This is the last in a four book series. I very much enjoyed the first two books. The third one got a little weird, and this one was all over the place. If I had it to do again I would read the first two books and forget about the second two. They were lovely, these were not ( )

I always enjoy Jane Yolen's books; I think she really knows how to craft a story and characters. The Pit Dragon Chronicles is one of my favorite series of hers and it definitely holds up over time. I do think the first couple books are the strongest and then it does tail off a bit after that. There are many dragon stories but this does not feel repetitive or similar to others. ( )

After their return from hiding in the caves and their evolution into a hybrid species, Akki and Jakkin find themselves forced to deal with a changed world where bonders are now free. Akki does to Rokk to try to find the science behind their evolution and is kidnapped as part of a political battle for a seat in the senate. Jakkin is frantic and uses his dragons to help find and rescue Akki. I liked this fourth story better than the earlier ones. ( )

It was good to get back to Austar IV after many years away. I think I read the previous book in this series in 1987. This one has been sitting on my stack since the beginning of 2010. Thankfully, the book included both an introduction and a preface which did a lot to get me back up to speed on what I missed.

This one begins with Jakkin and Akki escaping from their captivity at the hands of the trogs and returning to the dragon nursery that was their home. But after being gone a year and because of some things they did before they left, they are returning to a world that is very different than the one they left.

The bonders revolted, the senate freed all the bonders, and the Federation has embargoed the planet for not more than fifty years. And Akki and Jakkin have changed beyond measure too. They spent the night in the egg sack of Jakkin's dying dragon to escape the bitter cold of the Dark-After and when they left it they could tolerate the cold and speak mind to mind with each other and with dragons.

Akki is determined to discover how they developed their powers. She wants to find some sort of vaccine that will let others survive the cold and speak mind to mind but without the necessity of killing the female dragons. Jakkin is even more determined to protect the dragons.

Both have harrowing adventures as Akki learns that all the rebels weren't shipped off the prison planets or rehabilitated and Jakkin is recaptured by the trogs who had held them captive.

The story was engaging and entertaining. I was swept into the story even though I barely remembered the first three books. The writing was wonderful. But, what else could one expect from Jane Yolen? Fantasy fans middle grade and up will enjoy this adventure story and will be eagerly searching out the previous three books in the series. ( )

Akki and Jakken have been rescued from their mountain existence and return first to the nursery and then to the main city of the Rokk primarily so that they can serve as pawns in political schemings.

I'll spill a minor spoiler when I say that halfway through the book, Akki ends up kidnapped, and most of the rest of the tale is spent trying to rescue her.

The book was frustrating because characters who had previously been very capable and interesting and who have a gift few others on their world have, and who have formed impossible relationships out of loyalty and love, are suddenly swept up in events beyond their control. It's like we spent three books learning about how these teens are really able to make their own way in this world because of who they are, and then we get to the fourth book and they're told that they can't sit at the Adult Table anymore.

Yolen tries to imbue this tale with a sense of the political, working up the implications of the telepathy Jakken and Akki share and the abolishment of the bond system that had pushed Jakken to better himself in the first book, but it falls a bit flat. As a caper, the book is mediocre. In comparison with the early volumes, it's disappointing. ( )