The Lake of Death

The Lake of Death by Jean Rabe is apparently the sixth and final novel in the Dragonlance: Age of Mortals series. Despite the fact that I read none of the other books, The Lake of Death is a fully engaging and compelling story in its own right. Rabe fills in enough backstory along the way that at no point did I feel that anything was lacking from my enjoyment of the tale, which is the story of Dhamon Grimwulf, once a human, now a shadow dragon, and the endeavors of his friends, an elvish druidess and a draconian lizardman, to help him find the magic materials that might make him human again. Jean Rabe employs a particularly appealing, 'tactile' style of writing in this story; she is excellent in describing the sights, sounds, and smells of the swamps, mountains, and forests in which her tale takes place, to the point I was thoroughly immersed in the imaginary world I was reading about. The Lake of Death is filled with dragons, dwarves, spirits, magic, a lost city, and many other elements that make this a fine and first-rate fantasy novel.