What do You think about Heart's Blood (1996)?
Nothing life-changing, but this is a decent installment in a fun series. I enjoyed getting to see a bit more of the Austarian culture outside of the farms. The political tug-of-war between the anarchist rebels and the controlling Feds, while only seen in glimpses, felt realistic--and I like that Yolen doesn't come down on one side or the other, but shows both points of view as potentially sympathetic as well as dangerous. This ambiguity is embodied in the person of Golden, the foppish double (triple?) agent, who is by far the most intriguing character of the series yet. I sincerely hope that he (view spoiler)[is not dead (hide spoiler)]
—Cassandra
I read the Pit Dragon trilogy as a girl, and it stuck with me. When I saw the middle book for sale in the dollar bin at the Half-Price Books, I didn't think: I just rescued that bit of me that was still madly in love with the book. And, despite the twenty or so intervening years - I don't regret it.YA sci-fi/fantasy, but long before romance in dystopia became the predominant feature of the genre, Heart's Blood is the tale of a dragon, her boy, and his girl, mixed up with a revolution and an evolution. It's a story of growth and the attendant growing pains, not just of the boy (Jakken) but of the planet (Austar IV, a former penal colony quite like Australia, but with an almost Roman civilization built on "gladiator" style dragon fighting and farming.) It has depth, resonance, and relevance that make me long for the stronger youth fantasy fiction of my, well, youth. (My dystopia was better than yours, lol.)It does have a romance, but it's far from the most important feature of the story. It is also, thankfully, a chaste romance, suitable for children from perhaps 12 and up. As for me, I'm going to keep looking and see if I can't turn up the other two books in the trilogy. I think my daughters will eventually enjoy them as much as I did.
—Dingleberry
I have had a bit of a difficult time finishing this book...I started it in June and it is now the beginning of November. I didn't find the beginning particularly engaging, though it did get better after several chapters, I still don't know how I feel about the ending. This book wasn't bad, and until I finished it today I would have told you that if I would have read this book when I was in Jr. High or High school and reading Anne McCaffrey's novels I would have loved it. Now I am not so sure. The story line, that most of the book follows, is not wrapped up in the end, even remotely, nor does it seem to become so in the later books. We will see if I decide to read the last book of the trilogy in the future.
—Vanessa
