Embark on an epic new adult fantasy journey with Taran's masterful creation—a world teeming with beasts, magic, political intrigue, and warfare. This is a story not for the faint-hearted, reminiscent of the gripping complexity found in Game of Thrones.

What to anticipate:

🐉 Thrilling encounters with dragons and other fantastical creatures
🐉 A ruthless Empire
🐉 Riveting adventures
🐉 Brutal acts of cruelty
🐉 A unique and captivating magic system

Entering this book with no prior knowledge, my sheer fascination with dragons and fantasy drew me in immediately. While I did enjoy the narrative, I struggled to deeply connect with the characters, particularly Jai, whose naivety and flawed decisions often led to his downfall. Winter, however, emerged as a standout character, and witnessing her bond with Jai evolve was a highlight.

As is typical with fantasy series, this first installment primarily serves as groundwork, providing detailed exposition on Jai's training as a soul-bonded rider and delving into the empire's backstory. Despite this, Taran's engaging prose and expert worldbuilding ensure a captivating read throughout.

I could see what this title was trying to do. It was aiming for funny, with emotions running high throughout and a good set-up for a full series.

Unfortunately, I felt it sell short. It didn't feel like much happened plot-wise, and whilst there was a strong character development, it didn't feel like the punchy fantasy adventure I was helping for. I find it hard when a first book in a series feels like a build up for book two, and this was exactly that, it felt like the author was trying to build tension for book two as opposed to telling a good story in the current book.

Jai has spent his early life in servitude to an old Emperor. His life will change forever upon the arrival of Dragons.
He has to escape a bloody coup when his brothers are brutally murdered.
A small band of misfits will travel the long journey back home.
This start to a new series has many secrets and surprises. You will have to uncover many layers to discover who you can trust.
A very brutal world who not all will survive. You will wait with anticipation for the next instalment.
Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I'm not going to lie, I nearly DNFed this at the first part. It was a bit too political for me but I also believe this is a personal preference. I enjoy faster paced books that are easy to read while this required a bit more attention to all the details. But it's worth to get through it because things kick off and the dragons are great, of course.

I think this is a perfect first book for a new saga and if you're into dragons, this is for you.

An epic new adult fantasy adventure. Taran created a unique world full of beasts, magic, politics and war. Not for the faint hearted, this book reminded me alot of Game of Thrones.

What to expect:

🐉 Dragons and other beasts
🐉 Vicious Empire
🐉 Adventure
🐉 Cruelty
🐉 Unique Magic system

I went into this book completely blind, I just knew I wanted to read it, my obsession with dragons and fantasy made this a perfect book.

Whilst I did really like this book, I didn't connect too strongly with the characters - Jai the main character was very naive and made a few bad decisions that would a lot of the time lead to his downfall.
Of course Winter was the most exciting character in this book for me and I loved seeing her bond grow with Jai.
As usual with fantasy the first book is usually alot of set up for the series, and this book is no exception. There was a lot of description of Jais training on how to be a soul bonded rider and backstory about the empire. But the writing was engaging and Taran did an excellent job at worldbuilding.

I'll definitely be continuing with the series and this is a solid 4 star read for me.

Review will be posted on my Instagram- @blonde.reads.fiction near release date!

Thank you to netgalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This started off great. I loved all the politics of the world and the soulbound concept to different mythical creatures was interesting. Once Jai became soulbound and headed off on his escape/journey, that’s where things went a bit downhill for me unfortunately. There was way too much emphasis on the intricacy of the magic system to the point it got boring, however if you love detailed magic systems this may be for you. The story picked up again in the last 20% but the middle was a bit of a slog to get through. I felt that there wasn’t much character development during this time either, beyond the learning of magic. I do love Rufus though and would have loved to go more in depth with his story.
Overall it sets up the world very well for the next book, although I’m not sure if I’m invested enough to continue.

Thank you to @netgalley and @HarperCollins for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

We are only in April but this may be my top read for 2024.

Dragons, magic, murder, and battles. This book had me hooked from start to finish. The complex magic system and world building was written so well. Although the explanations at times were lengthy they were weaved into the story line so well they didn’t feel laboured and were definitely shown rather than told.

I can’t wait for book 2 and would love more from Fridas POV.

4.5 Stars!

What a fantastic opener to a new world from Taran Matharu. The opening chapter had me hooked from the get-go; what an entrance - literally. I shan't spoil it, but what a brilliant way of introducing a fantasy world, the political climate, and our main cast of characters. Cleverly and quickly done.

What I loved:
- The depth and complexity of characters: Jai's upbringing has been both full of hardship and privilege having grown up in a palace but as a hostage. He straddles two worlds but belongs fully in neither.
- The political landscape. Now, I'm not big into the politics in fantasy usually, but Matharu has handled this in way that is reflected in our characters more than anything; they belong to different cultures and religions. They have different values and belief systems, and thus we learn where their loyalties lie and why. Truly a great way of showing instead of telling.
- The magical creatures: Dragons, Chamrosh, Gryphons. Need I say more.
- There's a certain reveal that I did see coming, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. if anything it added to it because I kept wondering if/when other characters would connect the dots.

Recommended for those who love:
- Found family
- Priory of The Orange Tree / Talonsister
- Magical creatures
- Concealed identities

DNF at 26%

I just found this incredibly dull. I wasn’t engaged in the plot or Jai, our main character. The writing style was easy to read but lacking something for me.

A fantastic read for lovers of high fantasy. If you grew up on the drangonlance books, Eragorn or anything similar you’ll love this intriguing tale.

There is a lot of world building and it takes a bit to get into but if you survived Tolkien then I promise this is just as much worth it.

I like that there’s a bit of romance for those that enjoy it but it isn’t overpowering.

Looking forward to book 2

I have to say for a book with Dragon Rider as the title and a huge picture of a dragon on the cover, there was a disappointing lack of dragons for a good portion of the book.

At the start of the book they played a very small part, with the dragon rider bond not actually forming until 200 pages in. And even then, I felt that there wasn’t enough emphasis placed on the bond between Winter and Jai and more placed on the magic that he could use now he was bonded to her. I was really disappointed by this as the soul bonding was really the reason I was reading the book and I love a good relationship between a dragon and it’s rider.

The rest of the story was really good though. I enjoyed Winter as a character, despite how I felt the book ignored her and the multi-sided war is going to be really interesting. I’m looking forward to see how the different characters and their countries come into play in the next book.

Drawing you in from the very first page, Dragon Rider is an epic fantasy that is a must read for fans of Eragon, Green Rider and The Name of The Wind.
Partly court politics, partly coming of age saga, Dragon Rider is about Jai - a young boy serving the elderly former King that conquered his people and killed his father. When the Crown Prince is betrothed to a neighbouring kingdom in an attempt to forge peace, it sets in motion a change of events that will challenge everything Jai understands about himself and his place in the world. With the Prince declaring war on half of the known world, Jai must learn to become an adept Soul-bound - learning magic and fighting - to protect himself and the Handmaiden he tries to warn away from danger.
I CANNOT WAIT to see how this progresses. Book 1 was filled with action - near death experiences, betrayal, murder, jailbreak, torture, dragons, thieves, magic, mayhem - and I am ready for more.

I really wanted to love this book. As a fan of Matharu's previous books, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this because it sounded like a book I would devour. However, the first half, yes half, of the book was so heavy with it's world set up and politics that I almost DNF'd it. Thankfully, I was intrigued enough by the 'Souldbond' that I continued to where the events of the blurb actually happen.

Definitely think this could had been a bit more fast pace, as this was far too slow for my personal tastes, and maybe could've started nearer to the action but once things get going, this was wonderful! Matharu does a fantastic job of setting up everything that allows you to enjoy the second half of this story for what it is, a brilliant political fantasy, with great worldbuilding and dragons

I want to thank Harper's Collins and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it. And I do think a lot of people will love this book. I am intrigued enough that I want to know what happens next, so will definitely be looking out for book two.

I've no doubt people are going to love this series. The first book sets things up nicely - it's a great introduction to the magic system, the world, the politics, a few mysterious characters who are more than they seem and, of course, dragons and other fantastical beasts. There is also plenty of intrigue and action and some nasty villains to keep the reader on their toes so it really has it all.

I read this ARC over the weekend, so it would still be counting into my march reads 😄 It’s been on my shelf for some time now and I finally felt like jumping into a new dragon book.

The first third of the book really had me. It was the perfect balance of world building, meeting the characters and figuring out where the story would take us. But then the middle part came which was a long stretch of absolute boredom, it nearly made me stop reading the book altogether. I didn’t feel the connections or the new characters, everything felt very dragged out. But then the last third came and that had me hooked again 😆

Overall I’m not sure if this is a must read, but I did like when idea of the story and the writing (at least at the beginning).

The book was around 400 pages and either should’ve had more tension to keep the reader hooked, or just canceled out a few chapters all together.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is a progressive fantasy heavily drawing from historical empires and moves at a slower pace with shorter chapters. Jai is the youngest son and prince of Rohan of the Steppefolk. Ever since he was a child, he has been a political prisoner of the Sabine Empire and served its former emperor as a manservant. The time is drawing nearer for him and his brothers to return home, but the interrupted wedding between Titus, the heir to the Sabine Empire and Princess Erica of the Dansk disrupts everything.

The story opens with a lot of political intrigue as Jai has a front row seat to a lot of what happens in politics but he is not well-respected and is even treated as lesser despite his status as a foreign prince. When he meets Frida, the handmaiden of princess Erica, he grows more curious about the soulbound, a group of people who bind themselves to creatures, such as direwolves and dragons. Frida later proves to be his greatest ally when Jai makes a connection with Winter, a hatchling dragon, and the two hurry to return Frida to Dansk.

I really liked the dynamic between Jai and Frida and I even ship them. Jai is a goner for Frida while she is trying to hold everything together and do what’s best for her people. Despite her seeming single-mindedness, she shows trust in Jai several times and expresses reluctance in leaving him behind. I’m always here for the guy falling first and the girl trying to keep it together.

Winter and Jai’s dynamic was also really cute. From Jai seeing the world through Winter’s eyes to her sleeping on his chest, it was very gentle and sweet.

Because the story moves at a slower pace, we spend a decent amount of time worldbuilding and exploring the Gryphon Guard, Sabine soldiers who are soulbound to gryphons, the various ways the empires in this world are connected, and how soulbounding works as it’s various levels. The progressive fantasy aspect is mostly linked to the magic system and how the soulbound ‘level up’ in their connections and abilities.

I would recommend this to fans of dragon fantasies looking for something slower, readers looking for longer, worldbuilding-heavier books, and those who are looking to try out a progressive fantasy but prefer dragons and political intrigue.

DNF'd at 22%.
Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. The premise of dragons is what first appealed to me. I found the story to be very slow and boring, and I didn't have any feeling towards any of the characters. There was nothing that made me "care" about Jai, the main character. He just didn't have that "buzz" for me.
The world building in this book was very confusing and quite inconsistent at times. There was also that thing that I hate in fantasy books, where the author just throws in terms - in this case things like "soul bonding" and "Chamrosh", with the expectation that the reader will just "know" what these things are or what they mean or what they entail. No explanation or description of what these things are is ever given.
Very disappointing because I was really hoping this was going to be good, and unfortunately, for me, it just didn't deliver.

Having read each of the Summoner books, I wanted to see what Taran Matharu's adult fantasy fiction would be like. I was not disappointed and am already eagerly anticipating the new book in the series. Jai is one of the few 'free' members of his race and Dragon Rider tells his story from nobody to discovering that he is somebody. A tale of adventure, risk taking, plots and conspiracies, allegiance and ultimately the bond between soul bound and their totem.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves to be lost in a fantastical world for an hour or two.

I LOVED this book. I don’t even know where to start! We follow Jai, who is an indentured servant for a controlling empire which is responsible for the destruction of his family. The princess of the Dansk kingdom, Erica, is engaged to the Emperor’s son, but the rehearsal goes horribly wrong and Jai must escape or die at the hands of the empire. He steals a dragon egg, and discovers that he has a connection with the dragon he thought only the Dansk could have. I thought the first few chapters seemed a bit slow but interesting, and once Jai discovered the dragon egg, the story really picked up and I just couldn’t stop reading! I liked that there were shorter chapters so it was easier to read in bursts and it didn’t seem too big of a book to get through. I was so pleased to have been given the chance to read this, as it was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I can’t wait for more, even though the book hasn’t even been published yet! I would 100% recommend this to any fans of Eragon or Fourth Wing, or just fantasy and dragons in general. It has to be one of the best books of 2024 so far!

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is like one of those really deceptive roller coasters, it starts with a slow rollout onto the tracks, tentatively and carefully aligning to the track to take grip and gradually build the speed to stealthily ascend and then it explodes in a crescendo of pace, plot development and ultimately thrilling ride… and this is just book one!

Dragon Rider is set amidst a world of warriors, war, conquering rulers, colonialism, slavery and of course politics! A domineering empire that has sought to devour, control and imprison their neighbouring countries and regions, some who have only held fast because of their dragons! Yes, I said it – Dragons! Matharu delivers a masterclass in the development of world-building, politics and war, and all that this has brought to the kingdoms including colonialism, dualistic society, slavery and suffering, alongside a magical system – souldbonding. Soulbonding is the development or melding of a relationship between human and mythical (in our world,) beast – Direwolf, Zhiro (I want one!) and Dragon!

There’s no question that this is an adult fantasy novel – the levels of physical and sexual violence, subjugation, torture and slavery are significant but, not delivered for the sake of shock, but as part of the plot, the world and the character development.
Jai is the core protagonist of the story, the unassuming 3rd son of a conquered royal family, he is serving boy to the abdicated Emperor in his twilight years. Jai has spent his life being overlooked, scorned and made to feel that he has no value, other than the perfunctory and dutiful love of his two elder brothers, who are also subjugated in service to the Royal Prince. I can’t say that there’s anything new or surprising about Jai’s character arc, but despite this he is empathetic and likeable. The other protagonist in the story is Frida, hearthmaid to the Princess Erica, she is a strong, brave and truly inspiring character. Her quiet strength, empathy and compassion for others shines throughout, despite the fact that she is fighting her own demons and mourning her own significant loss.

Finally, there is Winter – she is utterly adorable and I assure you that there is plenty of space in my heart, my hearth and my home for Winter, no matter how big she grows. Winter is just utterly wonderful and you will definitely fall in love with her too!

Taran Matharu has delivered a spectacular first book in a trilogy, creating a layered and intriguing world, character arcs of depth and consideration and a plot that just goes from strength to strength! I can’t wait for book 2 and am in mourning for how long I will have to wait!