I was a bit hesitant to read this just because of some of the reviews I had read.

However I decided to read it on the insistence of my partner.

Over all I enjoyed the story. It was easy to follow and gripping, while still being well paced.

The writing style was simplistic, not as wordy as a lot of fantasy work, so I was happy about that, felt like I needed something simple.

The characters were interesting enough to move the story along, although I feel that the only characters that really developed were the dragons.

The dragons are obviously a big part of this story, but I feel like I did not get to read enough about them. There were a lot of hints about something bigger than just this story's time line going on. I wanted to know about the history of this world, and the conflict between the dragons and the Alchemists. I think this was not delved into enough, but maybe the author was planning on doing something with that at a later date.

I also feel that the ending is very wide open. It feels like a second beginning, and I want to know where it is going, and what is going to happen next (if there is a next installment).

Enjoyed this very much and was a nice break from some of the high fantasy I have been reading. ( )

I didn't realize this was the first in a series, I thought it was a stand-alone novel, and so ... the ending pissed me off at first. If that was the ending for a stand-alone novel, it would have been terrible. For a series, it totally works. Thank the gods, or I would have had to give it a lower rating and that would have been sad.

Because it was good! Okay I rolled my eyes when I opened it and saw four fucking family trees, were girls were marked with flowers and boys with swords, because oh em gee even Tolkien put the family trees in the back and flowers for girls and swords for boys? COME ON.

Luckily it became better from the very next page, and did not disappoint med (hard though, given my very low expectations). I've been trying to find really great dragon fantasy since I finished Temeraire, and in this one I really found it. A blurb said it's like a mix of Pern and Westeros, and now I'm not familiar with Pern (but I know dragon riders are involved), but yeah, there is some truth to this. Not as bloody as GoT, which is nice, and the dragons aren't as nice as, say, Novik's dragons, but it still is a great mix between the two.

There are of course some things that aren't awesome. Like, IDK, what is even the point in having some casual sexism there? The female characters are great, and there were like three mentions about how rare a female knight-marschall-whatever was, so why even bother with it? Why not make it sort of equal? This critique is true for most fantasy though, and this was hardly one of the worst offenders.

The bad guy was creepy and well-written, but I didn't really understand why he did what he did. Why did he have to kill the queen? Why couldn't he marry his lover? He seemed to have a reason, and I bought that he knew what he was doing, but I didn't really understand it. Suppose politics or something is to blame. Mostly a good villain though, although having your girlfriend seduce a dude that repulses her so much she has to THROW UP after they have sex was ... not okay dude, not okay at all.

Snow the dragon is the best character though. Sometimes she makes me a little sad when she eats people, but she is still the best.

Gonna have to get the sequel from the library ASAP. And here I wasn't even gonna enjoy this book, I just got it because I wanted something with dragons..... ( )

I am going to start with what I liked, because there are some aspects to that I found pretty good..

The concept is interesting. Instead of dragons working with humans they are unknowingly enslaved from the moment they are born, and of course this becomes one of the main points of conflict in the story when one gets away. The writing is also good and pacing make for a relatively quick and easy read.

The dragons concept is about where my enjoyment for this book ends. I found myself enjoying the chapters with Snow much more than the others. The re-awakening to need for revenge plotline was much more interesting than the stab at political intrigue. This book also falls rather short on character personality and development.

" 'He's vicious, callous, arrogant, self-obsessed-'
'You could be describing any of us' She smiled slightly."

I feel like the quote wasn't meaning to be intentional, but it really does describe all of the human characters. The royals especially. Everyone is a selfish, scheming, stone cold plotter to get to the top. Except Jehal, who just seems to be a little better at everything to keep him ahead of the rest. Most of the time I would forget who's POV the chapter was supposed to be from until a name was mentioned. Even the dragons, despite being awakened, had little personality beyond being impulsive, impatient, and eating anything close to them. Maybe that is because they are still too "new" after realizing what has been happening to them, but even Snow doesn't have much growth.

A smaller nit pick, and maybe it was the copy I had, but it could have benefitted from having a world map. It makes it harder to get more into the story and world when names are just thrown around without having any real sense where they sit in the world itself other than knowing it's in the mountains or forest.

There are a lot of good tokens and tidbits in this first installment, but the lack of character in world building pulls it down for me. It is the author's first book, so maybe the later ones improve on this, but for now I am left a little torn. Maybe eventually I'll decide to take the plunge and see if the later books are better. ( )

For a novel that seemed to be very straightforward, run-of-the-mill fantasy, this had some interesting stand-out points. It's peopled with magnificently unlikable characters - selfish, arrogant schemers all - who nevertheless are dynamic and driven enough to really grab and keep your attention. Still, I stand by my check-in musings: that this is a sort of fantasy version of Dangerous Liaisons, where you're supposed to be so bothered by the unchecked privilege and self-centredness of the royalty that you're amenable to the notion of revolution. The fact that in this case the revolution is dragons just adds to the fun, really.

But I couldn't really say I enjoyed it a lot. The writing skips along easily, but isn't beautiful. And none of the characters, because of their myriad and wallowed-in flaws, really demands I follow them onwards. I'm mildly interested in seeing Jehal get his come-uppance, but not enough to spend more time with his smug twerpery. And the big question of "Can mankind survive the uprising of the dragons?" isn't really compelling: I sort of don't care if they do. ( )

I personally didn't really like the book and I gave up on it half way through. This doesn't mean it was a really bad book. It wasn't, but it wasn't interesting either.

The main theme of the book is scheming nobles. This is really boring to me. It has been done so many time and I am tired of it. None of the characters are really interesting/likable enough to make it worth it to sit through this. ( )