Fragment of Flame

Drift and Dragon #1

by Dan Michaelson, D.K. Holmberg

From assassin to protector. From weapon to shield.

For three years, Callen Nasinth has hidden in a quiet village, forging tools by day and guarding a woman and child he was once hired to kill. Known once as Nightshade, elite assassin of the Black Veil, he’s buried that past deep.

But when a mysterious merchant arrives bearing a fragment of dragon eggshell, long-dormant powers stir—within the world, and within Callen. The fragment awakens a rare magic tied to the drift—an ancient sense allowing him to feel the world’s energy, and fracture it.

Then Nora is taken.

To save the girl who’s become like a daughter, Callen must reclaim the deadly skills he abandoned—and face the assassin order that made him what he is. Worse still, his former mentor has begun harnessing dragon fragments for weapons of war.

As Callen’s bond to the drift deepens, one truth becomes

Somewhere, a dragon lives. And it’s calling to him.

FRAGMENT OF FLAME is the first book in Drift and Dragon, a gripping tale of redemption, hidden magic, and found family—perfect for fans of Brent Weeks, Robin Hobb, and Michael J. Sullivan.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons

365 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2025

Reviews

[Riotkittin]

a really basic plot. not a lot of world building and very repetitive of the same points. we get told the same things over and over and over. Nora saying "papa", Callen thinking about how nice his life is and how important amara and nora is in it. and his drift sense. It's like reading a 80s Hollywood action movie but with some kind of dragon influence.

[nendra]

Interesting magic system, unusual storyline, but the pace is too slow and repetitive

I like the unusual story line. Usually in a dragon fantary lore, the MC bonded with dragon early. A youth who stumble upon a dragon egg, who then hatches for him/her, then he/she learned the connection and so forth and so on. This one offered something different. The MC not immediately boned, didn't know he bonded, and lastly he's an adult. Not an orphan/youth/child of prophecy, etc. And there's no teacher/wise man/former dragon rider/wizard that teach him the magic. He basically learning by doing.

What I dislike is the pace of the story. I feel at times, it just dragging. The author repeated the same thing over and over and over again. Like, you should get a big revelation or near-death experience once, not multiple times. Lastly, the MC suppose to be this big bad assasin with deadly skill. Yet over the course of the book he gets beaten time and time again. SMH.

[Reader]

**From assassin to protector. From weapon to shield.**For three years, Callen Nasinth has hidden in a quiet village, forging tools by day and guarding a woman and child he was once hired to kill. Known once as Nightshade, elite assassin of the Black Veil, he’s buried that past deep.But when a mysterious merchant arrives bearing a fragment of dragon eggshell, long-dormant powers stir—within the world, and within Callen. The fragment awakens a rare magic tied to *the drift* —an ancient sense allowing him to feel the world’s energy, and fracture it.Then Nora is taken.To save the girl who’s become like a daughter, Callen must reclaim the deadly skills he abandoned—and face the assassin order that made him what he is. Worse still, his former mentor has begun harnessing dragon fragments for weapons of war.As Callen’s bond to the drift deepens, one truth becomes**Somewhere, a dragon lives. And it’s calling to him.***

[ShooF]

Enjoyed it but equally I'm not sure that I'll continue the series as it's just going to be another one where I'm waiting for the next book in a long line of similar ones. If I was being hyper critical I'd say that it could have done with a bit more action & the whole "drift" coming & going get's a bit tiresome. At least one of the "baddies" dies, well I assume he's dead! Nearly all of my recent reads, the baddies have had 9 lives, book after book they escape & when they finally get dead it's a bit of an anti-climax.
Will I come back to the series,TBH I'm just not sure, it's well written, flows quite well but all in all it misses the mark for me.

[Karli R]

Callen Nasinth is a former elite assassin. He has hidden in a small village to help protect Nora, a young girl and her mother Amara that he was once hired to kill. He must learn to master his awakening powers when Nora is taken. He must become the ruthless assassin again.

What a great first book. Full of action, magic and grit. Callen will step up to save Nora. She may not be blood, but she has become his daughter. Nothing better than seeing the bond between them all grow. It started as a family of convenience. Now it's a true family that rises out of the ashes.

[Lizy Flore]

Simple and great.

Found family, ex assassin, special child in need of protection. Dragon magic.

You’ve seen it all before, and yes, and it’s still as great.

The plot is engaging, the characters are cute, villains are villaining, heroes are heroing. Perfect to relax and enjoy.

Highly recommended to any fan of fantasy, epic fantasy.

[Elif]

Konu fena değil, ilk kitaba göre detaylar yeterli ama kitap çok sürükleyici değil. Bu sebeple okumam epey uzun sürdü. Mekanlar değişse de bir mekanda uzuuunca kalınmış hissi veriyor insana. Bu konuda daha iyi kitaplar okuduğum için çok övecek yön bulamıyorum, genel manada yetersiz kurgu. Devam eder miyim bilmiyorum, çok merak uyandırmadı.

[Liz K.]

A story with depth

So many of these types of stories are “fluff”. They are entertaining but with little “meat on their bones”. Michaelson and Holmberg are anything but “fluff” authors. Their stories are beautifully crafted with depth in both the plot and in the character development.

[Stephen Levesque]

This was a delight to read. Very catching and outstanding characters. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Can't wait for the next one. You all will enjoy the story and cheer on the good guys. Great Reading Everyone!!

[Jasper]

There is a fair amount of repetition of basic information on the characters, as well as a few issues with timelines. I constantly found myself slightly bothered by and correcting in my head the appropriate use of "drift" and "the drift".
The overall plot and story are really good and enjoyable, and I think any issues could be resolved by comprehensive editing.

[Cam Montour]

Well storied with a lot of buildup. Everything about it has been satisfaction in all aspects of how I think a story should go.
Looking forward to reading more of Callen’s growth towards the best he can be.

[Robert M.]

Applaud to the heart

I've enjoyed the read. Enough to practically say that it was one of the better stories that I read. That is to say that I have practically read a handful of these stories. This was very endearing.

[Rose Guthrie]

I haven’t followed Callens adventures in awhile and it was nice to see a softer side to his story but I’m curious to see where this is going to go with the dragon…soon

[Bang Lee]

Cliff hanger, couldn't put it down..

[Pat Calver]

great,

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be taken away from the now, and just go with floe

[William McWhorter]

I enjoyed it very much, I do feel there was a bit of repetition with certain aspects but overall it was a good read!

[Kristina Sennett]

Wonderfully enchanting

Story kept me engaged every step of the way! Magical and heart tugging! Can’t wait to read the next books

[JenHentz]

Great book

Everything you need in a grand tale- Dragons( what’s not to love about them) a hero- who would do anything to save a child that he loves.

[Gabby]

Excellent

Solid story and character development, strong villains and an antihero hero. And a glimmer of a dragon. Now on to the next one.

[Crimson Lace]

I really liked the story and the world it was building (this ends up being like 7 books?) but it's in desperate need of an editor. And also some writing workshops

[lucy keenan]

excellent

So enjoyed the book. Will read the next for sure. I found two mistakes missed by editing. I’m wondering if you can read my notes?