Bronze Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

Simle is a young Bronze Dragon who hates humans, as humans stole into her parent's cave and made off with the Bronze Dragon eggs who were to hatch into her brothers and sisters while she was distracted with a rock made to look like a huge diamond. Seeing the way the humans made her parents feel so unhappy, and fooled her, she has decided that humans- all humans- should be killed so that they don't bother Dragons.

Tatelyn feels just the opposite. Her brother, Brigg, was killed by a copper dragon who had been possessed by a sorceress. While most would find the sorceress to blame, Tatelyn also blames the Copper Dragon, for if it had not been around, the sorceress wouldn't have had as easy a time laying waste to her village. Now she and a few friends have come together as "The Heirs of Huma" in order to banish Dragons from the Realms, both good and evil.

When Simle's mother is injured protecting humans during their pilgrimmage to a shrine, Simle is outraged that her mother was injured on their behalf. But as she takes the strange half-diamond pendant her mother gives her, she decides to go and kill the humans who caused the injuring of her mother.

Meanwhile, Tatelyn is in Palanthas, preaching her cause to the humans there. She encounters a cleric of Mishakal, the same goddess who she serves, who gives her a half diamond-shaped pendant before she is almost literally booed out of the city. She returns to her home village of Forestedge where she encounters Simle, who is angry and crying. But when Tatelyn is nearly attacked by Simle, her friends, "The Heirs of Huma" come to her rescue. But they cannot protect her when, later on, Simle returns, sure that Tatelyn was protected by her mother because of the identical half-pendant she wears to the one Simle was given.

When Simle touches their pendants together, there is a burst of magic, and Simle finds that she can no longer breathe lightning breath, and she has the stamina of a human, not a dragon. Conversely, Tatelyn has lost her healing magic from Mishakal, and has the stamina of a dragon. They no longer feel their own wounds, but each others's, and must come together to survive and keep each other alive while they search for a way to rid themselves of this magic that ties them together.

But working together means finding out things that neither wanted to learn: the origins of Draconians in the case of Simle, and that Huma was in love with a Silver Dragon in the case of Tatelyn. As they warn a human village of an attack by Draconians, Simle must struggle with herself not wanting to hurt beings that might be her brothers and sisters, while Tatelyn has to discover that not all the members of the Heirs of Huma are as sane, good and well-balanced as she is.

Can the two grow to understand each other, and forgive the other race for their part in the War of the Dragons? Or will they remain locked in a familliar hatred that gains them nothing and might lose them everything they both hope for?

Both characters blame each other's race for being the direct cause of suffering they experienced, rather than the real cause. Yes, humans stole the eggs of good dragons to turn into Draconians, but it was commanded by Tiamat. And Tatelyn's brother was killed by a copper dragon, but it was the spirit of the human sorceress inside that was really at fault.

But being young when it happened to both of them, both of them are stuck in a childish mode of continuing to lay blame and refusing to believe that they can or will change their minds. Seeing them struggle to avoid becoming friendly towards each other is amusing, but eventually, they lose the fight and begin to see that the other is not to blame for their misfortunes. But each has to deal with others close to them: Simle with the Baaz Draconians who share her blood, and Tatelyn with the Heirs of Huma, who, without her leadership, may end up becoming worse than she ever thought humans could be.

An interesting book, this novel is written for older kids, but could be enjoyed by teens as well. This is the second book in the series, the first being Red Dragon Codex and a sequel, Black Dragon Codex, is due out soon. I do recommend the book to anyone interested in the Dragonlance series or in Dragons and Fantasy in general.