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Dragonprince Trilogy #3
The Dragonprince's Heir
The dragonswarm is ended. Fifteen years after Daven Carrickson rebuilt legendary Palmagnes, the civilization of man is once again safe from reptilian menace. But the long years have taken their toll. The Dragonprince is ten years missing, mighty cities still lie in smoldering ruins, and the kingdom of the Sarianne is broken. Hoping to rebuild his old dominion, the jealous king now brings an army to the Tower's very gates. And whom should he find waiting but the Dragonprince's son? Born in cataclysm and brought up in the sheltered comfort of Daven's stronghold, fourteen-year-old Taryn remembers little of his father and knows even less of the world. But Taryn knows what he is owed. He demands the king respect him as the Dragonprince's heir...and quickly learns how vulnerable his family is without Daven to protect them. Dragged off with his mother as a hostage to the king, Taryn comes to understand that his pride imperils everything his parents sacrificed to build. To redeem their legacy, he must forge a new path for himself. On his own, Taryn will learn that being a hero means enduring much hardship. He will learn that his heritage brings grave responsibilities. He will learn what it means to be his father’s son. But he has to do it fast, or he will lose his mother...forever. The Dragonprince's Heir is the final book in the Dragonprince's Legacy.
310 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2012
30 people are currently reading
283 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Pogue
29 books172 followersAaron Pogue is a husband and a father of two who lives in Oklahoma City, OK. Aaron started writing at the age of ten. His first novels were high fantasy set in the rich world of the FirstKing, but he's explored mainstream thrillers, urban fantasy, and several kinds of science fiction. Author of the Dragonprince's Legacy, the Godlanders War, and the Ghost Targets series, Aaron Pogue has sold a quarter of a million books since his debut in 2010.
Aaron has been a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration and a writing professor at the university level. He holds a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Oklahoma. He also serves as the President of Draft2Digital, an ebook formatting, conversion, and distribution service that he helped found in 2012.
For more news, information, and updates, visit AaronPogue.com.
Aaron has been a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration and a writing professor at the university level. He holds a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Oklahoma. He also serves as the President of Draft2Digital, an ebook formatting, conversion, and distribution service that he helped found in 2012.
For more news, information, and updates, visit AaronPogue.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 26, 2012
I really did not want to dislike this book. I LOVED the first two. They were fantastic. Daven came from nothing, conquered dragons and saved a kingdom.
THAT is a great story.
THIS was shit.
This was a story about Daven's whiny, spoiled, snot-nosed kid who is so annoying and awful, I wanted him dead the entire book. The sad thing is, it wasn't his fault. This character was in the trap that authors fall into all the time and I cannot figure out why it keeps being done. The supporting characters keep enormous secrets from the main character that allow him to screw up royally. WHY DO AUTHORS KEEP DOING THIS?
You know what a better story would've been? If Isabelle and Caleb had been honest with Taryn from the beginning about his life and his heritage. Then, instead of listening to Taryn whine for 200 pages about how unfair life is, we could see an excellent plan played out where the reader, instead of the main character, is kept in the dark until a fantastic twist at the end. That could've been easily, and given Aaron Pogue's talent, really well done. I'm saddened that didn't happen.
THAT is a great story.
THIS was shit.
This was a story about Daven's whiny, spoiled, snot-nosed kid who is so annoying and awful, I wanted him dead the entire book. The sad thing is, it wasn't his fault. This character was in the trap that authors fall into all the time and I cannot figure out why it keeps being done. The supporting characters keep enormous secrets from the main character that allow him to screw up royally. WHY DO AUTHORS KEEP DOING THIS?
You know what a better story would've been? If Isabelle and Caleb had been honest with Taryn from the beginning about his life and his heritage. Then, instead of listening to Taryn whine for 200 pages about how unfair life is, we could see an excellent plan played out where the reader, instead of the main character, is kept in the dark until a fantastic twist at the end. That could've been easily, and given Aaron Pogue's talent, really well done. I'm saddened that didn't happen.
September 18, 2012
I really didn't care for this book. I loved the first two, but all of the sudden the main character is gone only to be replaced by his spoiled and complaining son. This disobedient punk goes on and on, page after page until miraculously he is all mature and grown up with amazing prowess with the sword, for which he never trained, and supernatural powers, gained from the result of minutes of training.
On a more positive note, the author sold a lot of books.
July 8, 2012
I disliked this book. It was such a let down from the first 2 books. I couldn't stand the lead character, and I'm having a hard time remembering his name now, even though I just finished the book. The other major characters are cliche, and the most interesting characters from the previous books (the dragons) are no where to be seen.
Skip this book, especially if you liked the first 2.
Skip this book, especially if you liked the first 2.
July 14, 2012
I don't want to be a spoiler, but I'm disappointed with this book. There are virtues other than peace at any cost, such as justice and righteousness. This story fails in my opinion. No one is held accountable.
June 17, 2012
All good stories deal with overcoming limitation and hardship. For Daven Carrickson, the lead protagonist of the first two titles in the Dragonprince series (
Taming Fire
and
The Dragonswarm
), the hardships have been met. He has bested thief-catchers, villainous mages, dragon's, and petty kings. By the end of The Dragonswarm Daven has gone from a simple sheepherder to the indisputable lord of all of southern Sarianne.
So where do we go from here? Author Aaron Pogue neatly sidesteps this question by writing what I would call the fourth book in the Dragonprince trilogy. Taking place 15 years after The Dragonswarm this is the story of his son Taryn. In fact if I had to fault the story for anything it's this temporal jump because as a result Daven is largely absent.
Taryn is... well, he's different. Where Daven was the son of a thief, sheepherder, fugitive from the king, and failed mage Taryn is everything you'd expect of a sheltered prince from the Tower of Drakes. His entire life has been spent in the shadow of his father. Trained in combat and surrounded by dragonslayers Taryn has a hard time understanding that there might be men in the wider world that see his father and men as anything but heroes. As you can expect when the king comes calling with and entire army of Green Eagles this becomes an issue.
What follows from that point is a tale of growth and adventure, of brigands and jealousy. In many ways Taryn is both a weaker and stronger character than Daven, but by the end of Dragonprince's Heir his growth into a hero of his own making was well worth the journey.
If you've been a fan of Pogue's first two Dragonprince books you owe it to yourself to pick this one up as well. It's obvious the while the trilogy may be complete this story isn't done. I look forward to seeing where things go from here and recommend this story to anyone who likes young adult fantasy.
So where do we go from here? Author Aaron Pogue neatly sidesteps this question by writing what I would call the fourth book in the Dragonprince trilogy. Taking place 15 years after The Dragonswarm this is the story of his son Taryn. In fact if I had to fault the story for anything it's this temporal jump because as a result Daven is largely absent.
Taryn is... well, he's different. Where Daven was the son of a thief, sheepherder, fugitive from the king, and failed mage Taryn is everything you'd expect of a sheltered prince from the Tower of Drakes. His entire life has been spent in the shadow of his father. Trained in combat and surrounded by dragonslayers Taryn has a hard time understanding that there might be men in the wider world that see his father and men as anything but heroes. As you can expect when the king comes calling with and entire army of Green Eagles this becomes an issue.
What follows from that point is a tale of growth and adventure, of brigands and jealousy. In many ways Taryn is both a weaker and stronger character than Daven, but by the end of Dragonprince's Heir his growth into a hero of his own making was well worth the journey.
If you've been a fan of Pogue's first two Dragonprince books you owe it to yourself to pick this one up as well. It's obvious the while the trilogy may be complete this story isn't done. I look forward to seeing where things go from here and recommend this story to anyone who likes young adult fantasy.
October 30, 2015
DISASTER!!! ALERT !! DONT READ IT EVER...EXCEPT IF U WANT TO TRY DOING SUICIDE WHILE READING!!!
WHY??
first of all the lead character Taryn is all you never want a protagonist to be...
-- Whinny
-- Incredibly stupid
-- brainless
-- Arrogant
-- 24 * 7 jerk ( take a minute or two off )
-- Bratty
-- Self centered
-- Rebellious ( as in superbly dumb way )
and he has all these in spades!
agreed most of this was because of all the secret keeping among his mon and Caleb...still the dim witted boy lacked common sense of knowing where to keep his mouth shut and ears open instead of babbling about his father and his great leagacy
In short the lead itself was a big put off. After reading first 2-3 chapters , i was just skimming the book until the battle finale ( the battle finale too was quite boring... i had expected more..as in more ambitious , larger scale plus better thought out...0
Plus the supporting casts were barely fleshed out... they were more like shadows or a line or two in the book. you have no idea what drives character A or why does character B acts so high and mighty..or why character C keeps so many secrets...
In one part where Jenn encourages Taryn to run away from Cara ( a port city ) i was confused whether she was sending him to get killed, did she work for the king or she also is incredibly stupid...
The world too was thin...there were no good description or anything to give you an idea of "what? where ? when ?"
And in the end, I personally believe making Daven the bad guy was a big no - no for me , even if he was under influence of Chaos and such . He could have made him a prisoner or such to some superbly newly made Evil guy who defeated his Dragon riders instead of showing his fight within himself. It would have made some good action scenes along with a nice adventure instead of a direct jump to the end of the trail...
So thats it for now... i might edit it later when my brain cools down from this dumb hangover caused by a dumb book...
Till then...happy reading
WHY??
first of all the lead character Taryn is all you never want a protagonist to be...
-- Whinny
-- Incredibly stupid
-- brainless
-- Arrogant
-- 24 * 7 jerk ( take a minute or two off )
-- Bratty
-- Self centered
-- Rebellious ( as in superbly dumb way )
and he has all these in spades!
agreed most of this was because of all the secret keeping among his mon and Caleb...still the dim witted boy lacked common sense of knowing where to keep his mouth shut and ears open instead of babbling about his father and his great leagacy
In short the lead itself was a big put off. After reading first 2-3 chapters , i was just skimming the book until the battle finale ( the battle finale too was quite boring... i had expected more..as in more ambitious , larger scale plus better thought out...0
Plus the supporting casts were barely fleshed out... they were more like shadows or a line or two in the book. you have no idea what drives character A or why does character B acts so high and mighty..or why character C keeps so many secrets...
In one part where Jenn encourages Taryn to run away from Cara ( a port city ) i was confused whether she was sending him to get killed, did she work for the king or she also is incredibly stupid...
The world too was thin...there were no good description or anything to give you an idea of "what? where ? when ?"
And in the end, I personally believe making Daven the bad guy was a big no - no for me , even if he was under influence of Chaos and such . He could have made him a prisoner or such to some superbly newly made Evil guy who defeated his Dragon riders instead of showing his fight within himself. It would have made some good action scenes along with a nice adventure instead of a direct jump to the end of the trail...
So thats it for now... i might edit it later when my brain cools down from this dumb hangover caused by a dumb book...
Till then...happy reading
September 26, 2012
First of all let me say that I loved this book and the end of the dragonprince trilogy. After reading the afterword and seeing the kind of feedback Aaron Pogue was receiving I wanted to give my thoughts. I was really thrown off by the fifteen year time difference from Dragonswarm to The Dragonprince's Heir and was incredibly confused at why we were reading from the viewpoint of this snot nosed kid. I have heard that people didn't like Taryn and he wasn't my favorite at first either, but I think Aaron Pogue did a great job of leaving the readers with little clues that Taryn was more than he seemed. Through the first few chapters of the book I was thinking that this story sounded more like the first book of a new series instead of the last of a series I had been reading. As I neared the end I finally saw what Aaron was steering us to all along. This book IS the third book of the Dragonprince trilogy. I loved all three of these books. After finishing all three I could not think of a better way to end the story Aaron Pogue wanted to tell. I will be one of many in line waiting for more books in the land of the Firstking.
October 27, 2012
I loved first 2 books, it was a awesome coming of age story, it had dragons, it had our character ending with power like a demigod and i couldnt guess where would the story go from there, so i excitedly started reading book 3.
And its about a spoiled little brat.I could not force myself to read it whole, needless to say i was very dissapointed.
For characters i can accept that someone as our original protagonist through his hard life when he was young developed strenght to become something more, but a whiny, spoiled brat, no i just cant stomach it.
For me there can not be a hero without steel in him, and steel is forged through life, not in a adventure or two.
For me personally this story ended at book 2
And its about a spoiled little brat.I could not force myself to read it whole, needless to say i was very dissapointed.
For characters i can accept that someone as our original protagonist through his hard life when he was young developed strenght to become something more, but a whiny, spoiled brat, no i just cant stomach it.
For me there can not be a hero without steel in him, and steel is forged through life, not in a adventure or two.
For me personally this story ended at book 2
September 30, 2012
Honestly, until the last 50-60 pages, I was fully prepared to give this 1 star. I enjoyed the first books in the series, but there was not a single scene involving him throughout the book until the very end that didn't make me want to put the book down.
The ending did wrap up the series, and even did it in a decent way. Honestly, I wish I had never read this book and simply left it at the end of the last one.
The ending did wrap up the series, and even did it in a decent way. Honestly, I wish I had never read this book and simply left it at the end of the last one.
September 4, 2012
The worst of the three
June 22, 2012
The Dragonprince's Heir is unexpected and strong. It breaks the narrative of the first two books, and it satisfies all along the way.
Coming in, I expected to read about Daven fighting off the dragonswarm in his fortress after solidifying the base of his power in the previous book. In the very beginning of the book, it becomes evident that the dragonswarm is 10 years passed, and Daven is nowhere to be seen! Thus, discovering that the protagonist is Daven's son, Taryn, is very unexpected.
Much more interestingly, though, Taryn is among the first protagonists that I have read who is both the primary protagonist and primarily a foil. Yes, the story is about his development and coming of age, much in the same way that the first two books were about Daven's development and coming of age (and with similar plot elements along the way), but that story is familiar enough to leave out details. In Taryn's role as the protagonist, we observe him as he travels the world and grows. However in Taryn's role as the foil, we observe the world that has grown over the years as Taryn travels.
The book is not without some rough spots. The second book had Daven constantly growing his power and struggling with it, as well as with enemies. That was a fine premise for some epic conflicts. The Dragonprince's Heir abandons much of that power-based conflict for emotional conflict and worldbuilding, which leaves the book feeling a bit slow at times. The book also seems a little short, with a few too many loose ends for me to feel completely happy at the end of a trilogy. None of these points, however, detract from my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, The Dragonprince's Heir is very different from the first two books in the series, but it is no worse for wear. If you read the second book, felt that it was the pinnacle of fantasy, and want a repeat, you will be disappointed. If you enjoyed Pogue's writing, the characters that he created, and the world of the FirstKing, you will find The Dragonprince's Heir to be a satisfactory conclusion.
Coming in, I expected to read about Daven fighting off the dragonswarm in his fortress after solidifying the base of his power in the previous book. In the very beginning of the book, it becomes evident that the dragonswarm is 10 years passed, and Daven is nowhere to be seen! Thus, discovering that the protagonist is Daven's son, Taryn, is very unexpected.
Much more interestingly, though, Taryn is among the first protagonists that I have read who is both the primary protagonist and primarily a foil. Yes, the story is about his development and coming of age, much in the same way that the first two books were about Daven's development and coming of age (and with similar plot elements along the way), but that story is familiar enough to leave out details. In Taryn's role as the protagonist, we observe him as he travels the world and grows. However in Taryn's role as the foil, we observe the world that has grown over the years as Taryn travels.
The book is not without some rough spots. The second book had Daven constantly growing his power and struggling with it, as well as with enemies. That was a fine premise for some epic conflicts. The Dragonprince's Heir abandons much of that power-based conflict for emotional conflict and worldbuilding, which leaves the book feeling a bit slow at times. The book also seems a little short, with a few too many loose ends for me to feel completely happy at the end of a trilogy. None of these points, however, detract from my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, The Dragonprince's Heir is very different from the first two books in the series, but it is no worse for wear. If you read the second book, felt that it was the pinnacle of fantasy, and want a repeat, you will be disappointed. If you enjoyed Pogue's writing, the characters that he created, and the world of the FirstKing, you will find The Dragonprince's Heir to be a satisfactory conclusion.
July 8, 2012
wow. that was really good. it pretty much cleared up my "god mode" issues from the book before
September 16, 2012
I didn't hate it as much as everyone else did, though boy did I want to strangle taryn! I was still entertained and still enjoyed it even though I was hoping for more of daven, Isabella and Caleb.
October 17, 2012
Disappointing ending to the Dragonprince Trilogy
February 18, 2018
Disappointed? Well, I'm not really sure. lol
A difficulty with Kindle books, or actually with electronic books, is that you cannot look at a shelf to see what you have - or what is missing.
I very much enjoyed The Dragonprince's Heir but I'm simply lost. I cannot tell if I missed a book nor what to expect next. I hope you realize the obtuse compliment that I'm paying to Mr. Pogue, my fellow Oklahoman, by stating that I'm going to figure this out somehow because I want to read more!
A difficulty with Kindle books, or actually with electronic books, is that you cannot look at a shelf to see what you have - or what is missing.
I very much enjoyed The Dragonprince's Heir but I'm simply lost. I cannot tell if I missed a book nor what to expect next. I hope you realize the obtuse compliment that I'm paying to Mr. Pogue, my fellow Oklahoman, by stating that I'm going to figure this out somehow because I want to read more!
October 17, 2018
Excellent Storyline
Aaron did a great job bringing in all the characters of this story, building on it, and bringing it to a close.
Aaron did a great job bringing in all the characters of this story, building on it, and bringing it to a close.
September 5, 2021
Honestly I was looking for Daven. It’s like the first book of the series. World building.
October 1, 2012
I've read some of the comments after reading the afterward and I say to you Aaron Pogue that you were too hard on yourself, you will always get these love hate kind of people when you do something unexpected, look at Stephen king and almost all his endings are unexpected in fact you can pretty much guarantee that you'll never get the standard 'happy ending' everyone expects... Don't be disheartened, while there were weaknesses in your last book the first two were epic and that is no small accomplishment, you are a fairly new author so you have plenty of time to find your niche and as you said you have lots of room for continuing with between the 15 years and after with Daven's sons!!
Good luck, I'll be looking out for your future works!!
Good luck, I'll be looking out for your future works!!
September 1, 2013
Thankfully I had read some reviews before buying this book so I knew that this was not the third book everyone (including myself) had been expecting. Bearing this in mind I found myself enjoying the book a lot more than anticipated. I thought the main character was a very believable teenager...and liked him despite, or maybe because, of this.
The only reason I gave this 4 rather than 5 stars is that I did not like the end. Yes politics suck and the ending was believable in the context of any power game... But this is fantasy after all and I feel that maybe sticking to reality ruined the happy end this world and its heroes so deserved. It's not unhappy and not happy and so it is far too realistic for my liking (when reading fantasy).
The only reason I gave this 4 rather than 5 stars is that I did not like the end. Yes politics suck and the ending was believable in the context of any power game... But this is fantasy after all and I feel that maybe sticking to reality ruined the happy end this world and its heroes so deserved. It's not unhappy and not happy and so it is far too realistic for my liking (when reading fantasy).
June 7, 2014
After the first two books in this series, which were rated at a 4 or 5, I was looking forward to reading this book. After about 10 pages I almost quit. I continued reading some more, and then had to read the end of the book to see if I wanted to finish the book or not. It looked OK, so I finished the book. What a waste of time and money. Don't bother reading it, as the first two books stand just fine alone, and this is a very poor after thought. I wish I had taken my first impression and quit reading it when I first decided it wasn't worth the time and effort. In fact I was so disappointed that I don't know if I will ever read another of his books or not. Their are only about 4 or 5 books I would rate this bad or worse.
June 12, 2013
The story didn't drag in this one & did have a decent pace but it kind of went around in circles. Its told from perspective of Daven's son & he appears to be a trumped up idiot living in a fantasy world of his own for the first half. How a parent like Isabelle could let that happen is not understandable at all but it is what it is. The end is kind of rushed up as if the intention was to get it over with. After The Dragonswarm (& the way it ended), I was hoping for a better or on par sequel to end the trilogy but it turned out to be disappointing.
June 14, 2012
This book is about Taryn, Daven's son. In some ways I like Taryn better, and in some ways I like him less. He's way more ignorant than Daven, but he seems to come through his story pretty well for having no idea what's really going on. His blunders certainly made for entertaining reading. As always, a well written high fantasy novel by Aaron Pogue. Dragons, magic, political intrigue. Fans of the series and genre will not be disappointed.
June 29, 2012
A really great read. I enjoyed our new hero's development throughout the book. He takes everything he has been taught and his love for his family on his journey to be the best man he can for the good of all. Taryn is definitely Daven's son. It is quite interesting to see how the advantages Taryn had shaped him to be a bit more elegant than his father in his dealings with people. I look forward to anything written by Aaron Pogue.
August 30, 2013
This book is fucking shit. I am 2 thirds through it and I am struggling to stop myself from burning the thing. The first 2 books were awesome and this one has just ruined the whole trilogy. The main character is an annoying little fag who's only purpose seems to be to annoy the fuck out of me. I wish i could give it zero stars. There is no action and not a single likeable character. Good end to the trilogy Aaron Pogue you wanker
June 15, 2014
What a horrid way to end a series.
Where is the main character from the first two books? It was he I want to read about.
And Taryn, awful, just awful. I want him dead, very bad.
And the story, so pathetic. Compared to the first two, this was astoundingly weak! The author might have his creative juices dried up.
I was not able to finish it. It is just so frustrating and disappointing.
Well, please readers just stop at book two and skip this one. It's awful.
Where is the main character from the first two books? It was he I want to read about.
And Taryn, awful, just awful. I want him dead, very bad.
And the story, so pathetic. Compared to the first two, this was astoundingly weak! The author might have his creative juices dried up.
I was not able to finish it. It is just so frustrating and disappointing.
Well, please readers just stop at book two and skip this one. It's awful.
June 15, 2012
I found this book to be a very interesting read. The focus shifted from magic and dragons to politics, although magic was certainly involved. I enjoyed the characters, who were realistic and not fairytale creatures. All in all, I thought the book was an excellent story and well worth the reader's time.
July 11, 2014
This book was a disappointment as i found the son to be a very very irritating character. any way that he could sabotage himself he picked that way and plus how the hell does he not know his own family's history when he is surrounded by people that know and every body else seems to know.
Long story short gave up on the book after trying to read it 3 times.
Long story short gave up on the book after trying to read it 3 times.
Read
January 23, 2016Pretty blah. It is always difficult for an author to change from the characters you have developed a relationship with. It was noble that the author tried telling the story from a different perspective, but the story just wasn't particularly interesting. I've enjoyed all of Pogue's other books, but this was a letdown.
April 12, 2013
Definitely his best written book of the 3 I have read..only held back on the 5th star because of a few quirks in the storyline... and after the length of the 2nd book I was hoping for one a bit longer :o)
February 10, 2016
Any of the things that you may have liked in the first two books were removed from this book. All we're left with are the spoiled, arrogant and privileged characters with different names. I couldn't make it though the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews