The King of the Crags 2

This bleak sequel to 2010's The Adamantine Palace holds up a dark mirror to companion animal fantasies. The aristocrats treat their dragons as prized pets, little knowing that the creatures are intelligent, capable of speech, and only controlled with harsh drugs and brutal training. As the escaped white dragon Snow plots to free her imprisoned fellows, the usurping Queen Zafir and her equally amoral lover, Prince Jehal, take power and immediately turn on each other. An array of conspirators rises up against them, led by exiled Princess Jaslyn and the veteran dragonmaster Hyrkallen. In this cold world, alliances are formed for revenge, comfort, ambition, and religious revelation, but never true affection. Fans of grim epic fantasy will find these intrigues engrossing. (Feb.)
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In his "utterly fascinating" (Book Smuggler) debut, The Adamantine Palace, Stephen Deas "restored [dragons] to all their scaly fire- breathing glory" (_Daily Telegraph_). Now, as the Realms teeter on the brink of war, the fate of humanity rests in the survival of one majestic white dragon.

Prince Jehal has had his way-now his lover Zafir sits atop the Realms with hundreds of dragons and their riders at her beck and call. But Jehal's plots are far from over, for he isn't content to sit back and watch Zafir command the earth and sky. He wants that glory for himself- no matter who he must sacrifice to get it. The one thing Jehal fears is that the white dragon still lives-and if that is so, then blood will flow, on all sides...