Books like Bazil Broketail

    The fact that this is not a more well-known novel continues to irk me. I can only assume that the cover art killed the sales of this series. In fact, I often use these books as an example of the worst cover art that I have ever seen.    Bazil Broketail is a fantasy novel written in a style that reminds me of military science fiction. Rowley has the ability to give just the right amount of detail so that the reader can understand exactly what is happening at any moment, even in a chaotic battle. The two main characters play off of each other very well and the dragons who, at first, seem stupider than the humans, end up being much more sensible, and bringing much to the table besides fighting strength.    The magic system laid out here is wonderful and unique, focusing on sacrifices and movement between the planes of existence. The evil powers are mostly raiding The Argonath for women to breed imps and cows to breed trolls, and there is a certain creepy logic to their motivations. The witches who support our main characters are not hurling fireballs around, their magics are more subtle and most of them seem rather detached from the events of the world.    I even love the fact that the princess that they try to save seems like such a twit that you wonder if they will be doing their people any favors by saving her.    Anyway, read this series. It has not been in print for some time, and there is no audiobook version, but find a copy and read it, it is well worth it.