Aerie by Mercedes Lackey

The war between Alta and Tia, aided and promoted by the mages of Alta, and later, of Tia, has finally ended with the deaths of the mages on both sides, and the defeat of both countries. Alta City was destroyed by an earthquake incited by the Mages' use of the Eye of Light. Now the new joined country of Altia is struggling to combine the two peoples into one.

But that doesn't mean that the troubles of Kiron and his Dragon Jousters are anywhere near ended. First of all, many men and boys want to join their ranks, but the numbers of Dragon eggs are limited. And now Aket-ten, who has become Kiron's lover, is agitating for making a squadron of women Dragon Jousters, but Kiron doesn't want to do it because he knows it will make trouble with the many men who want to be Dragon Jousters and think they have a better claim on any Dragon Eggs simply by virtue of being male.

But Aket-ten is angry with Kiron for not seeing the virtues of her plan. Women and girls are naturally lighter than men, so their dragons would be able to fly faster, making them more adept as couriers. So instead of spending time with him, she flies off to the new Capital city of Altia and takes her petition to the Queen, Nofret, who okays the plan, even though she knows Aket-ten doesn't have Kiron's permission. She does warn Aket-ten that she alone will have the training of the women, and must recruit them herself.

Aket-ten thinks that many women must be wanting to be Dragon Jousters, but in truth, she only finds one woman who wants to join, a young woman named Peri, who was once a slave. And unbeknownst to either Aket-ten or Kiron, she knows Kiron's mother, having worked under her when they both were slaves. Long has Letis, Kiron's mother, expected Kiron to marry Peri if and when she ever sees him again. And when Peri finally gets to meet Kiron, she is more than intrigued, and thinks that marrying him might not be a bad idea.

And with the current bad feelings between Kiron and Aket-ten, he does find spending time with Peri to be restful compared to his constant arguing with Aket-ten. But with his heart and love already given to Aket-ten, can Peri win him away from her? And when his mother finally realizes that Kiron is the son she lost, she urges him... or nags him, into giving up his life as a Dragon Jouster and returning to the farm they lost to live out his life as a farmer.

Meanwhile, out in the desert, a mystery is brewing to the east. One of the guard posts at the edge of Altia has been deserted, all the people there and in the town simply gone, including the children and babies, as if everyone in town simply picked up and left. The Dragon Jousters are sent to investigate, along with the blind High Priest of the God Ssseth, and discover a new menace to be fought, the Ancient Ones, a group of Mages from whom both the Altan and Tian mages sprang. Now, the group that both mages fled is on their way to Alta, along with their dragon goddess, Tiamat, intending to take over. Can the Dragon Jousters, and their Dragons, pull the fat out of the fire once more? Or will the presence of Tiamat require... godly help?

I wanted to read more after the end of Sanctuary, but in reality, this book was not the book I wanted to read. It was more of the same, but in a too-samey way. More mages are the problem this time. I honestly would have liked to see a villain other than yet more mages. Worse mages, yes, but just... more mages. Admittedly, the stuff leading up to the revelation that it was more mages was well-done, but there were nagging questions that the book did little to answer.

I also didn't like the "Leads argue and spend the book apart because they are too bone-headed to sit down and talk out their problems", but then, that's always annoyed me, even in romance novels where it occurs hell of a lot more often. And, as I have mentioned before, the book stuck to the "not much happens for 3/4 of the book, than has a big battle at the end". This one had some bits of glitter stuck to it, but it was essentially the same in plotting and pacing as the other books in the series.

In the end, I came out thinking that this book was as necessary as breasts on a lamppost. Some people may enjoy it, but I felt it was unnecessary to write. It didn't add anything to the story and seemed foolish in retrospect. I can't exactly recommend it, even though it's well-written and otherwise engaging. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I not read all four in quick succession.