Is it snark if you're a dragon? Nico, a young dragon of barely fifty, is rudely chased from his home by a group of murderous adventurers. Of his entire clutch, only he and one sister remained, but now he is alone. Isolated and hungry, Nico’s magic awakens, bonding him with Cami, a brave, young woman. In order to hide from the adventurers’ pursuit, Nico takes on human form. However, once they discover that both he and Cami have magical ability they are required by law to attend the Imperial Academy. Of course, he has to hide his true nature, which isn't always easy, given a dragon sized ego.
I dnf this book as the writing style is obviously intended for younger readers around 10-15 y/o. Everything is very simple without any depth from the characters, their interactions, the plot etc. It’s probably on me for not realising it’s a YA book.
I am a total sucker for books where the MC hides his identity and is super OP. I also like dragons and academy arcs. This book checks all of those boxes. The writing is clean and doesn’t get in the way. The author is very consistent and has already written and finished other series, which is great since I have confidence this series will actually have a conclusion. Highly recommended!
I absolutely loved this book. I started reading it on Royal Roads and than could not stop. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes fantasy and great characters. I love the world and can not wait to learn more about it the next books. I would like to thank the author for such an interesting world.
As the title says, the world and mechanics of the story are flavored by D&D quite a bit. The dragon colors and elemental alignments, classes, spells, and other mechanics are strongly pulled from that system. The story is pretty solid, with an interesting dichotomy of the arrogant nature of dragons vs the MC trying to fit in with the humans and to be better as a person. There’s a lot going on in the world that isn’t really addressed in the first book, which is fine. I was mildly annoyed by the MCs interactions with some of the human females and their interest in him romantically. Not that they were unbelievable, but that I wanted to facepalm at the cringy bits. Nothing beyond innuendo and flirting happened though. Also there are several call outs/references to other works that were fun to find.
The premise of an intelligent dragon in a LitRPG fantasy isn't bad. Driven out of his home by vicious adventurers, the dragon is forced to make his way in a dangerous world. This book is entertaining enough, but it does have some problems.
Worldbuilding: This is D&D. The characters are D&D characters, the monsters are D&D monsters, the magic is D&D magic ... there's not much new or innovative here. I'm sure the familiarity will be an advantage for some readers, but it doesn't represent much imagination on the part of the writer.
Characters: Our two major protagonists are likable. But Nico (the dragon) is wildly overpowered as written. The threats he faces are described as significant, but the writing turns them into simple obstacles. And while Cami (his bonded dragonrider) is more grounded, she is described as being 15 years old, and from a small farming community, but she never really acts like anything other than a typical adventurer. And I would be remiss if I were not to mention the discomfort that I felt watching what is written as a developing romantic relationship between this 15-y.o. girl and a young adult dragon.
Plot: Perhaps the best part of the package. Leaving aside the problem of inexperienced adventurers navigating a complex and dangerous world seamlessly without any prior experience, the story arc being set up is interesting enough. But ending the book on a cliffhanger is at least annoying.
There's enough promise here that I will probably buy the next book when it's on sale. But there are enough problems that I won't be hunting it down before then.
There is a book called "All Cats have Asperger Syndrome". This book could be "All Dragons have Asperger's", either that or Sheldon Cooper was isekei'd into a dragon in this world.
The strength of this story (other than being overall good) is the fact that the MC is one of the least anthropomorphized dragons in a story like this that I've read. He has a great deal to learn about cooperating with others, let alone the intricacies of human relationships, and a good deal of progress is made in that regard.
That said, he is still a giant magical carnivorous beast polymorphed into a human shape, and other than his bond, the fate of himself and other dragons is his main focus. That is the note this closes on, so I'm interested to see where it goes.
Despite how it seems from the blurb, the bulk of this book takes place prior to the magic academy. The journey there drags, especially since teleportation magic exists and the adventurers have a high level mage.
The book is mostly first person, from Nico's point of view. The tone shifts between a believably inhuman dragon to extremely human, including some modern slang. It made it difficult getting into the story. Some chapters change to third person limited, from the perspective of Cami or one of the adventurers. These often rewind the action to overlap with what we've already seen from Nico's perspective.
There must be a hundred Manga with the same premise – the demon lord disguises himself and enters the magic academy. If you're new to this sub-genre of progression stories then this novel will have more impact.
While the grammar is not perfect, it's fine. The romance between Cami and Nico is surprisingly subtle for this type of story. The world-building is unoriginal as is the magic system. Honestly, if there were a little more originality here I'd have rated it higher. On the other hand, I feel no driving need to continue the series.
The depth in the world is wonderful and the nonhuman mc is cleverly done. He’s not a human with scales hes a separate species with his own values and culture. The mystery that arises about the dragons seems like it will take a while to discover and understand. Really enjoying how everyone grows as a person in this world.
Dragons are so conceited it’s almost difficult to read if it wasn’t so amusing. Great story and fun characters. Definitely a series with charm.
General disclaimer: I want to be clear in that I do not factor cost into any review and as such, this is simply a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis.
This could have been awesome, great idea for a story but as so often in this genre the story is rushed and forced. A story about a dragon who goes to human magic school only that's only about 5 percent of the story and I get the feeling that his time there will be significantly lacking.
The general pacing of the story is weak, as is the character building. The focus on the Dragon is fine, it is all the other characters that are flat. The story itself is fun and entertaining so this gets a pass, but it definitely needs polish.
Some reviewers state they don't like this one because it's "slow paced" and "made for young adults". If you like a simple yet fast paced story, then this one might not be for you. If you feel that a sentence without at least 2 cuss words in it isn't a complete sentence, then this one might not be for you. If you're looking for literary porn, then this one might not be for you. But if you enjoy a detailed story that takes the time to have actual depth to it and want something that relies on a good imagination and talented writing instead of lazy shock value, then this one might be for you.
Is it the greatest story in literary history... no. But it is quite an enjoyable read for fans of dragonrider stories. I really love the new take on how the dragonriders are brought together. Along with the perception of a dragon trying to not just comprehend how a "lesser" race sees the world, but walks out the experience. The characters are being well fleshed out. As is the magic system. The world is slowly being fleshed out. And little hints of the story's direction are thrown in here and there.
The Narrator is no Travis Baldree (the best out there), but he's good enough. I've heard a LOT worse!
Nico has proven to be the strongest of his clutch of blue dragons. Only he and his submissive sister survived. That is when a party of adventurers invaded his lair. Driven out by a party of strong adventurers, Nico is alone and hungry. When he feeds, his magic suddenly awakens and forges an accidental bond with a nearby farm girl. As he investigates this bond, he takes on human shape and the two of them are discovered to possess magic. The laws of the land are clear that this means they must attend the university. This could prove a great opportunity for Nico to learn more.
This is a great way to start a new litrpg series! The main character being a dragon makes it all the better. It’s a blast to see his thought process as he works every situation through the dragon superiority mindset. Cami, the farm girl, is a great character as well. I picked up this series because of the ties to Welcome to the Multiverse, but I am so glad that I did! Neil Hellegers did a fantastic job with the narration!
Starts off fair enough but just becomes worse as the story progresses.
The story is contrivedly stupid and silly.
There are more or less two main characters. A dragon and his first human friend a girl called Cami. The author consistently has the characters behaving in a manner that I found annoying and unbelievable. He couldn't have made them come across more like poor plot devices if he'd tried. Most of the time, neither Niko nor Cami seem like real people to me. This goes for nearly everything about them. Action inaction etc.. just so bad.
Also the overall world building isn't great, more than a few times I found myself annoyed with how things about it just made no sense and I couldn't stop myself from poking holes in the flawed logic. I found myself thinking Why.. Why... Why the fuck!! to the point that I felt hard pressed giving this a 2/5 rating instead of a 1/5. Only thing that saves it is that I didn't notice any technical writing issues or problems with the audio narration, the narration being the only thing about the book that's actually Good!
Above mentioned issues do with minor deviation apply to follow-up books 2 and 3. Just Sad!
As others have mentioned this seems to be a book targeted at a younger audience in the age range of 10-14. Characters are pretty thin and one note. Overall it feels like 2 kids who set down to play DnD with their family (With the uncle occasionally throwing in stale suggestive comments.) and are being handheld and given "clues" so they can have fun while DMPCs are always their to help out if they fall on their face.
Plot wise there are no real stakes. In theory there would be suspense about MC being found out but he makes no effort to hide himself and then gets there are other similar tidbits but they all ring hollow. There are setups for mysteries but the reader would not care about the answers and for characters having the answers would be nice but there is no immediacy
I've always been a fan of dragons. I don't think anyone does dragons better than Anne MccAffrey's Pern, but there's a lot of dragons that are worth reading, and I think I just found another series I'll be reading until it's finished. This world is not only based on dragons, but it's also LitRPG. You can't get much better than that. If you're a fan of dragons too, you need to read this one. If you're a LitRPG fan, then you might want to read this one, (if you like dragons that is, but who doesn't like dragons?) I'm really liking this world so far, and really want to see what happens next. This one is a solid entry in the LitRPG arena, and if the next book keeps the storyline as interesting as this one, then I can't imagine much that could outstrip it for fun imaginative reading.
I read this on the behalf of a friend who asked me to. I am so glad I did. This was a great read
The first thing I noticed when I read a book is the depth of the characters and the development of them how engaged they become how you become tied of them emotionally. Secondly, is the behavior that it fit within the other characters and their own personal growth? Does their innate personality stay consistent through the storyline? This had all of that and was very engaging, drama, battle, magic etc, This was really a fun read and I'm looking forward to the next one of the series very much.
I love the premise of sentient shape shifting dragons as protagonists. Nico is fun and his feeling of superiority are fun to read. My main issue lies with the litrpg aspect of the book oddly enough. It actually made nico feel less magical and special. Especially since the growth he saw in the book was unrelated to eating, and completely related to just beating an enemy and getting star upgrades. The size they grow and their innate abilities also feels a bit lacklustre compared to even d&d standards and even other books I’ve read. Overall decent book and will likely get the next, but it still feels like some wasted potential.
good book, excellent characters, unique coming of age perspective.
Very good book, likable, MC and side characters. well told story with no F bombs. Basically, this book is a coming of age book from a Dragon’s point of view, very unique take on the subject. There is good character development, good world building, and even poop jokes if that’s your thing. The book is not perfect, there is some inconsistencies such as the MC, eating trout and then later on in the book saying that he needs to try seafood. Some interruptions in the story flow but basically a four-star book. Going to read the next one.
I LOVE THIS BOOK SERIES. As a bit of a dragon nerd myself I found in a lot of books with dragon pov the writers try and humanize the dragons. And that's fine and all but this book series was a breath of fresh air. The dragon acts like how I think an actual dragon would act. A bit haughty a bit argont very self righteous but he's a fricken dragon so he has reasons to be like that, but despite all that you can't help but love this guy. Plus despite all his self proclaimed awesomeness he is very naive to the human world so it's really endearing I think. Plus the pranks and antics he does is a hysterical.
As above, a different take on litrpg a dragon trying to learn about humanity and why us soft squishy faced pink skins breed so much, what would you do if your home had been invaded by vermin intent on either killing you or enslaving you, no one would be happy about it so magnify it by being a dragon a young one barely a teenager then the book gets into the problems of youngsters in love, bodily functions , hormones etc . I enjoyed this book immensely, and now I will wait for the next book to come out.
Okay I understand that he's a blue dragon and he's the most majestic out of all the dragons but God damn how many times he's going to tell us that he's a dragon.How many times is he's going to tell us that he hates humans, and they look like monkeys; skinless monkeys at that was the arthur just trying to put words so he can make the book longer by repeating the same s*** over and over and over again. And I understand that he's a dragon but damn can somebody explain to him the ins and outs being a human, preferably his bonded.
(Kindle unlimited, written in hope) A very well written book, a new take on the genre that was refreshing.
Pros: MC has tons of potential for growth and watching him progress is both enjoyable and sometimes laughable to read.
Cons: two steps forward and one step back? As character development occurs over time, there are character actions that occur, that seem to set the progression back to how they were early in the book, negating some of that growth.
So far a great book and series, I write in hope that the story progresses past many of the characters barriers, and will update it when I finish book 2 or 3 of the series.
Not a fan of some of the decisions the mc makes and gets away with, mainly the fact that his hunters just kind of give up because they found a distraction, blazed through it expecting something like the paladin guy actually knew he was the dragon they were hunting, that is why they stopped looking...but yes they just stop looking entirely, and we find out they just decided that two kids were more important. Romance seems to be the intended destination, but seems like it’s a far-off idea as the two main characters need a lot of growth.
I had to force myself to finish this book. I love litRPG because theres so much they can do with the characters and character building but this book read like the driest D&D session I've ever had - you know the one where the dungeon master has no real imagination so theyre following a set script, the players have no cohesion so theyre just there taking turns no real interactions between them makes for a real boring session? That's this book. I only finished it because I told myself I'd finish all my books in August
This book was quite a ride, and I mean that in the best possible sense. The characters are very well done. Nico is honestly a bit hard to like at the beginning, but his journey is well worth the read. Cami is awesome, too. There were parts of the book where I had to put it down because I was laughing so hard.
I really enjoyed this book. It does start off a little wobbly with the point of view, and there are some minor consistency errors (Taliea and Taliean? Was difficult to work out which was which. Region or city? Is the 'n' a typo and they're both called Taliea? Also Nico's voice occasionally muddles human things he previously has no knowledge of in narrative flair. But mostly minor)
Apart from that, It was a really fun read and looking forward to the next book.
I absolutely loved this book. The MC, a dragon making his way in the human world was wonderfully written. His trials and confusion made the story much deeper. I read a review which stated that all dragons have aspersers and that is a good explanation of how he reacts to the world and the people around him. Beyond the characters the world seems deep and I look forward to exploring it in future volumes.
This is a good example of LitRPG. I normally compare them to D&D and this one does not disappoint. Add Dragons, a Rogue, a Mage, a Paladin, Cleric and a Dragon Knight. I can feel a long night of dice coming on! Well this is your book if you get that "natural 20" itch. The growth of our main character is really well done and makes it very interesting to follow on this series. Can't wait to read the next one.