Book Review: Courage of Falcons

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Courage of Falcons     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Holly Lisle
Class/Genre:   Fantasy
Series: Secret Texts/Holly Lisle # 3
Warner, Oct 2000,$24.95, 432pp

In the world of Matrin, war is blazing between the Falcons and the Dragons. If the latter win, hell will take control of the planet. The Falcons are a benevolent band of wizards that are trying to send the Dragons back to the place they came from: the Mirror of Souls. The beautiful artifact was created a millennium ago to house the souls of the Dragons. On the losing side, along with the wizards, are the shape-shifters Kait Galweigh and Ry Sabir, whose powers if known would lead to a lynching.

The respective houses of Galweigh and Sabir have remained bitter enemies for years, but Kait and Ry love one another and unite to fight their true foes. Through harrowing adventures, the Falcons manage to contain the Dragons inside the mirror that must be destroyed even if it means death to the allies. However, the Scarred (humans who are freaks and monsters) believe the Messiah has come to deliver them from their exile by destroying the people who banished them in the first place, the humans.

COURAGE OF FALCONS is the third and final work in master storyteller Holly Lisle’s fabulous epic “The Secret Texts”. The romance between Kait and Ry makes for a tension-filled subplot. However, the magic of this novel lies in the aliens who seem so real that Ms. Lisle must have met them in some far away canteen rather than her fertile imagination. The geopolitical structure of Matrin is reminiscent of the works of Tolkien and Brookes, which will appeal to fans of high fantasy.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner