Jewels of the Dragon is the begining of the Rikard Braeth saga. Our young hero is a university trained historian who is tracking down his father who abandoned him and his mother to return to his old life of adventuring, and seeking out the final fortune of all fortunes. For years Rikard has followed his fathers movements (though his father left over a decade ago, before Rikard was barely a teen). Rikard tracks his father to Kohltri, a sort of self-exiled penal planet, where the citizens cut you down in the middle of the street in broad daylight, if they think it's worth their while. Kohltri is not a planet for acedemic types, as Rikard soon discovers. He must learn either to blend in with the criminal element, be accepted as a tourist, or go home to the the safe halls of the university (providing he can find a way off-planet). While searching for his father on Kohltri, Rikard makes some unlikely allies, and quite a few enemies, as well as several amazing discoveries, that would seal his career as a historian and archaeologist, if he can survive Kohltri, and then find a way to leave the planet. There are several twists to the plot which keeps you glued to the book waiting to see what'll happen next.

The characters are engaging, and spirited. I really enjoyed this book and have re-read it several times. The whole atmosphere of the book was intriguing, and I found myself wishing for more details, or possibly spin-off novels about the Belshpaer, or Atreef (alien lifeforms). This book however, did not bog down with a lot of insignificant details, there was enough to keep interest up, mixed with enough action that I do not recall one dull moment. I truly recommend this book to anyone looking for a something a little different, than the traditional interstellar-war or futuristic styled spaceaged-monarchy common in so much main-stream sci-fi.

The author introduces us to Rikard Braeth, a young man in search of his father. On a strange planet, our hero becomes involved in ancient mysteries and forgotten races. Rikard makes new friends and enemies in his search for his father, ending the story in an unforseen direction. This is the first book in a trilogy which combines archeology, adventure and strange alien races in a futuristic "Indiana Jones." The next two books in the series, "Crown of the Serpent," and "Lair of the Cyclops" are also highly recommended.

In Rikards 3rd adventure he returns to the less legal aspects, of among other things, archaeology. Rikard who was the hero of both Jewels of the Dragon, and Crown of the Serpent, now has two new companions...Grayshard, a tathas type (fungal) life form, and Droagn, an Ahmear (a large serpent-like creature) who was 'rescued' by Rikard and Grayshard from the Tschagan, after being in stasis for a few million years (read Crown of the Serpent for the details on that story). In Lair of the Cyclops, Rikard and his crew head out to discover the secrets (and perhaps a few nice artifacts to sell on the black-market) of a race that changed the galaxy for the better, and then was wiped out of existence. Along the way Rikard and his friends run into another Gesta who creates much grief for all who encounter her. Ms. Toerson, cares nothing for anyone or anything, her ego is so great she would destroy acient and irreplaceable artifacts, just so no one else could ever see them. Unwittingly Rikard is her nemisis, even though he is also a gesta, like Ms. Toerson, Rikard has reverence for life and antiquities, and he must stop her rampage of destruction. Ms. Toerson's connections to wealthy and powerful people keep her immune from criminal prosecutions, and even to some degree Rikard. At every turn she is there to thwart and destroy every discovery Rikard and his friends make before they can be recorded for the scholars to study. It is truly a struggle of wills and prowess between the two gesta. Readers should definately check out the first two books in the saga, to get the full background in Rikard and his friends, but this book stands well on it's own which is good because the first two are hard to find. Mr. Wold has an incredibly vivid and fertile concept of of the universe these novels take place in, and I am definately looking forward to more adventures of Rikard Braeth, either in his home stellar region, or another such as the Anarchy of Raas, or the Abogarn Hegemony