As a dragon enthusiast I jumped for joy when I found this book on the bookshelf at my local bookstore. After I read it I couldn’t help but think that this was what a dragon book should be. Mercedes Lackey has always been one of my favorite fantasy writers and in this book she proves why she deserves all of the praise that she gets. Fans of Anne McGaffry’s Dragonriders of Pern series will not be disappointed in this book. Despite the fact that Joust revolves around dragonriders, referred to as Jousters, Lackey’s book is a new and refreshing read that stands alone and alongside the Dragonriders of Pern series.The story follows the adventures of Vetch an Altan surf, just another of the spoils of the Altan - Tian conflict. Vetch was merely a farmer’s son until the day the Tian army declared possesion of their farm after having gained more ground in the war. Before his eyes he saw his father murdered, his sister beaten, their possessions stolen, and then he and his family were placed into a life worse than slavery. Torn from his family Vetch is forced to serve a cruel master. Khefti the Fat, his master, continuously beats, starves, and overworks Vetch while his apprentices take great pleasure in tormenting him. This continues on for several years until the day Jouster Ari arrives at Khefti’s to stop for a drink of water and a small respite from patrols. There Ari witnesses first hand the harsh labor that Vetch undergoes and the treatment he receives. Seizing upon the law that states all Jousters may requisition anything they need within reason, Ari states he is need of a boy to tend his dragon and carries Vetch off to the compound.Vetch’s lot improves greatly here where food is in abundance and he is treated with a measure of respect. In fact Vetch at times has trouble remembering the hate and anger that kept him going while working for Khefti. I found this to be exceptionally well done and played out. Throughout Joust Vetch is undergoing a major development. He began the story as an angry, spiteful, and vengeful child who was no longer really a child. Vetch’s existence was a miserable one and the only thing that kept him going was his stubborn will to live on despite the hardships, but the thing that fueled him the most was his anger and hatred for the Tians.While Vetch is at the compound he begins to realize that the atrocities inflicted upon his people by Tian soldiers do not reflect the attitudes of all Tians alike. Indeed at one point he is even shocked to realize that he does not pray for Ari’s defeat, as he initially had, but that Ari would always return safe because Ari had become his friend.As time passes on Vetch becomes as dragon obsessed as his Jouster but with the bravery and hope that only the young [and foolhardy] can have Vetch endeavors to purloin a dragon egg of his own to hatch and raise. The Great Tian King has ordered that the number of Jousters in the skies be doubled so that the Altans can be at long last crushed and Vetch seeks to learn how to the methods of raising a tame dragon to the Altans to shift the tides of the war.Lackey’s story is beautifully told, the amount of detail an attention paid to the dragons is astounding. The reader’s mind will be filled with visions of dragons and soaring above the clouds long after they have finished the book. To top it off the setting for Lackey’s world is a sort of alternate ancient Egypt which gives the setting an extra touch of exoticness that somehow makes the world seem familiar and different all at the same time. Young and old readers, be they fantasy buffs, or just bookworms will adore this first book in an exciting series.You can read the original book review here and my reviews for other books as well.
A fantasy following the fortunes of a serf called Vetch, Joust is the first book of a four book series, all of which are available. In the first novel, Vetch is a land-bound free-born slave who is being worked to death by his owner, until he is stolen away by a Jouster – a dragon-riding elite warrior called Ari. So begins Vetch’s new life as a dragon-boy. Mercedes Lackey is far from a favourite of mine. Something about her style grinds at me. I have read several of her earlier works, but it is Joust (and its sequel) that I find bearable. I have only read the first half of the series and it is unlikely I will read the second half due to my dislike of Ms Lackey’s works. It took me a month to get through this book, which is not a good sign by any standards. Oh, she’s very imaginative and valiantly dives into world-building with fervour, but there is a self-constructed problem that hinders the reader’s engagement from the off. The main character, Vetch, is more-or-less confined to one place for the whole novel, and is quite antisocial when it comes to characters that can talk back. There can be pages and pages of info-dumping or internal thought or interactions with dragons (which isn’t as tedious as the rest) – with very little dialogue to be had at all.I think the series as a whole is a coming-of-age, but for this novel Vetch is in his early teens. I struggled to connect with him, due to his solitude and his quite flat personality. He likes dragons – great, so do I. But he never does anything else, think of much else, talk of anything but… it gets old. The book drags on with very little really happening. The characters are not deep of varied – three love dragons, the rest are pompous. The aspect that seems most concentrated upon is the dragons themselves, and I found myself becoming rather fond of Kashet, the only undrugged dragon of the compound, and I was intrigued by Ari, his rider. I wish I could have liked it more, it seemed to be just my thing with slavery and dragons, but the age of the protagonist and the lack-lustre characters made it dull.Characters: 2/10Setting: 5/10Plot: 3/10Dialogue: 4/10Overall: 3/10
What do You think about Joust (2004)?
"I liked it."Finished this one a while back as well. This is one of the few Mercedes Lackey universes that I HAVEN'T ever read before, so this was my first time in the world, and I have to say I really enjoyed it.It was different from a lot of Lackey's other books in that I didn't care so much about the characters, but I really enjoyed the world. It was a really cool, different, unique sort of world, and it seemed that the book was more just a tour through that world than anything else. It didn't really have a plot aside from the main character's arc, and was more just an exploration of this interesting Egyptian-flavoured world populated by a well drawn and interesting brand of dragon and a lot of exploration of those dragons and what happens with them.I don't know, I don't have much to say about it, but I did like it. I got into the main character's arc, it was very simple and scaled down, reminding me of Arrows of the Queen more than Lackey's later cast of thousands books. She handles more personal stories a hell of a lot better and I enjoyed it.All the usual Lackey flaws are here -- she needs a better editors, her sentances go forever, and the black and white morality gets a little hilarious sometimes -- but I grew up with this author so I'm used to all of those things and find them more endearing than anything else.I enjoyed this and I'll definitely be reading the next one.
—Rosu Aquabutts
I liked Joust.This was my first read of Lackey's and I enjoined it well enough. The few characters (3-4) that were developed were three dimensional and real enough. The plot was good, if not fast paced, and the world building/dragon knowledge well thought through.What took this down from a five star?I could probably summarize this 373 page book in less than five plot points. It was definitely slow moving, and I can't help but feel it would have been better if it was a little hacked down and its sequel was tacked onto the end. That being said, Lackey's writing never left me bored, just a bit disappointed in its slower pace.What really levelled Joust down from a love to a like for me was the repetition. I kid you not, every thought, memory, or feeling of Vetch's is rethought of at least twice in the novel, which is fairly annoying if you're reading it in a shorter time period. In this way though, if you're reading more than one book, Joust is the perfect one to have on the back burner without fear of forgetting important tidbits.Overall, this probably won't be a series I'm going to reread, but Lackey's writing makes it worth continuing.
—Kelsey S. Hock
This story was really good. It's set in a world composed of two kingdoms (or at least it only mentions two) Alta and Tia. Kvetch is a Altan serf to a cruel Tian master who owns the land that Kvetch's family used to own. Kvetch is rescued by Ari, a Tian jouster and dragonrider. Ari gives Kvetch the job of taking care of his dragon. Kvetch is fascinated by the dragons and tries to learn all he can about them... Tian (and later you find out Altan) society seems to resemble ancient Egypt (dress, setting (desert), religion), but differ in others magic actually exists and of course the dragons....
—Amanda
