A "remarkable debut" (Locus) from the "new Dragon Lord in town" (Gareth Wilson, Falcata Times). The power of the Realms depends on its dragons. With their terrifying natures, they are ridden by the aristocracy and bred for hunting and war. But as dangerous political maneuverings threaten the complacency of the empire, a single dragon has gone missing. And even that one dragon-returned to its full intelligence and fury-could spell disaster for the Realms...
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The dragons in this book are not cuddly creatures. In fact, they think of humans as bite-sized snacks most of the time. But still, they are in service to the various dragon kings and queens that populate this tale only because they've been drugged since birth and taught to obey their dragon riders. But if a dragon were to say, go off its meds...? That would be bad. Much of the book has various nobles of the realms jockeying for power and being treacherous. Some other characters are just trying to stay alive. There's also a tribe of people outside of the dragon realms that are interesting in that they have their own magics and potions and are just trying to finagle a viable dragon egg. I hope to learn more about them later in this trilogy. My biggest complaint with this book is that there's no clear protagonist to root for. There are a few interesting characters to follow although we really don't know that much about them. And Jehal, one of the dragon princes, is fun only because he's so selfish, devious, and dangerous. I found that as I continued reading the story, it became more and more interesting especially with regard to the dragons themselves. I enjoyed the story but I'm hoping the second book will include more action and less intrigue. (3.5 stars)
