Empire of Dragons Chronicles, #1
K.N. Lee
Captive Quill Press, Nov 2017
Kindle, 156 Pages
Only available in Digital format
Genre(s) YA Fantasy
Source purchased at current price
Other series by this author
The Dragon Born Saga, The Chronicles of Koa, Fallen Gods series, The Eura Chronicles
My Disclaimer:
I purchased a copy of this book at the current price. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review
What it’s about…
Father Marduk is impatiently pacing and Brother Dagan is falling over his words trying to get them out fast enough…” the Stones of Tarth… mage between two red rivers… and the Holy Cleric… a true descendant of the Erani clan… Skal…”
Amalia must run after Thomas is killed by the firedrakes. The whole village is overrun and there’s no help for it. She runs until the water where she hopes she won’t attract the mermaids. But the mermaids are already grabbing at her ankles. She uses her power and they scatter from her. As she climbs onto dry land she’s met by Aros who offers help and swears secrecy about her power. He’s a wolf and supposed to be her enemy, but he hasn’t had his first turning, yet. His pack takes her in and she is safe for a while.
Amalia meets Eris, God of Lost Souls and tells her not to trust Aros. Eris says that someday Aros will forget his promise and tell her secret. Aros meets someone, too.
Kylan is a wolf, but he is more than just a wolf. He is the son of the Alpha of his pack and the next big hunt is his to lead. This will be the hunt to reclaim the pack’s homelands, Kjos. Kylan meets Enit, Goddess of Fate, who gives him the Kiss of Enit Arue to awaken his rune spirit because he’s strong, loyal, and brave. Enit wants Kylan to go find Amalia.
What happens to Aros, Amalia, and Kylan when fate takes a hand?
Technical Tidbits…
The cover is absolutely gorgeous and what drew me to the book initially. However, as beautiful as it is, it’s wrong. Amalia is on the run and is dressed in clothes that have seen better days, practically rags. So, as lovely as she looks here in her armor, it’s all wrong. And that’s a half a star!
The storyline is really great! I loved it. Any story that gets me yelling at a character and telling another one to run or not to trust someone, that’s a good story. It means I’m really involved. Ms. Lee got me involved with Amalia.
The characters were done very well, too. We learn about Amalia from the beginning as it is her story being told. Then we learn about Aros when we meet him. Kylan is introduced very well, too. The only characters we really don’t know that much about are Eris, God of Lost Souls and Enit, Goddess of Fate. We do know they’re sneaky and working to plan.
The pace is good. You move right along. It’s not a flat-out race, but it’s nice and brisk.
The tension is not always so hot. At times it sort of drops you and you feel like you lose your way a bit. Tension should have been higher at the end, but it sort of just stopped, because this is a cliff-hanger.
And this is where you STOP if you don’t want to see any SPOILERS…
The good, the bad, and the ugly…and how much it lit up my life… ✰✰✰✰
The cover really is gorgeous. It’s too bad it doesn’t relate more closely to the story. If Amalia were dressed properly for the story this would be outstanding. The dragon is done so well. I love the way the colors make them blend together and create an almost transparent area.
Apparently, Amalia doesn’t know too much about her magic. Her parents seem to have downplayed it as a birthmark on her hands and not ever trained her how to use it other than how to hide it. She still isn’t that great at hiding it, since it keeps slipping out. But then she uses it to scare away the mermaids, so she knows at least how to do something with it. Something she learned by experimenting on her own most likely. There is no mention (yet) of any sort of training. Maybe Kylan can help her with it. That is if he wakes up to the seriousness of their situation now that his father is dead and they are caged.
Kylan’s airheadedness really surprised me since Enit chose him because of his strength, loyalty, and bravery. I just didn’t expect that sort of behavior from him. I thought he would be more levelheaded. I really hope he is up to the tasks ahead of him. Since he’s fated to be with Amalia, that should mean that the two of them are up to whatever task is ahead of them. I’m assuming it’s Father Marduk and his firedrakes that are the task. They seem to be the ones stomping around killing people at will. I don’t know if I’ll be reading the rest of the series. Right now I have books scheduled to read all the way into February. So, we’ll see. I’m trying to get away from YA and stay with more adult lit.
Recommended
922 wc
a thoughtful reveal 