What do you think?
Rate this book
The Dragoneers Saga #0.5-3
Confliction Compendium
The Confliction Compendium is an omnibus edition of the Full Confliction Cycle of Dragoneers novels which includes a special "Amazon Exclusive" Foreward by Derek Prior,
The First Dragoneer,
The Royal Dragoneers,
Cold Hearted Son of a Witch,
and The Confliction,
as well as the first two Crimzon & Clover short stories.
These titles are all available seperately and have many reviews on their individual pages.
The First Dragoneer,
The Royal Dragoneers,
Cold Hearted Son of a Witch,
and The Confliction,
as well as the first two Crimzon & Clover short stories.
These titles are all available seperately and have many reviews on their individual pages.
888 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 19, 2011
123 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
M.R. Mathias
89 books397 followersM. R. Mathias is a member of the Authors Guild who cares for his wife, a Breast Cancer Warrior who has Parkinson's. After raising two boys into fine young men, they and two dogs split their time between a modest smalltown home, and an apartment built on a floating dock on Lake Ultura (aka Lake Texoma) which foots into an amazing State Park brimming with all sorts of wildlife. Like the wizards of old, he tends to the animals who share the area and inspire the creatures in his works. He likes to fish, write, play guitar, and he builds all sorts of things out of reclaimed wood. He sold over two million eBooks most of them before eBooks were cool. His work is critically acclaimed, and has earned multiple literary awards, including a coveted Locus Poll nomination.
**Featured in the March 2020, Publisher's Weekly article, "As Luck Would Have It"
"The Master of Epic Fantasy" - Kindle Nation Daily, Nov. 2017
Mathias has authored several fantasy series and compiled an admirable list of accolades along the way.
--Devious Arcana, (ongoing)
--The Wardstone Trilogy (3 Books)
-- Perpetual Fantastica Fantastica (4 Books)
--The Dragoneer Saga (6 Books)
--The Legend of Vanx Malic (10 Books)
--The Crimzon and Clover Short Story Series (8 Books)
--Master Zarvin's Adventures (3 Books)
--Dragon Racers (3 books)
If you are a Kindle Unlimited user, treat yourself to some of the best "hidden gem" fantasy ever written.
Find M. R. Mathias online: mrmathiasbooks .com
Here is what others are saying about M. R. Mathias:
"There are few writers in the genre of fantasy that can equal the creative mind of M.R. Mathias - now acknowledged as a master in this genre of dragons and dwarves, and magic, and spells, and all aspects of fantasy."-- Top 100, Hall of Fame, Vine Voice, Book Reviewer, Grady Harp
"M.R. Mathias imagines a setting that will entice readers and lead them, along with his characters, on a breathtaking adventure." -- Readers Favorite Book Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2017 Award Winning novel "A Gossamer Lens" from The Legend of Vanx Malic series
"M.R. Mathias is a master at world building and is so good with creative descriptions that you can almost feel the wind whipping through your hair as you soar along on the back of a dragon." -- Readers Favorite Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2015 "Gold Medal" Award Winning novel "Blood and Royalty" from The Dragoneer Saga"
"You've (Mathias) already achieved much, much more than so many people who like to think of themselves as writers." -- @Gollancz The Deputy Publishing Director of SF, Fantasy & Horror list of the Orion Publishing Group, 2013
**Featured in the March 2020, Publisher's Weekly article, "As Luck Would Have It"
"The Master of Epic Fantasy" - Kindle Nation Daily, Nov. 2017
Mathias has authored several fantasy series and compiled an admirable list of accolades along the way.
--Devious Arcana, (ongoing)
--The Wardstone Trilogy (3 Books)
-- Perpetual Fantastica Fantastica (4 Books)
--The Dragoneer Saga (6 Books)
--The Legend of Vanx Malic (10 Books)
--The Crimzon and Clover Short Story Series (8 Books)
--Master Zarvin's Adventures (3 Books)
--Dragon Racers (3 books)
If you are a Kindle Unlimited user, treat yourself to some of the best "hidden gem" fantasy ever written.
Find M. R. Mathias online: mrmathiasbooks .com
Here is what others are saying about M. R. Mathias:
"There are few writers in the genre of fantasy that can equal the creative mind of M.R. Mathias - now acknowledged as a master in this genre of dragons and dwarves, and magic, and spells, and all aspects of fantasy."-- Top 100, Hall of Fame, Vine Voice, Book Reviewer, Grady Harp
"M.R. Mathias imagines a setting that will entice readers and lead them, along with his characters, on a breathtaking adventure." -- Readers Favorite Book Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2017 Award Winning novel "A Gossamer Lens" from The Legend of Vanx Malic series
"M.R. Mathias is a master at world building and is so good with creative descriptions that you can almost feel the wind whipping through your hair as you soar along on the back of a dragon." -- Readers Favorite Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2015 "Gold Medal" Award Winning novel "Blood and Royalty" from The Dragoneer Saga"
"You've (Mathias) already achieved much, much more than so many people who like to think of themselves as writers." -- @Gollancz The Deputy Publishing Director of SF, Fantasy & Horror list of the Orion Publishing Group, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 30, 2018
I do not know what to think.
To many things have happened and a lot of bad and sad things to. Not enough time to form bond with dragon. Feels all rush and use for war type thing that I do not like. They suppose to be companions not used for travel or war. There must be way to cure those other dragons. But it was a complicated book. I give 5 but those poor dragons I don't want to see them hurt and murdered for being innocent and having no free will.
To many things have happened and a lot of bad and sad things to. Not enough time to form bond with dragon. Feels all rush and use for war type thing that I do not like. They suppose to be companions not used for travel or war. There must be way to cure those other dragons. But it was a complicated book. I give 5 but those poor dragons I don't want to see them hurt and murdered for being innocent and having no free will.
May 13, 2019
The first book was very good but as the books after, I noticed the the characters were still in the same state as the first book without much growth after all the things they went through. The second book began to get tedious and a little disappointing as the characters never mature acting as bumbling 10 years olds.
August 18, 2019
Hard to put down Read
Anything that M. R. Mathis has written I want to read it. I've already read two of his series and finishing up with the third one and they have all been great. If you see his name on it you can read it and enjoy it and even let your teens or younger read it because he does not have to use a lot of filthy language to express himself.
Anything that M. R. Mathis has written I want to read it. I've already read two of his series and finishing up with the third one and they have all been great. If you see his name on it you can read it and enjoy it and even let your teens or younger read it because he does not have to use a lot of filthy language to express himself.
December 12, 2019
Teen books
Good book don't like to make these.
Depends on your likes. I like fantasy. But then I'm in dragons wizards a fairys.
Good book don't like to make these.
Depends on your likes. I like fantasy. But then I'm in dragons wizards a fairys.
October 4, 2016
Dragoneers to the Rescue (Audiobook)
I am not sure how much of this review is clouded by the poor narration but I will do my best to separate that from the written story.
STORY, THE GOOD:
Mathias spins a world full of magical creatures and humans in a fight for survival. I also liked how the various areas of the world were given distinguishing characteristics.
The stories of Marcherion, Jenka, and Rikky becoming dragoneers were well done as were the short prequel stories about Crimzon & Clover. I also enjoyed seeing the different magical powers each dragoneer developed based on their personalities and needs.
The author did show that people have more than one side to their makeup, both good and evil. This added some interesting conflict within themselves and how they were viewed by others.
The dragon tears gave the writer lots of latitude (I don't want to say more as it would be a spoiler).
For those who like lots of fight scenes, this book would appeal to you.
STORY, THE UGLY:
The writing style seemed geared towards pre-teen and young teen boys, lots of bodily fluids that were not blood in addition to other things that seemed geared towards that age.
There were times when the story droned on & on and my mind kept wandering off, but this could have been due to the narrator. I found myself rewinding frequently because I missed key parts.
Personally I would have preferred more time to bound with the characters for more than a fleeting instance at a time. There seemed to be too many names & nicknames for each main character and they were pronounced differently throughout so there were times when I had no idea who they were talking about until another character interacted with them. I really would have liked to see more time devoted to the characters and their bounding with their dragons and their fellow dragoneers as well as the others with which they worked closely.
There were inconsistency in facts, such as the age of Lemmy being 70s in one spot & 90s in another. This was explained in book 3 by indicating that no one really knew.
PRODUCTION ISSUES:
There were several instances when the narrator would attempt pronunciation of a word, and the entire attempt until she got it right was left in the audio version. Two spots that logged are towards the end of Chapter 19 & chapter 52.
NARRATOR:
I had many issues with the narrator Christine Padovan. She has a tendency to end the vast majority of lines with an up-tone, like you would use when asking a question. You eventually get used to it, but it did still distract from my enjoyment of the story. There are also a number of pronunciation issues, such as pronouncing Nepton, instead of Neptune (at least that it what I assume the written word was). The other thing that bugged me were the inconsistency with the voices used. They were not always the same for the same character.
One thing I did like was her using a different voice for the chapter change, it gave me a chance to take a breath.
This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publishe at no cost in exchange for an
unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.
I am not sure how much of this review is clouded by the poor narration but I will do my best to separate that from the written story.
STORY, THE GOOD:
Mathias spins a world full of magical creatures and humans in a fight for survival. I also liked how the various areas of the world were given distinguishing characteristics.
The stories of Marcherion, Jenka, and Rikky becoming dragoneers were well done as were the short prequel stories about Crimzon & Clover. I also enjoyed seeing the different magical powers each dragoneer developed based on their personalities and needs.
The author did show that people have more than one side to their makeup, both good and evil. This added some interesting conflict within themselves and how they were viewed by others.
The dragon tears gave the writer lots of latitude (I don't want to say more as it would be a spoiler).
For those who like lots of fight scenes, this book would appeal to you.
STORY, THE UGLY:
The writing style seemed geared towards pre-teen and young teen boys, lots of bodily fluids that were not blood in addition to other things that seemed geared towards that age.
There were times when the story droned on & on and my mind kept wandering off, but this could have been due to the narrator. I found myself rewinding frequently because I missed key parts.
Personally I would have preferred more time to bound with the characters for more than a fleeting instance at a time. There seemed to be too many names & nicknames for each main character and they were pronounced differently throughout so there were times when I had no idea who they were talking about until another character interacted with them. I really would have liked to see more time devoted to the characters and their bounding with their dragons and their fellow dragoneers as well as the others with which they worked closely.
There were inconsistency in facts, such as the age of Lemmy being 70s in one spot & 90s in another. This was explained in book 3 by indicating that no one really knew.
PRODUCTION ISSUES:
There were several instances when the narrator would attempt pronunciation of a word, and the entire attempt until she got it right was left in the audio version. Two spots that logged are towards the end of Chapter 19 & chapter 52.
NARRATOR:
I had many issues with the narrator Christine Padovan. She has a tendency to end the vast majority of lines with an up-tone, like you would use when asking a question. You eventually get used to it, but it did still distract from my enjoyment of the story. There are also a number of pronunciation issues, such as pronouncing Nepton, instead of Neptune (at least that it what I assume the written word was). The other thing that bugged me were the inconsistency with the voices used. They were not always the same for the same character.
One thing I did like was her using a different voice for the chapter change, it gave me a chance to take a breath.
This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publishe at no cost in exchange for an
unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.
September 5, 2012
This is a library in itself. "The First Dragoneer" is a novella or short that begins the entire adventure. I really liked that story, so I bought the trilogy in this form. I was disappointed in the first book, The Royal Dragoneers, though. It seemed to focus on the fighting to the detriment of the relationships and characterization that I really liked from The First Dragoneer. I enjoyed the 2nd book, Cold Hearted Son of a Witch, better since it had a lot more about the characters, lots of adventure, and not nearly as much brawling and trying to save the world from the monsters. The last of the 3 books in the trilogy, The Confliction, though, was back to more fight scenes. By the time I finished it, I was really tired of it all and just didn't care, however I did admire the unexpected role played by Prince Richard in the final confrontation. The short stories about Crimzon and Clover at the end of the collection, however, were interesting, fun, and back to concentrating on the author's imagination of characters and that other world that is so fascinating.
Maybe I'm not the intended audience. 13 year old boys probably like the hack and slay stuff a lot more than I do. But the author has the talent to delve into putting flesh and emotions onto/into the characters when he chooses to. Without trying to be punny, I found myself thoroughly conflicted concerning what star rating to give the series. I would give the shorts and the 2nd book four stars, but would probably give the 1st and 3rd books in the trilogy only 2 stars. I guess that sort of averages out to the three seen above.
Maybe I'm not the intended audience. 13 year old boys probably like the hack and slay stuff a lot more than I do. But the author has the talent to delve into putting flesh and emotions onto/into the characters when he chooses to. Without trying to be punny, I found myself thoroughly conflicted concerning what star rating to give the series. I would give the shorts and the 2nd book four stars, but would probably give the 1st and 3rd books in the trilogy only 2 stars. I guess that sort of averages out to the three seen above.
July 11, 2015
I doubt I would have finished reading this had I not been on holiday.
My biggest issue with this story is the writing style which falls foul of the tell vs show error. Telling me over and over how awesome/beautiful/whatever someone is will not make me believe it. The narrator is distant and occasionally omniscient, and events are described so passively that I developed no pathos for the characters. People die and I don't care. Many are physically described over and over with the same boring phrases without any emotional depth being conveyed.
The plot twists felt forced, as if the author was pantsing the entire way.
SPOILER ALERT! How can a tortured half crazed Prince who kills his father and summons a demon then be a good guy the rest of the time? And the whole Sarax cooconing into trolls was a clumsy tie in to the Goblin King at best - oh the demon was possessing a mutated Sarax body? Pft. how can demons be the baddies in book one and we suddenly switch to aliens as if demons never existed? I could go on.... END OF SPOILERS.
The story's saving grace is the setting - while it's a typical dragon/medieval fantasy, I liked the various factions and island vs mainland politics. However the world building seemed inconsistent and whimsical - and the typos and misspelling of character names was another nail in the coffin.
All in all I'm impressed I managed to get through it. Only recommended for the patient reader or for someone with loads of time to kill.
My biggest issue with this story is the writing style which falls foul of the tell vs show error. Telling me over and over how awesome/beautiful/whatever someone is will not make me believe it. The narrator is distant and occasionally omniscient, and events are described so passively that I developed no pathos for the characters. People die and I don't care. Many are physically described over and over with the same boring phrases without any emotional depth being conveyed.
The plot twists felt forced, as if the author was pantsing the entire way.
SPOILER ALERT! How can a tortured half crazed Prince who kills his father and summons a demon then be a good guy the rest of the time? And the whole Sarax cooconing into trolls was a clumsy tie in to the Goblin King at best - oh the demon was possessing a mutated Sarax body? Pft. how can demons be the baddies in book one and we suddenly switch to aliens as if demons never existed? I could go on.... END OF SPOILERS.
The story's saving grace is the setting - while it's a typical dragon/medieval fantasy, I liked the various factions and island vs mainland politics. However the world building seemed inconsistent and whimsical - and the typos and misspelling of character names was another nail in the coffin.
All in all I'm impressed I managed to get through it. Only recommended for the patient reader or for someone with loads of time to kill.
April 6, 2015
There are several reviews here and under the individual titles that give away spoilers and plot details so I will not repeat them. If you read the hook and it seems like they are the type of books you enjoy then buy this trilogy, because if you read the first you will want to continue the stories. The prequel is included in this set and gives an important backstory to this series on one of it most important characters.
November 6, 2017
It's an OK story that moves along nicely. There's nothing particularly unique about this story, but there is nothing bad about it either. I'd recommend it for fantasy lovers that want a nice, long story for a couple of bucks.
DO NOT BUY THE AUDIBLE VERSION, though! That narrator is the worst I have ever heard!! It sounds like a poor imitation of Siri using text-to-speech. I cannot believe they let that audiobook version make it out of the recording studio.
DO NOT BUY THE AUDIBLE VERSION, though! That narrator is the worst I have ever heard!! It sounds like a poor imitation of Siri using text-to-speech. I cannot believe they let that audiobook version make it out of the recording studio.
February 7, 2015
Now in audio on Amazon and Audible with bonus content: http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fant...
FREE audiobook: Listen to and/or download the full length story, The First Dragoneer, the novella that started the Dragoneers Saga series: http://christinepadovan.com/audio_boo...
FREE audiobook: Listen to and/or download the full length story, The First Dragoneer, the novella that started the Dragoneers Saga series: http://christinepadovan.com/audio_boo...
August 28, 2015
Here there b dragons!
I truly believe I was born in the wrong time period. I should have been a Dragoneer! This series is fantastic! Much thanks to M. R. Mathias for such an awesome imagination and story telling abilities. Bravo!
I truly believe I was born in the wrong time period. I should have been a Dragoneer! This series is fantastic! Much thanks to M. R. Mathias for such an awesome imagination and story telling abilities. Bravo!
June 10, 2012
This book has a few problems. It seems to jump around and doesn't flow well. Still a good read.
Want to read
June 24, 2015kindle
November 11, 2015
Awesome
I can't think of a single criticism for this compendium. I am awestruck by it's beauty in storytelling and the feelings it brings soaring into the heart.
I can't think of a single criticism for this compendium. I am awestruck by it's beauty in storytelling and the feelings it brings soaring into the heart.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews