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Dragon Prayers
Born a slave. Her life was full of hardship.
Injured…
Poisoned…
Abandoned by those who kept her.
Those who bred her.
Those who owned her.
Gaya is a world where dragons are nothing more than a fancy kind of livestock. Iniki is one dragon born into this captivity. From her earliest days she longs for freedom—yet deep in her heart she knows that as long as she is valuable to humans she will live better than any wild dragon.
Conflicted, she is unable to decide what she wants—servitude and good treatment, or freedom and hunger. But something is about to change all the rules, and one who was once seen as nothing more than livestock will soon hold the future of the world in her hands.
Injured…
Poisoned…
Abandoned by those who kept her.
Those who bred her.
Those who owned her.
Gaya is a world where dragons are nothing more than a fancy kind of livestock. Iniki is one dragon born into this captivity. From her earliest days she longs for freedom—yet deep in her heart she knows that as long as she is valuable to humans she will live better than any wild dragon.
Conflicted, she is unable to decide what she wants—servitude and good treatment, or freedom and hunger. But something is about to change all the rules, and one who was once seen as nothing more than livestock will soon hold the future of the world in her hands.
- GenresDragons
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2016
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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November 21, 2025Iniki is a purple-eyed dragon who is raised to obey flawlessly every order given by her masters. From the most simple walks to the most complex moves, she needs to learn how to correctly answer to a human's command. Only by showing how well trained and obedient she is will she ever hope to receive the Golden Moon award, the greatest honor a dragon can receive.
However, dragons are sentient and much more intelligent than humans believe them to be. And thus Iniki often finds herself wondering why her masters don't understand her and why they always freak out whenever she wanders two steps out of bounds.
As the story progresses, she meets other dragons who, for better or worse, have had different experiences under their master's treatment. Some are well fed, while others must work in farms until their bones are broken. These various takes on dragon ownership are important to Iniki, and afterwards she starts to question herself about the place of dragons in the world.
All things considered, this book is pretty dark. There are humans who can get cruel towards their dragons when they are angry. Some events are casually pointed out through Iniki's point of view, but the reader knows the implications are much more serious.
I really love the supporting characters. From an unnamed dragon to a befriended partner, they all have a serious impact on Iniki's life and her way of looking at things. Some of them leave such a big mark that their absence is felt throughout the rest of the story. The scene when Iniki and her friend are watching the stars had me in tears.
I could go on for hours about this book, but at this point I would just be spoiling everything. There is something about Dragon Prayers that just clicked with me and kept me engaged throughout the entire reading. Some kind of harmony between the story, the world and the main character's point of view as the story progresses and she grows alongside it. I don't think words can describe how much I love this book.
Three sequels were apparently written where we would see Iniki's journey continue, but to my knowledge they were never published and the author has completely vanished. I assume this is due to the book never really taking off, which is really sad. Still, despite the story not being finished, the book is open-ended enough for me to be satisfied and consider it its own standalone novel.
However, dragons are sentient and much more intelligent than humans believe them to be. And thus Iniki often finds herself wondering why her masters don't understand her and why they always freak out whenever she wanders two steps out of bounds.
As the story progresses, she meets other dragons who, for better or worse, have had different experiences under their master's treatment. Some are well fed, while others must work in farms until their bones are broken. These various takes on dragon ownership are important to Iniki, and afterwards she starts to question herself about the place of dragons in the world.
All things considered, this book is pretty dark. There are humans who can get cruel towards their dragons when they are angry. Some events are casually pointed out through Iniki's point of view, but the reader knows the implications are much more serious.
I really love the supporting characters. From an unnamed dragon to a befriended partner, they all have a serious impact on Iniki's life and her way of looking at things. Some of them leave such a big mark that their absence is felt throughout the rest of the story. The scene when Iniki and her friend are watching the stars had me in tears.
I could go on for hours about this book, but at this point I would just be spoiling everything. There is something about Dragon Prayers that just clicked with me and kept me engaged throughout the entire reading. Some kind of harmony between the story, the world and the main character's point of view as the story progresses and she grows alongside it. I don't think words can describe how much I love this book.
Three sequels were apparently written where we would see Iniki's journey continue, but to my knowledge they were never published and the author has completely vanished. I assume this is due to the book never really taking off, which is really sad. Still, despite the story not being finished, the book is open-ended enough for me to be satisfied and consider it its own standalone novel.
February 10, 2023
The life of a domesticated dragon in a world where they are bred, trained and employed like horses.
In that regard it has similarities with Dragon of Ash & Stars by H. Leighton Dickson.
A difference in the two settings is that here the dragons have verbal communication and a telepathic abilities with their own kind, while in the other they have very limited communication abilities.
Another similar setting would be The Crimson Torch by Angela Holder, in which they have a language but bred in such a way they don't learn it. Also, this has in common the use of drugs to placate the dragons.
I appreciated the perspective given by a sapient being being put through a training very similar to that used on horses - including some barbaric drifts seen in traditional "horsemanship" if I dare call it such. There is also that same palette between "good" owners who although benevolent, can never know how their actions are felt and what is due to comfort seeking obedience and therefore cannot be sure they're really that good, versus the worst owners who leave no doubt about it, treating their charges like mere tools that must comply or be discarded.
Such a situation is not unseen in our world though : human slavery. Yet slaves suffered no such limitations of communication, they were dismissed as inferior by their masters and anything they could say, ignored. And keeping them uneducated only helped in that.
This book relates the journey of Iniki to close this gap of incomprehension with her wardens. She is pretty well rendered and her motivations to keep going despite what is thrown at her are quite believable.
I would be interested to see how she evolves in the next books. Seeing this book's afterword, that states the next 2 books were written and edited, and the fact that they are not published since 2016, makes me wonder. But never say never.
In that regard it has similarities with Dragon of Ash & Stars by H. Leighton Dickson.
A difference in the two settings is that here the dragons have verbal communication and a telepathic abilities with their own kind, while in the other they have very limited communication abilities.
Another similar setting would be The Crimson Torch by Angela Holder, in which they have a language but bred in such a way they don't learn it. Also, this has in common the use of drugs to placate the dragons.
I appreciated the perspective given by a sapient being being put through a training very similar to that used on horses - including some barbaric drifts seen in traditional "horsemanship" if I dare call it such. There is also that same palette between "good" owners who although benevolent, can never know how their actions are felt and what is due to comfort seeking obedience and therefore cannot be sure they're really that good, versus the worst owners who leave no doubt about it, treating their charges like mere tools that must comply or be discarded.
Such a situation is not unseen in our world though : human slavery. Yet slaves suffered no such limitations of communication, they were dismissed as inferior by their masters and anything they could say, ignored. And keeping them uneducated only helped in that.
This book relates the journey of Iniki to close this gap of incomprehension with her wardens. She is pretty well rendered and her motivations to keep going despite what is thrown at her are quite believable.
I would be interested to see how she evolves in the next books. Seeing this book's afterword, that states the next 2 books were written and edited, and the fact that they are not published since 2016, makes me wonder. But never say never.
March 5, 2023
Somber perspective of a dragon raised like livestock
Trained to never disobey men from birth, Iniki grows up in a stable where she learns commands from her masters and endures the harsh life of being little more than livestock. Her curiosity and a brief, unrestrained roam across the Realm teach her that not all is well with being completely untethered from men, either. A balance between comfortable freedom and reliance on men must be struck...
Some of the events in the book had been rather traumatizing to read, but I thought the topic of animals living free in the wild vs. in captivity is interesting. The author gives much attention and details to the specifics of handling dragons like livestock. For example, how training a dragon from birth or from the wild would work, how a dragon could be restrained like a horse, how to calm a nervous one.
Overall, it was a different but interesting take among dragon fantasy books. Unfortunately, it has been 7 years, at time of writing, since book 1 was released without any news of book 2. This book does not end on a cliffhanger, but it is rather open-ended without a definitive continuation. I hope the author feels inspired to continue Iniki's adventure eventually.
Trained to never disobey men from birth, Iniki grows up in a stable where she learns commands from her masters and endures the harsh life of being little more than livestock. Her curiosity and a brief, unrestrained roam across the Realm teach her that not all is well with being completely untethered from men, either. A balance between comfortable freedom and reliance on men must be struck...
Some of the events in the book had been rather traumatizing to read, but I thought the topic of animals living free in the wild vs. in captivity is interesting. The author gives much attention and details to the specifics of handling dragons like livestock. For example, how training a dragon from birth or from the wild would work, how a dragon could be restrained like a horse, how to calm a nervous one.
Overall, it was a different but interesting take among dragon fantasy books. Unfortunately, it has been 7 years, at time of writing, since book 1 was released without any news of book 2. This book does not end on a cliffhanger, but it is rather open-ended without a definitive continuation. I hope the author feels inspired to continue Iniki's adventure eventually.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews