what's going to happen. The baddies and goodies also have more depth to them than one might expect.

As in "Dragon Blood", Patricia Briggs isn't afraid of giving her characters an awful time and Rialla has to cope with a lot that heroines normally manage to escape by the skin of their teeth. Perhaps that's part of the appeal of this heroine - she is a strong lady who is able to make rational judgements about very difficult issues. Her slow-burn romance with Tris is nicely written.

Overall I enjoyed this book more than "Dragon Bones" and "Dragon Blood" as the story was easier to follow (less politics and less places to try to keep track of). It was an easy read and being a single volume pretty much tied up all the loose ends, bar a few. An enjoyable book for a quiet day.