Fire Rider has a storyline that was definitely up my street. Magic and dragons are always a good topic for me! I did enjoy the story, however everything just felt a little too simple and outdated for me.

I personally prefer a more complex writing style, but I think this would appeal to people just looking for a quick and easily digestible story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fire Rider

Thank you to Netgalley and Paul Gaskell for a review e-copy of this book.

This book had me at magic and dragons. With a premise that reminded me slightly of Eragon (which I adore) I read it almost as soon as it hit my kindle.

Fire Rider follows Oracus who becomes the rider of a Lavorian and aided by his new super powers go on a quest to avenge the death of his father and the destruction of his village at the hands of a tyrannical King.

As advertised, I got a definite PJO/Eragon vibe and tbh the book is exactly as described and sometimes that’s just what you need. It’s only whilst typing this review that I’m realising that it was released a good few years ago so I’m off to track down a sequel and just get stuck right in.

In the interest of transparency i’d like to add that the concepts in this book aren’t new. They’ve been done before and I admit that they’ve been done better (in the aforementioned books) but there was something so comforting about this read that it was doubly exciting just because of it. It was extremely well written and the author is clearly a gifted writer. It’s concise, and not overly complex and just one you can dig into without the need for a break. I’m also a sucker for great world building and this book definitely hit that spot for me. The lack of an info dump was also so refreshing because they’re becoming so common in YA fantasy lately.

Definitely an author I’m going to check out properly.

This was a great beginning to this series. It has adventure, a little romance, and fun creatures. The twists weren't guessable until right before they were revealed. Each character was intriguing and well thought out. I can't wait to read more.

Fire Rider: good story, ver interesting plot and some likeable characters, but with some slow parts that I didn't like.

Fire rider by Paul Gaskill.
A good read with some good characters. Likeable story. Slow In places but readable. 3,*.

Fire Rider was an exciting tale of friendship and loyalty. After our main character's family is killed, he joins a rebellion with goals to kill the king. Along the way, he bonds with a mythical Lavorian, and befriends other riders. With an exciting plot, and loveable characters, this book held my attention the entire time.
This book switches between two primary perspectives, Catania and Oracus. We see more from Oracus, and he was definitely my favorite character. He was funny, and I really liked how he struggled with joining the rebellion, instead of making a hasty decision like so many other YA characters. His bond with his Lavorian, Bandor, was a highlight of this book, and something I want to see more of in the next book.
Along with a strong main character, we also had a small cast of supporting characters. Kilvali was the most developed side character, but I wasn’t too interested in her. Her romance with Oracus played a fairly small part in the book, but I was happy with how it was written. It felt realistic in the way it came about, and was somewhat slow-burn.
The world building in this book does leave a bit to be desired, as it is fairly vague. It does deviate from the stereotypical fantasy world by adding new races of beings, but that just made it more confusing. While the Lavorians are interesting, the other races kind of blended together into one inconsequential blur. With that being said, they will likely play a larger part in the next book, so my confusion should be alleviated
I was immediately drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover, and I don’t regret reading it at all. I’ll be looking to read the rest of the series, because I think this world and plot has a lot to offer!

Thanks to Paul Gaskill and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I received a DM from the author, Paul Gaskill, on Instagram asking me to read and give an honest review of his book - Oracus: The Lavorian Rider.

This is well written story, however a lot of it is pretty predictable and has a lot of moments of picking up then falling flat again.. I was hoping for more action and fantasy sequences. At any rate, while it is not for me it may strike someone else's fancy.

Thank you Netgalley and Paul Gaskill for the copy.