I sadly could not get into this one, no matter how many times I tried. I just didn't care for the story and started to just feel overwhelmed.

Sorry!

The world building in this book was amazing, but quite dense at the start which made it a hard read to get into. However, it was well worth it for such a developed world and well developed characters. I like that I'm not sure what way the story is going to go after this first installment, and really enjoyed the chemistry between the cast.

DNF @ 28% - wasn’t for me.

I think this world was just a little too complicated for me to comprehend, I was so confused. I liked that the chapters were short, but even with picking up the audio to try and help me along I was so lost, even with the slow pace that appeared to be set for exactly this reason.

Solid story. I did enjoyed main characters and their interactions and the way they were growing up, learn new skills. Ending was open enough to think what can happen next. Overall easy to follow book, nicely written, great for young fantasy readers and older ones too.

This book was just plain awesome! It read fast, was gripping, wellpaced and has some amazing characters. I am so bummed to have to wait until April for book 2!

I’ve known the author since his Summoner series, and once again, he did not disappoint. Since this is only the first installment, it’s hard to predict how the entire saga will turn out, but judging by the quality of the first book, I feel confident. I really enjoyed the world-building, the dynamics between the empire and other nations, and the fact that the protagonist has endured many difficult situations. I also loved the concept of bonding with a dragon (and not just that) and the fact that all the characters in the book have distinct personalities. Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen during the wedding. Overall, I’d say this book is definitely worth picking up.

I did really enjoy this.

This is an epic high fantasy following Jai, an orphan who seeks the secrets of dragon riding. I really liked the writing, and wanted the pace to pick up which it eventually did after about 100 pages. I liked the slowburn and the chemistry was amazing. Although some points were quite strongly descriptive in the writing, which slowed down the pace a little.

Overall, a fun read about dragons and Jai discovering his newfound powers. I would recommend!

I thought it was a little slow. But overall entertaining. Honestly anything with dragons will always be my go too

The excellent start of a new fantasy series that made me appreciate dragons again. Fast paced, action packed, and well plotted.
I loved the storytelling and can't wait to read the next novel.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

i'm so sorry. i tried, but i couldn't get through this. such a slow start and it felt like the writing was dense but didn't actually explain much. hard to grasp the story and i'm not patient enough for this kind of narrative.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
Quite slow beginning, but the second half of the book delivers solid action and story development that truly makes you read till the end in one breath. Deep story, emotional development, dragons, the romance part lacks a little, but the magic system makes up for that. All in all intriguing book.

Thank you Publisher and Netgalley for this advanced copy

This is my first time reading Taran Matharu books, and I really enjoy it. I love the coming of age aspect in this book and the dynamic relationship between human and the dragons

I had high expectations for this book and maybe because of that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

The book is good and I would definitely recommend it to any dragon loving bookworms out there but for me it did fall a little short on the dragon side of things.

But the world Matharu has created has been done extremely well with a very intriguing magic system included.

This book definitely felt like a bit of a set up book so I will definitely be reading the second to see if it picks up.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishes for the advanced copy!

Wow! I don't have much to say other than this is EXACTLY what I wanted from a fantasy/dragon book. Would recommend highly!

Great book with good worldbuilding.
It has some great characters (and some nasty ones) and a compelling adventure.

3.5

I didn't end up being quite as immersed into this story as I was hoping to be, but I'm really excited to find out what is going to come next in the series. The worldbuilding is very intricate, filled with various politics, mythical creatures, colonisation and slavery, and a very intriguing magic system of soulbonding. The pacing is a little strange -with very short chapters, you can fly through it, but then you have pretty slow pacing, even in some of the action scenes.

I think my biggest issue with this book, is that despite the stunning cover, and the literal TITLE of the book being "Dragon Rider", there are not NEARLY enough dragons in here as I thought there would be. Although I adore little Winter, the hatchling dragon Jai comes across, I really thought other dragons would play a much bigger role and they really didn't. Of course this will change as the series goes on, but I felt quite disappointed given the title of the book hints at there being more dragons?

Anyway, this was a well-written book, I liked the characters and the political intrigue and I'm excited to see what will come next from this series!

An exhilarating journey into a fantastical world filled with magic, danger and unforgettable characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for allowing me to review this title!

Dragon Rider is the newest series by Taran Matharu who wrote the Summoner series. It follows a young boy named Jai whose father was the leader of the Steppefolk. He and his two older brothers were captured as political prisoners after the Sabine emperor defeated his father in battle. Since he was young he has been in service to the royal family and he has been the attendant to the retired emperor.

When a political marriage between the Sabine heir and the heir to the Dansk throne goes horribly wrong, Jai is set on a life altering journey that will put him through every test he can possibly imagine. On the journey he finds some very surprising friends who could either lead to him escaping or who could cause his death.

The premise of this book is one that has been told quite a few times before. And since this is the first in the series I will accept that. The book was definitely well written, as the author's first venture into adult fantasy. The characters are all very easy to root for, and it is needed since Jai has a way of landing himself in the worst life or death situations of almost any character I've encountered before.

I really did enjoy this book, though. And I will definitely be picking up the next one in the series. And possibly also some of the author's backlist as well!

This was a dnf for me, I don't think there was anything particularly bad that mad me dnf, I just wasn't able to connect with the book. I think I'll take another wack at it post-august, and hopefully be back here with a proper review. I love dragon rider books, so this is for sure a book I will read.