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Available
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Series
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Publication
Tor Books (1991), Edition: Book Club Edition
Description
Two masters of epic fantasy have combined in this brilliant collaboration to create a rousing tale of the sort that becomes an instant favorite. This is the story of Shana, a halfbreed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father with a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, she was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or humankind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime."A brisk, glittering yarn that packs as much action, suspense, and twisting of conventions into one novel as many writers invest in whole trilogies." -- Amazing StoriesA Main selection of the Science Fiction Book Club… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jshillingford
One of the first series I came across where Elves aren't honorable and wise beings - they're the villains who keep humanity enslaved. The ancient race of dragons decide to play with the elves by spreading a legend of a girl who will free the humans, the Elvenbane. Imagine their surprise when their
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legend becomes reality. Excellent. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
The first of the series by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey, an interesting read about a human world where elves and dragons have invaded, dragons almost invisibly and elves as human slave-masters. Half Elves possess possible power to take down the evil masters, so they're killed, one survives and
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is found by Dragons. Show Less
LibraryThing member laranth
Lashana is a half-human, half-elven, orphaned at birth when her concubine mother fled the wrath of her father, and died giving birth to her in the desert. Rescued and raised by dragons, can Shana survive in a world where halfbreeds are hunted by the elven overlords for fear of the powers they were
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born with: the magic of the elves and the psionic abilities of the human slaves. Show Less
LibraryThing member meersan
A half-elven girl raised by dragons learns to use super magic powers to rebel against orientalist feudal elves.
LibraryThing member tuckerfrye
This book was one of my guilty pleasures of 8th grade. I read half of it in one sitting, and finished the rest during class the next day. Wonderful story with unique twists on elves, dragons, and magic.
LibraryThing member JacobsBeloved
The world that the writing team of Norton and Lackey crafts is quite fascinating in its detail and description. The timeline and history of this world seems to place it sort of after the end of our present world, as a kind of post-apocalypse in which first the dragons found and then the elves, with
The characters were all well-developed and unique, as the size of the book allowed the writers to spend lots of time focusing on a single character, even if his or her purpose seemed to end rather abruptly with death, such as Shana's mother, Serina Daeth. Normally, I have no trouble picking characters that I favored over the others, but with this book, no character seemed to jump out at me as so much better than the others, even the main character Shana, who seemed to lack in maturity as much as a pre-teen, with how she behaves around some of the other characters.
There were several over-arching themes in the book, such as the need for change, the call for justice, and how every rule has exceptions. Shana especially seemed to find the latter annoying as she continually found that what she was taught about elves, humans, or dragons was not always true. Even though the legend of the Elvenbane is merely a tall tale crafted by the dragons to stir up trouble with the elves and humans, Shana falls into the role by accident simply because of a dragon's kindness. Ironically, her up-bringing gives her the perfect personality for playing that role, as the main goal of this book was to put her in the perfect position to fill this role for the next book in the series, Elvenblood (Halfblood Chronicles).
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the latter taking over and enslaving the remaining humans. I found the passage of time to be bothersome at times, since the authors seem to almost skip over the climaxes in favor of just relaying the information through the memories of the characters after the fact. More than once, I wished the writers could have written out this passage of time so that I can actually experience it as it happens.The characters were all well-developed and unique, as the size of the book allowed the writers to spend lots of time focusing on a single character, even if his or her purpose seemed to end rather abruptly with death, such as Shana's mother, Serina Daeth. Normally, I have no trouble picking characters that I favored over the others, but with this book, no character seemed to jump out at me as so much better than the others, even the main character Shana, who seemed to lack in maturity as much as a pre-teen, with how she behaves around some of the other characters.
There were several over-arching themes in the book, such as the need for change, the call for justice, and how every rule has exceptions. Shana especially seemed to find the latter annoying as she continually found that what she was taught about elves, humans, or dragons was not always true. Even though the legend of the Elvenbane is merely a tall tale crafted by the dragons to stir up trouble with the elves and humans, Shana falls into the role by accident simply because of a dragon's kindness. Ironically, her up-bringing gives her the perfect personality for playing that role, as the main goal of this book was to put her in the perfect position to fill this role for the next book in the series, Elvenblood (Halfblood Chronicles).
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LibraryThing member kmajort
Best of the 3.
LibraryThing member JohnFair
The first part of this book has quite a messagey tone to it, which, with the familiarity I have of the two authors, have largely come from Mercedes Lackey. This made it rather hard going this time through but as soon as we got past the moralisation and into the action proper it gets much better.
Shana, born of the illegal union of Elf and human, finds herself in the Lair of a Dragon clan during her teen years and finds herself facing constant criticism for being a two-leg, not that she thinks of herself as a two-leg, but as a dragon stuck in two-leg form. Finally pushing the dragons into exiling her, Shana suddenly finds herself in the hands of real two-legs (human) who had taken her prisoner until they think she's a half-wit and sell her off as a slave. At this point, she helped to escape this fate and she's introduces to a group of half-elven wizards though she find herself hemmed in by more rules designed to maintain the status quo so when Shana and other younger members of the Citadel decide to help a band of children with power escape an Elven estate, they find themselves at odds with the powers to be and Shana is joined by an escaping elven heir and his half-elven cousin and her foster brother who all end up having a number of adventures as they try to escape those on their trail.
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It's just a pity that this only happened in the last third or so of the book. Shana, born of the illegal union of Elf and human, finds herself in the Lair of a Dragon clan during her teen years and finds herself facing constant criticism for being a two-leg, not that she thinks of herself as a two-leg, but as a dragon stuck in two-leg form. Finally pushing the dragons into exiling her, Shana suddenly finds herself in the hands of real two-legs (human) who had taken her prisoner until they think she's a half-wit and sell her off as a slave. At this point, she helped to escape this fate and she's introduces to a group of half-elven wizards though she find herself hemmed in by more rules designed to maintain the status quo so when Shana and other younger members of the Citadel decide to help a band of children with power escape an Elven estate, they find themselves at odds with the powers to be and Shana is joined by an escaping elven heir and his half-elven cousin and her foster brother who all end up having a number of adventures as they try to escape those on their trail.
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LibraryThing member PardaMustang
Elvenbane, by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey, is a thrilling fantasy novel that explores themes of identity, freedom, and the power of friendship.
The novel follows the story of Shana, a half-human, half-elf girl adopted by dragons. Shana was orphaned after her mother was killed in the wilderness.
Exiled from among the only home she's ever known, Shana also finds herself on the run from the cruel elven lords who seek to capture and execute her for being a halfblood. Thankfully her adopted dragon brother, Keman, comes after her. Shana decides to try and find the legendary wizards, other half-bloods, and defeat the elven lords once and for all so no others will be enslaved.
Lackey and Norton create a richly detailed world that is both beautiful and dangerous, filled with wondrous creatures and captivating lore. The characters are well-developed and their relationships are nuanced and complex. Shana is a strong and capable protagonist who learns to trust her own abilities and the friendships she makes along the way.
Overall, Elvenbane was an enjoyable story likely to appeal to fans of fantasy and adventure novels. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to escape into a magical world.
***Purchased and read for my own enjoyment.
The novel follows the story of Shana, a half-human, half-elf girl adopted by dragons. Shana was orphaned after her mother was killed in the wilderness.
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Most dragons tolerate the girl, but others are loath to have her around, finding her 'useless'.Exiled from among the only home she's ever known, Shana also finds herself on the run from the cruel elven lords who seek to capture and execute her for being a halfblood. Thankfully her adopted dragon brother, Keman, comes after her. Shana decides to try and find the legendary wizards, other half-bloods, and defeat the elven lords once and for all so no others will be enslaved.
Lackey and Norton create a richly detailed world that is both beautiful and dangerous, filled with wondrous creatures and captivating lore. The characters are well-developed and their relationships are nuanced and complex. Shana is a strong and capable protagonist who learns to trust her own abilities and the friendships she makes along the way.
Overall, Elvenbane was an enjoyable story likely to appeal to fans of fantasy and adventure novels. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to escape into a magical world.
***Purchased and read for my own enjoyment.
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Subjects
Awards
Science Fiction Book Club Award (Winner — Book of the Year — 1991)
Original publication date
1991