Dragon Blood by Patricia Briggs

Wardwick of Hurog survived his father's abusive upbringing to rule the land of Hurog in Shavig, but events at the end of Dragon Bones have forced him to literally rebuild his whole castle, which crumbled to the ground when Ward killed Oreg, the spirit of a boy tied to the castle to serve as its guardian and protector forever.

Oreg somehow survived his own death, but Jakoven, the King of the Five Kingdoms, has not forgotten that Ward's presence helped his army destroy the raiders of Dorsag from attacking Oranstone. It made Ward a hero, and Jakoven cannot abide anyone but himself in the minds of the people, so he has made sure to punish all those who helped the army, including the female warrior Tisala, who Jakoven has had imprisoned and tortured, turning her from a suspected traitor into an actual one.

A chance encounter with a young boy sickened by her torture gives Tisala a chance to escape, and she hurries Northward to find Ward and tell him what's been happening since he returned to his lands. There, nearly dead, she is healed by Oreg, and Ward, who still has fond memories of her, pledges to shelter her. But even though his castle is being rebuilt, it is not completely finished, and while Tisala hides and recovers, Ward is taken from his lands and brought south by the King's men and his Wizard. The King wants to break Ward and make him a fool in truth, for Ward has a slow tongue and way of speaking since his father nearly beat him to death when he was twelve.

Ward means to hold out, but a new wing of the King's prison is meant specifically to hold Wizards, and Ward finds himself terrified out of his mind in his new cell, hiding under the pile of straw meant to be his bedding and questioned almost daily by the King's wizard.

Tisala, Oreg and several of Ward'/s other relations come south to his rescue, where they discover the secret that Tisala is hiding: Jakoven's brother Kellen, long thought dead or mad by his brother's decree, is not only alive and sane, but being imprisoned in filth and horrible conditions by the King. Kellen is far better than his brother- at least in theory, and he is the one that should rightfully be on the throne. But as Ward and others flock around the newly freed Kellen, the King reveals his ace in the hole, a stone known as Farsonsbane, a magical weapon that could destroy the world if used correctly. It requires the blood of a dragon to use, and Ward is a Hurog- a name that means Dragon, with many-times distant dragon blood in his veins.

Now more than ever, Ward and his friends must save the Five Kingdoms from the wrath of Jaknoven, a king who lingers just barely on this side of sane. Having gotten a weapon of such power, the King wishes nothing more than to use it, and the weapon wishes more than anything to be used. Even if the King can be defeated, is there any way to defang the ultimate magical atom bomb? And is there any way to defeat not only the King, but his magician, Jade Eyes, who may be an even bigger threat if he can wrest Farsonsbane from the King?

This sequel to Dragon Bones follows Ward of Hurog as he deals with the fallout from the events of the previous book. Unlike the King Jaknoven, Ward is a simple man who does not begrudge others being as famous or good as he is. While he sometimes finds his excellence in battle troublesome (because his father also loved combat and hurting people), Ward would just prefer to be left alone on his lands, looking after his people.

But events around him push him into acting, and it all lands him in trouble with the King. The King would be trouble anyhow: barely sane and with a nasty, vindictive bent that makes him easily take offense and nourish grudges until the grave. He also likes to control things. In the first book we see that he is the one who chooses his wife's lovers, and that he manipulates everyone around him, including his wife.

Needless to say, he's a repulsive character who you can easily believe would have no problem destroying the five kingdoms or the world just to ruin things for everyone else, and his sadism and control-freak nature make him way beyond saving. And some of the things we thought we knew about him, like that he hates magic, are explained away here as him hating anyone but him having it- because that makes them harder to control, of course. But he isn't the big focus of the book, or at least, not the only one- because the romance of Ward and Tisala makes up much of the rest.

Not that its a romance in the usual kind of Romance-novel way- instead, it's more of a "Ward loves Tisala, but she can't believe he would feel that way about her, so he has to convince her it's true and help her get past that she was raped as her first and only time with a man" type of romance. She doesn't really come around until she realizes that Ward could be killed in a surprise attack on the King's camp. They fall madly in bed and from then on will marry. None of the "We shared a bed and made love but still aren't speaking to each other" you sometimes see in historical romance novels. This is more innocent and purer somehow, and even managed to put a smile on my face while I was a bit annoyed by it.

Ward suffers a lot in this novel. All the characters do, really, but in the end, the heroes triumph, evil is cast down, and the magical atom bomb is disarmed and can never bother the world again. The world is made safe and everything will be okay, even if it isn't now. The ending might sound trite, but it's well done, and you leave the world and the book satisfied, If more comes- that's good. Otherwise, you can live with the ending.

I recommend this book as a solid fantasy tale. It may not be super exciting, but it holds your interest while you are reading and presents two villains who are horrible and who you will be interested in seeing going down. Ward is not your typical fantasy hero, and that's just fine with me. Recommended.