The Balborite Curse

Dragon Stone Saga #4

by Kristian Alva

The Balborite Curse is the fourth book in Kristian Alva’s bestselling Dragon Stones Saga.

After five years of fragile peace, things are changing rapidly. The dwarf kingdom is crumbling into civil war in the midst of the worst clan schism in a thousand years.

With the clans weakened by infighting, the entire dwarf kingdom is vulnerable to attack. Tallin Arai, the dragon rider, must leave the desert and the city he loves when someone puts a bounty on his head. He suspects the Balborites—a fanatic cult that trains deadly mageborn assassins. He sets out on a journey to save the dwarves from civil war and stop the Balborite assassins once and for all. Is Tallin strong enough to save them all?

Genres: Fantasy

238 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2013

About the author

Kristian Alva was born into a family of writers and teachers. She worked as a corporate staff writer and a ghostwriter before publishing her own manuscripts. She currently lives in Nevada with her family. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading all genres.

Reviews

[zenlita Pinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

This is a good book which carries the story along. I'm enjoying this fantasy adventure and looking forward to the next book in the saga.

[Rebekah Davenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

What a way to continue the journey. So excited to see where the journey goes from here on the next book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: While this is Book 4 in the series, it works as a stand alone. It is like a first book in a second trilogy following characters we met in the first 3 books, but set years later.

This was another excellent installment in the Dragon Stone Saga. In this book, the main character is Tallin, the half-dwarf dragon rider and teacher to Elias from the first three books. He was a fascinating character in previous books and I was quite pleased to see him take center stage. The Balborite Curse takes place about 5 years after Book 3, Vosper’s Revenge. Peace has lasted, though it is threadbare and falling apart in places (such as the dwarf kingdoms). There are still few dragons and few riders. Sela is still head of the dragon riders but is soon called back from her vacation to help Tallin deal with yet one more merchant attempting to smuggle a deadly poison into the desert city. I sense these two may be headed for romance in future installments, but for this book there was just the merest hint of something more than friendship.

The interrogation of the merchant leads to more questions and sends Tallin on a small quest to ensure the safety of the merchant’s family, if they still live. Along the way, he visits Chua and Starclaw. Starclaw gives Duskeye (dragon companion to Tallin) some much needed advice on finding receptive dragon females, if any still live. Dragon reproduction is a taboo subject for humans and dragons to chat about, therefore there is much mystery as to why the dragons have not started reproducing again.

Peppered throughout Tallin’s narrative, we get to hang out with the Balborite assassin Skarekina (spelling?), who we have met in previous books. We get some flashbacks to how she became a deadly, accomplished assassin. She has a grudge against Tallin and it comes to blows! Skarekina is a wonderful villain because she is so competent!

We also learn a little about the Orcs and their civilization. It seems that everyone discounts and looks down on the Orcs, even some of our heroes. However, I get the feeling that the author has something more planned for us when it comes to the Orcs. I look forward to surprises later in the series. Towards the end, another dwarf magic user is introduced. She is elderly and practical and was a joy to see in action. I expect we will be seeing more of her in Book 5. I am already somewhat attached to her, so I really hope she doesn’t get killed any time soon.

I know I keep saying it about this series, but I feel each book is just a touch better than the last. I couldn’t be more satisfied with a fantasy series. The characters are interesting, the plot has more than one story line and is not horribly predictable, and the bad guys are complicated and often competent. Plus we then have these side issues going on (fighting dwarf kingdoms, the Orcs, dragon reproduction, etc.) that keep the reader wondering what will happen in the next installment. With this book in particular, we have what could be a very significant question to be answered in the next book and I am very much looking forward to giving it a listen.

Narration: Adam Chase continues to do a great job with this series. I love his blunt voice for Tallin. He voice for Starclaw (an older female dragon) was also great as I could just imagine her wrecked body and mild anger during her chat with Duskeye. Chase has the most wicked female laugh which he employs quite well while performing the assassin.

What I Liked: Tallin is a great character and totally deserves his own few books; the evil assassin is competent and wicked scary; more info on the dragons; possible new threat in the Orcs; a new awesome dwarf magic user is introduced.

What I Disliked: Nothing, this was a great book!

[Michelle Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I finished reading Vosper’s Revenge and I heard that Ms. Alva was going to write more books about some of the characters, I thought that maybe they would be backstories or prequels to the original 3 books or even side stories that occurred at the same time as the first three books. Therefore, it was kind of surprising to discover that this book is set 5 years after Vosper’s Revenge. However, it still provides a lot of insight into Tallin and his history and life in a way that it could still help readers understand the character more, especially if they go back and re-read the first three books. Since the book is set in the future, it was kind of interesting to read and not discover more about Elias other than a few references about him and what he was doing now. Despite not following Elias, the book was just as intriguing learning about Tallin and Duskeye (Tallin’s dragon). I especially enjoyed learning things about Duskeye and other dragons and their customs.

The book is also written in a way that it is not absolutely necessary to read the first 3 Dragon Stones books first in order to understand what is going on in this one. Ms. Alva does a good job at mentioning some instances from the first books to tie them in for those of us who have read them, but it could also be enjoyable to read for those who haven’t read the first trilogy yet.

Just like those first 3 books, I didn’t want to put down The Balborite Curse when I was reading it! It is a fairly easy read, but it packed full of details, action, suspense, and intrigue throughout its rather short 240 pages. It is short enough to be read quickly for most people and not be too daunting in length, yet it captures your mind and heart just as much as longer books! I’m already anxiously awaiting the next book in Tallin’s story because now Tallin has captured my attention just as much as Elias did in the first books and it is amazing to be able to have a much more well-rounded knowledge of this land and the various people and dragons in it now.

[Mary Bearden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little hesitant to read a book that was number four in a series since I hadn't read any of the others, but decided to give it a shot. I actually realized that this book could stand on it's own without any previous history from the other three. That helped a lot because I understood what each character was about without any beforehand knowledge and the story made sense all on it's own.

This fourth book deals with a contract being put on Tallin's head along with his dragon, Duskeye because the enemy see's him as a roadblock to taking over. Tallin & Duskeye are what they call dragon riders who guard a city and evidently these enemies want to take over this city. There is a special type of oil called Kudu Oil which can kill a dragon and his rider. It has been outlawed but they are finding more and more smugglers trying to get it into the city. The conclusion is clear: they are out to get Tallin & Duskeye.

Tallin also has other things on his mind, such as finding new wild dragons, if they still exist. Years before, the humans had killed a lot of the dragons and Tallin was hoping to find some females still alive who had escaped and hidden out. He knew that they were the only hope of the dragon race not becoming extinct. So, he and Duskeye set out to find them, if they still existed.

Tallin had to make a side trip to see his aunt in another part of the country so he dispatched Duskeye to the desert to see if he could find a female dragon that they had heard of by several different sources. Tallin told Duskeye he would give him first option in seeing if he could mate with the female before he told the other male dragon's that he had found a female.

Both trips brought about different results and these results are what the next book will be about. The story ended in this book, The Balborite Curse, with some success and some doom & gloom. Tallin & Duskeye's survival is still up in the air and maybe we will find out more in the fifth book. Can't wait to see what Kristian Alva has in store for us in the next chapter of this series!

[Stephen Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Balborite Curse is the fourth book in Kristian Alva's bestselling Dragon Stones Saga. After five years of fragile peace, things are changing rapidly. The dwarf kingdom is crumbling into civil war in the midst of the worst clan schism in a thousand years. With the clans weakened by infighting, the entire dwarf kingdom is vulnerable to attack. Tallin Arai, the dragon rider, must leave the desert and the city he loves when someone puts a bounty on his head. He suspects the Balborites-a fanatic cult that trains deadly mageborn assassins. He sets out on a journey to save the dwarves from civil war and stop the Balborite assassins once and for all. Is Tallin strong enough to save them all?
This book is written in a way you don't need to read the first 3 Dragon Stones books, in order to understand what is going on in this one. Ms. Alva does a good job at mentioning some instances from the first books to tie them in for those of us who have read them, but it could also be enjoyable to read for those who haven't read the first 3 yet. Those first 3 books I didn't want to put them down, and the same thing with "The Balborite Curse" as I was reading it! It is a fairly easy read, but it packed full of details, action, suspense, and intrigue throughout its rather short 240 pages. It is short enough to be read quickly for most people and not be too daunting in length, yet it captures your mind and heart just as much as longer books! I am anxiously awaiting the next book in Tallin's story. because now Tallin has captured my attention just as much as Elias did in the first books and it is amazing to be able to have a much more well-rounded knowledge of this land and the various people and dragons in it now. Although I would like to see more of Elias and his dragon in the next books. To see how he is progressing now. Great Reading Everyone!!!!

[Victoria Brinius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read the first three books in this series. However I really liked this book. I am going to read the rest of the series as soon as I can, and I think more will be coming out. I play MTG, (Magic the card Game), and have for years. This book fits right in with Dwarves, and Dragons, and Earth spells. The Dwarf "war" was an interesting read because the author took me all over the land to learn about the different factions and I felt like I was a part of the strategy of saving the dragons. I also really liked when Tallin met his aunt. She had me laughing. The assassin was really strong, and I didn't think that Tallin was going to win. The author did a great job of describing Tallin's world. At the end there is also a list of spells and what they do. What I liked the most was Tallin and his friendship with his dragon. The fact that they could talk to each other and communicate for the betterment of the other people in the story kept me reading to the end (in one day) to see how they were going to work together. The ending was a sweet surprise, and I hope that there is more to come of the same in future books. If Tallin survives after this book. I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.

[Darrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the characters and the world but you can definitely tell that this is the first of a series. The story is not very self contained and at the end of the book there are a lot of threads that are just starting with no resolution in sight.

In the Balborite Curse, Tallin is a dragon rider who is tasked with the protection of the kingdom (along with other riders). They discover a plot to spread a deadly poison into the kingdom and must discover it's origin. So Tallin is sent south to try and pursue the investigation there. Along the way he discovers credible information that a Dwarven civil war. Since Tallin is half-dwarven, he goes to his family to warn them of the threat. As he journeys toward the dwarves home, he keeps hearing rumors of a wild female dragon that has been seen. This is valuable information to him because the dragons are dying out and will soon become extinct. Tallin then asks his dragon to pursue the rumors. Then Tallin travels on alone.

In the final scene, Tallin faces an old foe, a Balborite assassin but they fight to a stalemate. All the threads lead to the next book.

[manuel gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena lectura, muy cómoda

Como parte de una secuencia de libros está muy bien llevada y es sumamente cómoda y ágil en su lectura, me trae un cierto recuerdo de la trilogía de Eragon, esto sin perder su propia esencia pues los caracteres y personajes están muy bien definidos

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Good surprise at the end. Now I have to wait for the next one.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! What a way to end! I can't say too much without ruining it for friends but wow!

Waiting for the next book with great suspense!

[Melanie]

Its a good story i enjoyed reading it .