I love dragons. This was an interesting book told from the point of view of a dragon as he ages from a hatchling to a dragon who will probably be spoken above in history. The author created a rich world with multiple cultures, peoples, species, and a long history. ( )

Listened to audio narrated by Wanda McCaddon. Described as young adult, it read very simply, something I might read to an older child. The story meanders following Auron's life from egg to mature dragon. His losses, his friendships.
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Couldn't get past the beginning. The intro by the author indicates this is appropriate for tweens. However, the level of detail in the first chapter as the hatchling battles its brothers to the death goes beyond what I call tween. ( )

Wow! This is a YA novel, sort of. Definitely great for adults, but this is a coming of age story. Knight explains in a very short, wonderful introduction that his Vampire Earth series garnered a lot of emails from fans & he likes that, except he noticed many were younger teens. He doesn't think that series is recommended reading for that age group, at least he doesn't want his kids reading it, so he decided to write this series.

As you might guess from the title, the dragon, Auron, is the main character, the hero of the story. It's a great world full of dwarfs, elves, people, & all kinds of critters. While our young dragon is as smart or smarter than a human, he's also able to communicate with some other animals like wolves & dolphins. Dragons are a wonderful mixture of base instincts, long lives, & high intelligence. All of this adds up to a backdrop on which Knight paints a great coming of age story beset by prejudice (both sides), war, slavery, the benefits of learning, & even some love/lust, although the last is handled in an entirely appropriate way for even the youngest kids.

The love/lust bit demonstrates a subtle realism with which Knight hands out the lessons in this book. Auron grows up & has urges. Even human women smell enticing & he realizes what is happening to some extent. He has memories (dragons have a type of telepathy) of how some dragons without mates like to capture female humans & play with them before killing & eating them. This is something he detests, but recognizes this in himself after he actually pursues some one time in a fit of passion. he comes to his senses & berates himself for it.

There is a lot more to this story than just the normal fantasy adventure. Even with 5 stars, I find I don't want to read any more in the series right now. This one was great, but enough for me now. Maybe more later, though.

This is probably a personal thing. I've been like this with other fantasy series that I really like, too. I'm full & another book would be gluttony. It doesn't really make sense to me. I blew right through [a:George R.R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1351944410p2/346732.jpg]'s 'Game of Thrones', but they were kind of like candy. This is more like [a:Janny Wurts|8591|Janny Wurts|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1311431926p2/8591.jpg]' 'War of Light & Shadows', meaty & rich. There is far more to think about than just the fantasy story. ( )

L'originalité de ce bouquin de fantasy ne tient pas tellement au monde. Il y a des humains conquérants, des elfes et des nains sur le retour... C'est assez classique même si l'auteur a su ajouter quelques touches pour se différencier comme le peuple des garnes.
Le truc intéressant, c'est que le personnage central est un dragon. C'est lui le héros et il commence tout petit, à la sortie de l'oeuf. Et la vie des dragons n'est pas facile! Ils ont beau être une race puissante et intelligente, ils sont traqués par tous les autres et ils sont menacés de disparition eux aussi. En plus, Auron commence son histoire de dragonnet gris sans écailles, sans feu, sans ailes et guère plus gros qu'un chien. A peine sorti de l'oeuf, il devra défendre sa vie contre ses frères. A peine quelques mois plus tard, leur nid est attaqué, ses parents tués et il se retrouve hors de la caverne avec une de ses soeurs, livrés à eux-mêmes. Ils vont devoir survivre d'abord ensemble puis séparément dans un monde hostile. Les aventures d'Auron sont bien racontées, plutôt bien trouvées et variées. Le livre finit sur l'image d'Auron et de sa compagne veillant sur leur première couvée. Je pourrais bien me laisser tenter par lire la suite plus tard. ( )