This next book is the sequel to another book that I recently reviewed, The Woods Out Back. The Dragon’s Dagger is the second book in The Spearwielder’s Tale by R. A. Salvatore and continues the adventures of Gary, Mickey, Kelsey, And Geno. It opens on Mickey stealing the armor and spear of Cedric Donigarten in order to reassemble the group of friends. His reason is that Robert the Wretched, who was supposed to be imprisoned for 100 years after the previous adventure, is out wreaking havoc in the countryside. When leaving Robert’s lair Gary had unintentionally kept a dagger that was taken during a fight. Gary stealing the dagger, even accidentally, meant that Robert was free to leave. With five years having passed for Gary he is now stuck trying to explain all of this to his new girlfriend Diane, he never does convince her. After reassembling the four friends must first rescue Baron Pwyll, the actual owner of the armor and spear, from being blamed for the theft. They are shortly thereafter joined by Gerbil, a gnome inventor from the town of Gondubuggan, who was sent to spread the word that Robert is on the loose and attacking. As they work together to stop Robert they must also deal with the forces of the human king Kinnemore, led by Prince Geldion, who are trying to slow them down or prevent them under orders from the evil witch Ceridwen. Luckily for them, Ceridwen herself is unable to oppose them as she is still under her own confinement after their previous adventure.
Much like the previous book I was greatly intrigued by the land of Faerie created by Salvatore. Here, we get to see a lot more of the nuances present in the interactions between the different races. There is more detail provided in regards to the politics of the human kingdom in particular as we watch Baron Pull of Dinnemara as he pushes back against King Kinnemore and Prince Geldion. He is backed by the Lords of Drochit and Braemar but they have to be extremely careful about how they do things. The kingdoms forces after them but they have to wait and let those same forces strike the first blow. Pwyll’s side doesn’t want to start a rebellion or civil war while Robert is still ravaging the countryside around their towns. At the same time they can’t just give in as that creates a dangerous precedent. It was really intriguing watching all of this play out. While all of this is going on we also get to new players on the scene. A contingent of dwarves show up to help Baron Pwyll against Robert and we finally learn more about the gnomes who were only briefly mentioned in the previous book. I actually found the gnomes to be really cool to read about, even if I was a little surprised to see their inclusion in the land of Faerie. The reason that I like them is that they are essentially an entire race of mad scientists willing to do whatever it takes to test their ideas. So much so that most of their highest awards are only awarded posthumously. We meet them in the form of Gerbil, an inventor who created a mountain range crossing packilage delivery system using explosives. He is the first live package to be sent in order to help spread the word faster about Robert. I could not handle being a human cannonball, sorry but that is not happening. Yet that is one of the first things that we see him do. It makes him an interesting addition to the group of friends. This book definitely earns its four out of five stars.
Overall, the book was easily as good as the previous one and a great addition to the series. I would definitely recommend it to people who are either fans of the fantasy genre in general or of R. A. Salvatore in particular. A couple of things to keep in mind though. There is again a decent level of violence which may make it unsuitable for younger readers. This is also the second book in the series and it is unfortunately not a stand-alone. I highly advise you to read the first book prior to reading this book in order to have the full background and a better understanding of events. As always let me know if you decide to try it and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.