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Dark-Hunter #25

La marca del dragón

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon brings us back to the astonishing world of the Dark-Hunters in Dragonmark, where man and mythology collide. . .

Centuries ago, Illarion was betrayed--a dragon made human against his will, then forced to serve humanity as a dragonmount in their army, and to fight for them in barbaric wars, even while he hated everything about them. Enslaved and separated from everyone he knew and from his own dragon brothers, he was forced into exile in a fey realm where he lost the only thing he ever really loved.

Now Illarion has a chance to regain what's been lost--to have the one thing he covets most. But only if he gives up his brothers and forsakes the oaths he holds most dear. Yet what terrifies him most isn't the cost his happiness might incur, it's the fact that there is just enough human in his dragon's heart that he might actually be willing to pay it and betray everything and everyone--to see the entire world burn...

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2016

532 people are currently reading
9090 people want to read

About the author

Sherrilyn Kenyon

243 books30.2k followers
Official Author site
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site

New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances), her books are always snatched up as soon as they appear on store shelves. Since 2004, she had placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her current series are: Dark-Hunters, Chronicles of Nick and The League, and her books are available in over 100 countries where eager fans impatiently wait for the next release. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Join her and her Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn

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5 stars
3,266 (39%)
4 stars
2,170 (25%)
3 stars
1,795 (21%)
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349 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 928 reviews
Profile Image for Coral.
776 reviews31 followers
August 3, 2016
2.5 stars
Why is this book even a full novel? I've just reread the previous 2 books, Son Of No One and Dragonbane in anticipation of this book and refreshing my mind of the series plot and what do I find? Practically half of this book is rewritten from the previous 2 books.

You may call it rehashing, I call it being lazy.

Was there no way of condensing and summarising that part of the plot? Instead we're given a word by word replay of the previous books. The only difference is that it's sort of from Illarion's point of view. I can't even bother to scrutinise if there's any new info in between those pages as the storylines from the previous 2 books are still fresh in my mind. I kept on skipping through the pages and guess what, it's the first time I finished an SK book in less than an hour.
Profile Image for Sophia Triad.
2,241 reviews3,765 followers
May 20, 2018
Illarion(Katagaria Drakos) and Edilyn(Half human and half kikimora)

Ahh... True love and TRUE DRAGONS!
Perfect.
So, yes I love Illarion and Edilyn's story naturally.

But let's break down the actual book:

Chapter 1 to Chapter 13: Illarion and Edilyn and in the end as we already know....For the dragon lived on without his heart
Chapter 14 to Chapter 21: Cadegan and Josette and copy paste from the Son of No One
Chapter 22 to Chapter 26: Max and Seraphina and copy paste from the Dragonbane
Chapter 27 to Chapter 28: Illarion and Edilyn and as we already know... “All you have to do is join me, nephew. Help me take back what was stolen and I’ll see you reunited with your Edilyn.”

So if you do some simple summations, you will realise that almost half of the book is irrelevant and already read in the previous books.
I wouldn't mind I think that much, if I haven't read one book after the other. But I remembered everything when I was reading these chapters. Every single detail. And it was boring. I wanted to get to the good point where they meet again.
Unfortunately the two lovers only have two chapters in the end and a epilogue.

Anyway, I am still giving 5 stars for the story of Illarion and Edilyn and I am just ignoring the other chapters.
Profile Image for Jo ★The Book Sloth★.
486 reviews443 followers
Read
December 6, 2015
I knew it would be Illarion, I just knew it. And I'm kind of happy it isn't yet another new guy. But... but I wanted Savitar!!!!



Still... Bring it!

7/12/2015

Lords Of Avalon?? What the hell is Lords of Avalon? As if Dark-Hunter, Dream-Hunter, Were-Hunter, Hellchaser, Chronicles of Nick and whatever-the-hell-else belongs in the Dark-Hunterverse wasn't already too much, now I actually have to know what this Lords Of Avalon is? I think Sherrilyn Kenyon serves waaaay more than her readers can chew these days!
46 reviews12 followers
August 2, 2016
I have been a fan of the Dark-Hunters since Night Pleasures came out, have spent countless hours discussing the series, have recommended it high and low to lovers of both romance and fantasy. And I have never, ever been more disappointed both in a book and in an author.

Dragonmark was a $14.99 ebook. Over 75% of the story is sections (not even sections with Illarion!) straight up copy/pasted from Son of No One and Dragonbane. Styxx was a wonderful story that showed a parallel perspective on familiar scenes from the series. Dragonmark is fucking 75% chapters we have already read with almost ZERO additional information interspersed in the words we've already read. She didn't even bother to rewrite the scenes from Illarion's perspective. This was straight up copy and pasted, slapped on a novelette about how Illarion and Edilyn met the first time. There is only one chapter that takes place after Dragonbane. One.

I can't fucking believe that this book was NOT ONLY $14.99 as an ebook, but that it wasn't a novella in the first place. I intend to write to her publisher and to iBooks. I know there is little chance of a refund, but this is ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT.

Anyone like to take a crack at explaining how and why this happened?
Profile Image for Cheryl Mclaws.
172 reviews9 followers
August 6, 2016
Confused. And a little bit mad that Illarion got cheated out of having his story told. His story wasn't told. Everyone else's stories were RE-told. The bits with Illarion and Edilyn was all of about 5 chapters worth of this book. Really, his story could have been added to Max's book as a sub-story line...since that's what happened anyway with all the word for word re-telling that happened in this book...or released as a novella or short story telling his and Edilyn's SHORT story. The rehashing was supposedly "important" and "written in Illarion's POV" but it wasn't. It was exactly as it was in Son Of No one and Dragonbane. Had it ACTUALLY been written in IllarionsPOV we might have learned little bits that would have made it permissible, or had we heard anything from Edilyn and what SHE was going through for the majority of the book, it would have been better. All the re-telling was really pointless. If you are someone coming into this series on book #26 you deserve to be confused. Go back to the beginning and put in all the time reading everything else like the rest of us have!
Profile Image for Scholar inArmor.
132 reviews24 followers
February 4, 2022
AFTER READING:
SPOILERS AHEAD, BE WARNED!



"I am pleased when she maddens me … when she makes me stand with open mouth, staring. And I am pleased when she laughs at me or makes a fool of me to my face, or my back... For after this bad, the good will come very quickly, if such is her pleasure."

This book, IMO, is the second book of the duology with Dragonbane being its first. With this book, the "War on The Olympus" storyline, which started at the end of Dragonbane, is finished. The "War of the Were-Hunters" storyline is also finished. One new storyline started at the end of Dragonmark and it has to do with Apollo & Morgan le Fey forging an alliance.

Illarion and Edilyn are fierce together. Illarion is the son of the Greek god of war, Ares and lilitu demon. On the other hand, Edilyn is the daughter of Kikimory a.k.a. a nightmare demon and a human. Her mother was a Queen of Kikimory demons. I was so happy when I found out that Edilyn did not die (thanks to her nightmare-demon-half). I liked their loyalty and I liked that they actually talked to each other when there were problems. Illarion & Edilyn FTW!

In this book, we got introduced to two new characters. One is Sarraxyn and the other one is Virag. Virag is Edilyn's brother and Sarraxyn a.k.a. Xyn is a badass dragoness and sister of Maxis, Falcyn, Illarion, Hadyn & Blaise.

This book featured a big cast of known characters and some parts (twelve chapters to be precise) are re-used from Dragonbane and Son of No One. I must admit that I did not like all the re-hashing. I guess the author did it so that "everyone" could read this book but that is not how it worked. Even with all the re-hashing, reminding and mentioning - first-time readers of the Dark-Hunterverse would still be confused about many characters/storylines. A character list with short info, for the characters that appeared in the books, would help newcomers more than a re-hashing would. A perfect example is how Nalini Singh does it at the beginning of each Psy-Changeling books. There is also one more-critical-than-mine review here which I completely agree with. Mrs. Cheryl Mclaw's sentence "If you are someone coming into this series on book #26 you deserve to be confused." is true to the core.

All things considered, Sherrilyn Kenyon could do this book differently but I still believe her and respect her as an author.

MY SPECULATIONS:

There is one thing I noticed about Maxis. It was heavily mentioned that his father is Arel and that he inherited his instinct to help everyone from his "Arel father". There are four male Arels introduced in the books, they are Adidiron, Sraosha, Suriyel, and Vahista. I have read their profiles on the Sherrilyn Kenyon's website and Suriyel's profile says: "Tall, dark and deadly, Suriyel is one of mankind’s most virulent defenders. Born before recorded time, he has seen more battles than any creature should. But each one makes him more determined to save as many lives and souls as he can." I have a feeling that Suriyel is Maxis's father but that is just instinctive speculation on my part.

Next/second book in the Dragons Rising trilogy is titled Dragonsworn and it will feature Falcyn & Medea with the last/third book being titled Battle Born and featuring Urian and an unknown female. So far Urian is not a dragon of any kind so that means that he will either have to become one or find a female dragon to fall in love with or a little bit of both. If you ask me, his book cannot be a part of Dragons Rising trilogy if neither of the two main characters are not actually dragons. In my opinion, there are two possible situations here...

The first situation involves a non-dragon female. If they go with this route I think that Urian will somehow inherit his "father's" (Strykerius) ability to change into a dragon.

The second situation involves Sarraxyn. If she is his heroine it does not matter if Urian becomes a dragon or not. Besides that, I have found a few purely logical reasons for her to be his heroine. Let me explain. Maxis got his book with Dragonbane, Illarion with Dragonmark, Falcyn will get his with Dragonsworn, Blaise will probably get his within Lords of Avalon series, and with their brother Hadyn dead that leaves their sister Sarraxyn as the only sibling "without a book". Also, Sherrilyn Kenyon said on her Facebook page that we should "read Dragonmark and Dragonsworn to learn clues about Urian's fate . . ." Urian did not appear in Dragonmark, but Sarraxyn did. Last but not least, Sarraxyn appeared only in the flashbacks. In the present time, Apollo mentioned that no one knows where she is and what happened to her. Perfect setup for her up-to-date appearance.

For all of you hoping that Urian's deceased wife, Phoebe will be Urian's HEA, I have some bad news. Sherrilyn already confirmed via her Goodreads Q&A that Phoebe is not going to be Urian's heroine.

BEFORE RELEASE:

ILLARION & EDILYN FOR THE WIN!




Hunter Legends universe/Hunterverse series reading order:

- novella
= Dream-Hunter book
~ Hellchaser book
+ Chronicles of Nick book
* online bonus
! Lords of Avalon book

Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter #1)
- Dragonswan (Were-Hunter #0.5)
Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter #2)
Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter #3)
- A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Dark-Hunter #2.5)
Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter #4)
Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter #5)
Night Play (Dark-Hunter #6, Were-Hunter #1)
- Winter Born (Were-Hunter #1.5)
Seize the Night (Dark-Hunter #7)
Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter #8)
Unleash the Night (Dark-Hunter #9, Were-Hunter #2)
Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter #10, Were-Hunter #3)
- A Hard Day's Night Searcher (Dark-Hunter #10.25)
- Until Death We Do Part (Dark-Hunter #10.5)
- Fear the Darkness (Dark-Hunter #10.75)
- Phantom Lover (Dream-Hunter #0.5)
= The Dream-Hunter (Dream-Hunter #1, Dark-Hunter #11)
Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter #12)
= Upon the Midnight Clear (Dream-Hunter #2, Dark-Hunter #13)
= Dream Chaser (Dream-Hunter #3, Dark-Hunter #14)
Acheron (Dark-Hunter #15)
~ Daemon's Angel (Hellchaser #1)
- Where Angels Fear to Tread (Hellchaser #1.5)
- Shadow of the Moon (Were-Hunter #3.5)
One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter #16)
= Dream Warrior (Dream-Hunter #4, Dark-Hunter #17)
Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter #18, Were-Hunter #4, Hellchaser #2)
+ Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1)
No Mercy (Dark-Hunter #19, Were-Hunter #5)
+ Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2)
Retribution (Dark-Hunter #20, Were-Hunter #6)
= The Guardian (Dream-Hunter #5, Dark-Hunter #21, Were-Hunter #7, Hellchaser #3)
* Redemption (Epilogue to The Guardian) [http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/book/t...]
+ Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3)
Time Untime (Dark-Hunter #22, Hellchaser #4)
+ Inferno (Chronicles of Nick #4)
- House of the Rising Son (Dark-Hunter #22.5) [Prequel to Styxx]
Styxx (Dark-Hunter #23)
+ Illusion (Chronicles of Nick #5)
! Sword of Darkness (Lords of Avalon #1)
! Knight of Darkness (Lords of Avalon #2)
Son of No One (Dark-Hunter #24, Were-Hunter #8, Hellchaser #5, Lords of Avalon #3)
+ Instinct (Chronicles of Nick #6)
Dragonbane (Dark-Hunter #25, Were-Hunter #9, Hellchaser #6, Lords of Avalon #4)
+ Invision (Chronicles of Nick #7)
Dragonmark (Dark-Hunter #26, Were-Hunter #10, Lords of Avalon #5, Dragons Rising Trilogy #1)
Profile Image for Misty.
689 reviews4 followers
August 4, 2016
This is not a book. It's a novella. A short story. Something in the middle. But definitely not a book.
You can't write a book about Illarion and then spend 50% of the book talking about Cadegan and Max... and not even in Illarion's point of view! We have entire paragraphs and chapters that are in Cadegan PoV, like when Josette goes to the rescue when he was Addanc.
This is Illarion's book. You want to show that scene because Illarion was present? That's fine! But at least have the decency to write it in Illarion's PoV, show us what he's looking at. Why just copy it and put us in Cadegan's head? We already read that, thank you very much.
I'm terribly disappointed, especially in the ending: we left Dragonbane in a certain situation and that situation got solved in a chapter, at the end of the book. One chapter to make the story go forward.
Sorry, but that's not enough when you publish something that you call a "book".
As a reader I feel definitely cheated of my time and my hopes for this story. I'll give this series the chance to get up again, waiting until Urian's book... but if that is not up to expectations, then I'm done reading Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Profile Image for Alex is The Romance Fox.
1,461 reviews1,242 followers
September 3, 2016
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What is going on with this series?????
Dragonmark, 26th book in the Dark-Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, is in my honest opinion, a total rip-off ---in many ways!!!
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Most of the story is a rehash of some of the previous books!!! This was supposed to be the story of Illarion and Edilyn..........really!!!! Wow, 2 or 3 chapters with these two and we get their story!!!!

Repeat....Repeat....Repeat!! And more Rehash....Rehash....Rehash!!!
Why bother making this a full-length book....it was more like a novella!!!
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Even the on and off appearances of Acheron, Styx, Simi , etc. couldn't get me to even remotely like this latest epistle!!!

Think I may be just ...........MOVING ALONG...MOVING ON....MOVING AWAY....from any future books in this series!!!!
Profile Image for Dany.
257 reviews
August 22, 2016
#2 Edit:
Dragonmark no estuvo bien. Nada bien. Es más, no sé porque me molesté en terminarlo. ¬¬ Llevo años leyendo la serie, y durante ese tiempo he pasado por alto toda la previsibilidad (de novela romántica), incontables Deux ex Machina, insta-love, re-ajustes de versiones de la líneal argumental, muertes y resurrecciones de personajes solo para hacer la historia posible, el hacerme la tonta para no pensar en el modo de hablar barriobajero que tienen los personajes-immortales-más-viejos-que-el-tiempo que obviamente demuestra su nivel de madurez e intelectualidad, los patrones repetitivos de personajes sufridos (porque claramente, un personaje con un pasado normal, no es buen material para esta serie), el desorden paranormal que ya se le fue de las manos a la autora, y sin olvidar la regla de oro de Kenyon, que siempre que hay un malo fuerte y poderoso, hay que hacer a los demás más fuertes y más poderosos... solo porque sí.
Y esos son solos los problemas generales de la serie. Pero con Dragonmark se superó a si misma. Es un desastre sin pie ni cabeza, que además pudo haber sido añadido al final del libro anterior ocupando no más de 2 capítulos. Creo que un fanfic (lo que más odio en esta vida) habría sido mejor. Porque de verdad, esta no es la historia de Illarion, sino de sus hermanos. No hablaré más de Dragonmark porque no lo merece, y si desean leerlo que sea bajo su propio riesgo. Estoy harta. Me cansé de esperar que esta serie mejore, o que la termine de una vez por todas, porque ya no es más que un total sinsentido. Y eso es todo.
Cambio y fuera.
*Me voy para dispararle a alguien*

#1 Edit:
*I was looking for books in goodreads, when I saw this*

Wait a second...



Dear Kenyon,
I have been your reader and fan for years. YEARS. And I love you. So tell me, is not enough to this book be part of the darkhunterverse and Lord of Avalon series? Is really necessary another one?

Profile Image for Grecia Robles.
1,696 reviews466 followers
January 8, 2019
MAL MAL MAL Sherrilyn Kenyon TU MUY MAL

Me habían advertido que este libro era MUY MALO, aburrido, chafa, una estafa y no pienso discutírselos ESTOY DE ACUERDO ¿ En que estaba pensando Sra. Kenyon’



Aun con todo lo malo de este libro no me parece que sea el peor para mi él que todavía tiene ese lugar tararan… el de Fang.

La primera parte del libro es cuando conoce Illaryon a Edelyn su esposa amor de su vida etc etc.. en los libros anteriores sabemos que ella falleció y él todavía está con el corazón roto y en este por fin conocemos sus orígenes.

El instalove/instalust es lo que define el amor de nuestros protas Literal en un solo día se conocen se enamoran se entregan y ya quieren ser emparejar que digo en un solo día en un par de horas I MEAN… WTF?

Yo esperaba un amor mejor desarrollado pero no voy a negar que eso no fue lo me desilusionó de este libro porque equis ya conozco a SK pero el descarado COPY/PAGE de los libros de Cadegan y Max hay nooo es el colmo.



Yo odio los retellings en los libros pero esto LITERAL fueron escenas copiadas de esos libros no fue un retelling desde el punto de vista de Illy .

Y pss como no quise desperdiciar mi tiempo leyendo esas escenas y que me lo paso hasta que llegamos a la actualidad y zas sólo me faltaba el 10% del libro para terminar WHAT?

Como dije si es un libro malo pero al menos los protas me parecieron adorables, por eso es que todavía Fang conserva el primer lugar él era insoportable.
10 reviews1 follower
August 3, 2016
I am sick of this mess. I mean, I am completely disgusted. I started and finished this book in less than three hours. This woman is the LAZIEST writer I have ever foolishly given my time. This last book takes the cake. Over 60% was repeated WORD FOR WORD from other books. Don't waste your money and buy this mess. Wait until someone leaks it online; otherwise, you are going to pay good money for 40% original content.

Kenyon lifted whole entire chapters from her other books, Son of No One and Dragonbane, to fill the pages of Dragonmark. When I started the book, I was excited, and I really enjoyed the story between Ill and Eddie. Yes, as with every increasing frequency in her previous books, there is no real conflict and limited character development. Hell, I even skip over the romance parts. I just enjoy the interactions between the characters and watching their relationships evolve. The romantic relationships are stale, and I prefer to read about the changing family bonds and dynamics.

I read this little lazy novella on my kindle and the new material goes from chapter 1-14 (43%) and doesn't pick back up until chapter 27. There are only 28 chapters in the damn book!!! Please, tell me, what is creative about this?

I understand that her books are an interconnected and "intricate" world, but there are more creative and stylistically engaging ways to retell a story from another characters perspective. It's like she's just info dumping. To the people who have rated this as anything greater than one star, my heart is telling me you've never been exposed to decent literature. This is paranormal romance novel, so I was not expecting anything along the lines of Faulkner or Tobias Wolf, but damn, she really phone this shit in.
Profile Image for Alba Turunen.
838 reviews270 followers
January 7, 2018
2’5 Estrellas, pero se queda con 2 porque la segunda mitad del libro me ha cabreado demasiado. Sin duda éste libro es el ejemplo de todo aquello que un escritor no debería hacer si no quiere cargarse una buena historia. Una historia que empezó muy bien, una historia que prometía, con un romance precioso, con unos protagonistas estupendos, como Sherrilyn siempre ha sabido crear, pero ¿Qué narices le ha ocurrido para fastidiar el libro de esta manera? ¿Se cansó de escribir? ¿Le vencía el plazo? ¿No se le ocurrió nada mejor? O sencillamente ¿Debía tener un mínimo de páginas y no lo cumplía y decidió hacer un copia pega? Pues lo siento Sherrilyn, pero si tu obra futura se va a basar en esto, paso de volver a leerte.

No me gusta nada soltar spoilers en mis reviews, pero como he visto que no soy la única que está enfadada con la autora por esto mismo lo diré. La primera mitad del libro es magnífica, con los mejores ingredientes de romance que Sherrilyn sabe escribir, pero hacia la mitad decide darle un viraje al romance de nuestros protagonistas para sumirlos en la tragedia ¿Y qué viene después? Nada más y nada menos que ciento cincuenta páginas (sí, y el libro tiene trescientas sesenta), que son un absoluto copia pega, en serio: párrafos, líneas enteros de conversaciones de los anteriores libros; “Hijo de Nadie” y “El estigma del dragón”.

Quienes leísteis los libros anteriores ¿Recordáis las escenas en que salía Illarion con Cadegan y Jo, y con Max y Sera? Pues todo eso lo ha cogido Sherrilyn y lo ha pegado en este libro. ¿Era necesario? No. Porque ya sabíamos lo que había ocurrido en ellos. Por desgracia, no es la primera vez que Sherrilyn emplea esta atrocidad, en el libro de Fang también lo usó y me pareció un absoluto desperdicio. No todos los autores saben conjugar en distintos libros una misma historia contada a través de varios personajes, siempre he dicho que Kresley Cole es una maestra porque sabe usar este recurso como nadie, pero en el caso de Sherrilyn se le suma la vagancia y la falta de inventiva, pues repito, no hay nada peor que pegar tus propios párrafos durante ciento cincuenta páginas para contarme lo mismo con pelos y señales.

Creo que ya entiendo por qué este libro tiene una puntuación tan baja (respecto a otros de la misma serie), así como montones de críticas negativas de gente enfadada. Una más que se suma a la lista de indignados.

Dejando de lado mi cabreo, contaré un poco respecto al libro y sus personajes. Como supimos en anteriores libros, Illarion, un drakomas o dragón primigenio, es el hermano menor desaparecido de Maxis, a quien conocimos en “Hijo de nadie”, supimos que Illarion tuvo una historia pasada con su pareja predestinada, Edilyn, a quien perdió. Pero entonces ¿Cómo lo arregla Sherrilyn? Bueno, por desgracia, después de las ciento cincuenta páginas de copia pega te enteras de lo que ocurrió.

Edilyn pertenece a una extraña raza de demonios de los sueños, pero se ha criado como humana, al haber renunciado su madre a sus poderes para irse con su pareja, otro humano y padre de Edilyn. En la Edad Media, sí, el libro empieza a principios del siglo VII, Edilyn era sólo una niña cuando perdió a sus padres durante un ataque de los dragones, pero su hermano Virag, por parte de madre, la crió y protegió hasta que llegó a adulta. Edilyn se formó como guerrera para luchar contra los dragones, a quienes odia desde que mataron a sus padres.

En la aldea donde vive Edilyn, todos los años organizan una especie de liza en la que los habitantes ofrecen a sus hijas como esposas de los dragones, a cambio de que estos los protejan y luchen con ellos contra sus enemigos. Lo que Edilyn quiere es combatir contra los dragones, y ése era su propósito hasta que Illarion se dejó caer en el pueblo, y cambió la percepción de Edilyn completamente. Por su parte, Illarion disfruta en el anonimato de los juegos de los humanos, los desprecia por lo que le hicieron, por marcarle, por robarle su voz, jamás esperó una palabra amable de ellos, hasta que conoció a Edilyn.

Pronto empieza una bonita historia entre ellos, un romance apasionante y con mucha química, muy del estilo de los que sabe crear Sherrilyn y que te atrapa desde que lo empiezas. Pero el destino, o más bien Morgana le Fay y el legado familiar de Edilyn, se interpondrán entre los protagonistas, separándolos de la manera más cruel.

Lo siguiente, ya lo sabemos, es el copia pega. Reitero ¿Cómo lo soluciona Sherrilyn? En apenas veinte páginas finales y poco concluyentes, pues la autora metió demasiada paja en el copia pega, y en veinte páginas quiso arreglar el romance de los protagonistas, pero queda corto y muy escueto. Para mi, el gran interrogante: ¿Qué fue de Edilyn? ¿Nos los separa quince siglos y en apenas una frase nos suelta lo que fue de ella? ¡Venga ya! Eso no convence ni un a bebé.

Resumiento: esta ha sido mi percepción del libro. Una historia que podría haber convencido, pues tenía los ingredientes para ello, pero que la autora ha desaprovechado de la manera más espantosa. No sé si por falta de inventiva, porque le vencía el plazo, o simplemente por vagancia, pero lo que Sherrilyn ha hecho con esta historia es destrozarla, y no sé si tengo ganas de seguir leyendo esta interminable serie en la que ya nada es como al principio, y en la que amplía más y más hasta ver donde llega la gallina de los huevos de oro. Por mi parte, deberán convencerme las críticas de los siguientes libros si sigo leyendo, si no, me planto aquí.
Profile Image for Neftis.
960 reviews20 followers
January 7, 2018
Refrito de los dos libros anteriores, asi cualquiera escribe una saga tan larga.
Profile Image for Marishka.
465 reviews59 followers
August 8, 2016
I feel a little ripped off. This book cost 14.99 and half of it was from the previous two books!
Chapter 14 though chapter 27 were all from the last two books.... I really don't care if it was from Illy's "sorta" POV because we already read that stuff and knew it. There was so much she could have written about these two people that would have been new and entertaining. I feel a little betrayed by this author who up to now has been fantastic. If she wanted to catch everyone up on events that happened then at the very least we should have gotten more story after they were reunited. To spend so much time from the last two books was annoying. I think its funny when she addressed her fans that she call it a "handful of scenes" - way more than a handful. And if you start a book that is so far into a series then you deserve to be confused. It wasn't the scenes on how they met - we loved that. It was everything in the middle and then after that it being so rushed.

Amusing letter to her fans on Facebook about this book- https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSherri...

So basically I paid 14.99 for 132 pages of new materiel. Not worth the price we paid and its a shame this book could have been great.

If that other stuff had been cut this would have been a 4 star book. i did get a little annoyed since this book is connected with her lords of avalon series. didn't really see that before i started and i wish i would have read them. but i don't think it really mattered to me anyway i was able to hang in there fine.

p.s - please for the love of god stop adding new series..... it's getting ridiculous just make them all dark hunter since they are connected. or an better idea finish dark hunter and make a spin-off series. what is it 7 or 8 series that are connected now with the addition of "Dark-Hunter: Dragon's Rising Trilogy " when they could all just be in the same series. i wonder how many more she can add before this is done. it's not helpful but confusing. if i saw this shit when i was looking to start this series i wouldn't have started. it's to much.

p.s.s - at this point i'm not even sure she can finish a series. look at this book its connected to lords of avalon - which i didn't even know was connected. and i was going to start the sea wolves series under her other name but.... big surprise the sea wolves series under her other name is going to be added to this world and call deadman's cross. there is two books in the old series and looks like she has plans for a couple more. for the love god just fucking stop!
Profile Image for Sarah ♥ dog crazy ♥ .
184 reviews
September 12, 2016
This book was so bad.

She hates dragons. She hates them so much.
He hates humans. He hates them so much.

They meet and within HOURS!!! HOURS!!! they fuck, are madly in love. And dragon babies... Hey, no problem for the chick who hated dragons soooo much a day ago.

Then her brother does something stupid. The chick and the dragon have some unnecessary drama. They reconcile and want to bond their life forces. Oh, but they can't. But guess what, Sav can help. Because everything has to be perfect.

Short drama again. The bonding/mating gets undone and she dies.

Then we get a rehash of the previous two books. Seriously, word for word. From other characters point of view. Hardly any Illarion there. He's just standing around.

Then in the last 3 chapters, he meets the chick again. They meet during a fight on Olympus. Who cares! Guess what the only thing is they have in mind? Fucking!!!

The dragon couldn't speak. Then her brother brings something back he's stolen. Guess what? The dragon can speak now! Oh, and of course suddenly they are mated again. Ridiculous!

They flee. That's it!

The one star is only for Savitar and Thorn.
Profile Image for Gary.
167 reviews70 followers
August 4, 2016
only going to give this a 4 out of 5 because of the big chunk of story line that retells other books but other than that it is a good book as always by sherrilyn Kenyon
Profile Image for Sharon.
507 reviews319 followers
April 18, 2018
Here are some of my thoughts:
• Edilyn, the female protagonist, is a bit of a footnote. That’s disappointing because it makes it difficult to feasibly invest in the romance between her and Illarion. She is gone for a great chunk of it. And when she is there (usually in the beginning-middle), she is not… great. Not terrible. Just nothing particularly fetching that will make me love her. I do, however, appreciate how she turns out ultimately. This book would be a lot better if she is not gone for a lot of it – and the time is used to show her developing her kikimora powers. I think I might have liked THAT type of character and to see her grow into that. Seeing the end result is great, but seeing how she got there would be even better.
• Meanwhile, in the 2nd half of the book, the time is spent on scenes we have seen in former books. On one hand, I adore seeing certain characters return again – in particular, Josette, Cade, Acheron (always), and Zarek (who’s there for a bit). And I did not know (or remember) if this has been talked about before – but I like that in Illarion’s perspective, we get another insight – which is that Thorn and Karma might have something going on?? That is interesting and I definitely can’t wait to see how that turns out (IF something does come out of this). Anyway, despite enjoying certain characters returning and seeing old interactions again, I really did get bored. It just felt redundant. It’s the same how I felt about Fang and Aimee’s book – I ship them, but their book has so many scenes we have seen before that I just personally didn’t enjoy their book.
• I like Illarion, especially after meeting him in Josette&Cade’s book. He is just so sarcastic, but loyal. I was really hoping he’d get his happy ending. Half of the book is set in the old times and the other half is set in old crossover moments and a bit of it that’s new. I like his character, but I really would have liked to enjoy his book more.

So overall, 2 stars. I haven’t read a Dark-Hunter book in SO LONG. It’s weird for me because I was reading these books by the tons consistently in 2015 and 2016, but for the past year and half, I took a pause. It’s great to see certain characters and interactions again during the old crossover moments. However, I would have liked to see more developments with Edilyn as an individual character and with Edilyn and Illarion as a couple.

Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
Favorite scenes?
What age level would be appropriate?
Profile Image for Amber.
1,193 reviews
April 22, 2017
Illarion is a dragon (who is the son of the God of War Ares) who was forced to splice with a human when he was younger and had his vocal cords messed up only allowing him to speak telepathically to others loses his new dragonswan Edilyn after her stupid Kikimora brother steals one of his dragon healing stones to give to his worst enemy Morgen Le Fey. Can Illarion find the love of his life again and save the world from evil and finally get a happy ending for himself? Read and find out for yourself.

This was a pretty good installment of the dark hunter and werehunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. The action in it was awesome, it has a fair amount of romance in it, and the dialogue and stuff is awesome too. If you like fantasy stories with greek gods and more in it, then definitely check this out. You can find this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.
Profile Image for Under the Covers Book Blog.
2,840 reviews1,342 followers
August 2, 2017
Dragonmark tells Illarion and Edilyn’s story. It goes over Illarion's background up to present day. This dragon shifter story was sweet and it was a quick read.

I’ll just jump right into it. I know that there have been complains about the overlapping of this book with Dragonbane and Son Of No One. While some complaints have merit, I have to say that with Kenyon’s large series that interconnect, I sort of not surprised. I have read and followed this series for some time and with this book being the 26th of the series, I was fully aware this can happen . I do admit that there are several scenes that was what some may call it redundant or copied but I suppose i just didn’t mind it. It felt that it was part of Illarion’s story and it’s how his story came about.

I’ve loved Illy even before this book but hearing his story made me fall for him even more. His story was sweet and Edilyn was his well deserved heroine. I love her honesty and kindness. It was all it took to break down Illarion’s defensive walls.

As far as the rest of the Dark Hunters, there was a good dose of them in this book. Any page time to see Acheron, Styxx, Savitar and the rest of the crew is such a treat. Despite the huge amount of overlap or recap, I still enjoyed this book. I’ve love this series and I’ll take what I can get.

*ARC provided by publisher
Reviewed by Angela❤ ♡ Don't want to miss any of our posts? Subscribe to our blog by email! ♡ ❤
Profile Image for Viri.
1,306 reviews460 followers
July 25, 2017
This is me reading this book...

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WHAT A SHAME!!!
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!!!!


GRRRRRRRRRRRR...

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No comprendo, en serio... que vil estafa! que vergüenza vender esta historia!!!

No le doy cero estrellas porque AMÉ la aparición de algunos de mis personajes favoritos, pero ni eso salva el desastre de este libro.

Literalmente fue un puro COPY/PAGE de los libros de Cadegan y Max.
Mientras leía estaba así de... mmmm, no se suponía que era la historia de Illy? Porque es que esto fue...

¡TAN REPETITIVO!

En serio, fácil de este libro tuvimos un 80% de los libros pasados. Fue la misma historia de CADEGAN primero, y luego la de MAX, lo peor es que ni siquiera era desde el punto de vista de Illarion. NOOOOOOOO fue un vil copy/page de sus libros en las partes que salía Illarion.

Una estafa. ¿En serio esto es lo que nos vendió SK?

O sea, adoro a la señora, es mi idola pero debería de darle vergüenza vender esto. Un 20% del libro es lo unico que nos "regala" de Illarion & Edilyn. Y ni siquiera fue un buen 20%.

Ellos se encuentran en un día y a pesar de que ella odia a los dragones a las pocas horas se entrega a el y lo ama. Cuando el la regresa a su hogar porque piensa que lo traicionó (ese mismo día) resulta que están destrozados, se extrañan horrores y no pueden vivir sin el otro. Cuando regresa ella deciden vincular sus vidas y así vivir juntos FOREVER.

Yeeeei, súper creíble el asunto.

BLA, BLA, BLA...

Su historia fue más allá de un INSTA-LOVE. Ellos literal se conocen y se aman. ¡EN POCAS HORAS! No miento.

Para quienes quieren saber que más pasa con ellos después de que ella "muere" (no es spoiler, si leíste el libro pasado ya lo sabías) pásense hasta el ultimo 10% del libro (si no es que menos) pues solo eso es lo único que continúa su historia.

De verdad quería que me gustara este libro. No esperaba que fuera tan malo. Es más, ni siquiera leí reseñas para no modificar mi opinión. ERROR TOTAL. No lo vuelvo a hacer.

Pero bueno, soy fan de la saga y aunque no me gustara seguiré fiel porque soy masoquista.

No te quedes con mi opinión. Si sigues a los DH supongo que, como yo, no querrás dejar pasar ningún cabo suelto y sufrirás la tortura de este libro. Igual sugiero que lean reseñas, no hagan como yo.

Si te gustó... por favor dime que le viste a esta historia de bueno.
Profile Image for Charlotte.
344 reviews
August 17, 2016
So, before I start, I want to preface this review by saying I'm a huge fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon. She's one of my favorite authors and has been for years. But recently? Her writing has been lazy. I would happily forgo a new book every year if it meant they were better written. These last few books have been lazy, sloppy, and frankly, uninteresting. There are a dozen characters of the top of my head whose stories we'd rather have than these bit players like Maxis and Illarian. Yes, their history is important, but their current stories, not so much. Not when there are people like Thorn, Jaden, and Savitar whose stories we still can only guess at.

But this latest book? Two thirds of it were copy/pasted from past works! LAZY! It was a mix of regurgitated parts of scenes from Maxis's and Cadegan's stories. Where it wasn't a direct copy/paste, it was the same events from Illarian's point of view. I would much rather have waited two years--hell, FIVE years even--to get an original story. And the third of the book that was original was rushed and haphazard. They meet and fall in love in the span of a day, really? It was all rushed and thrown together as if she were trying to finish something, anything, before her deadline came up. I said the same thing of her last book. It, too, was rushed. If she needs more time to churn out Nick books AND regular Dark Hunter books, she needs to just take that time. I do not feel I am overstepping bounds when I say that we, the fans, will not mind in the least if it takes longer, so long as the books that come of this longer wait are up to snuff with her previous books. Not since Styxx has she written something that was truly engaging, truly worth re-reading.
Profile Image for Molly Mortensen.
497 reviews254 followers
April 2, 2018
I started this book not understanding all of the negative reviews. I mean, sure, they fell for each other a little fast but that happens sometimes in paranormal romance.

Then I get about halfway through and DragonMark starts rehashing what happened in previous books. According to my Kindle it filled up 40% of the book!

Much of it wasn't even in Illarion's point of view, just a copy and paste from her other books. She didn't even correct it for continuity!
And it isn't for new readers, because she skips over things, so it doesn't make sense. (So many plot holes you could use it for a colander!)

In a romance the characters need to be together! But Edilyn was hardly in the book. They don't get back together until the very end of the book. Then we have a quick magical wrap up that seemed WAY too easy and didn't even comepletly make sense.

Well, now I understand the negative reviews. This is definitely a case of lazy writer.
Profile Image for Carol.
431 reviews62 followers
September 15, 2018
2'5/5⭐

Me ha decepcionado mucho la Kenyon, eso de copiar capítulos enteros de los dos libros anteriores y pegarlos en este para contar una historia que ya sabía, me ha dado muchísima rabia.
Porque si bien tanto el principio como el final del libro me ha gustado, ya que la historia de Illarion me ha parecido original y nueva y tenía muchas ganas de saber cómo conoció a Edelyn, cómo acabó en Terre Derrière le Voile o cómo se solucionaría el problema con el que acabó el libro de Max, no esperaba que durante la mayor parte del libro tuviera que leer capítulos enteros que ya había leído en los libros anteriores. Por lo que no lo he disfrutado como debería y me ha dado mucha rabia que una historia que podría haber dado mucho de sí, no fuera más que la copia y pega de otras anteriores.
Así que, espero que en los libros siguientes la autora no vuelva a hacer algo similar, porque si no me voy a cabrear mucho.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Pamela(AllHoney).
2,688 reviews376 followers
September 3, 2016
Belongs to the following series: Dark-Hunter, #26; Dark-Hunter: Dragon's Rising Trilogy #1; The Entire Dark-Hunterverse #33; Dark-Hunterverse #27; Lords of Avalon #5. Illarion is a dragon that was abused by the humans and has no love for them but when one shows a kindness...

Started out great but then we revisited scenes from previous books. And then when our couple finally get back together there wasn't much to it. Sadly a disappointment but not all bad. This is a series that really needs to be read in order to truly understand what is happening.
Profile Image for Jane.
26 reviews5 followers
August 5, 2016
I have to agree with most reviews I'm reading. If I wanted to reread a book, I will reread the damn book. I dont want a NEW book that is 60 to 70% books I have already read. That being said, the remaining small percentage I did enjoy. The ending did seem rushed, I still love this world. And on a side note. I also love Immortals After Dark. While I know its two different authors I want Nix and Savitar to get together. Come on crossover book.
Profile Image for Megzy.
1,193 reviews70 followers
August 9, 2016
I am very disappointed. 80% of the book is word for word copy of two previous books, Dragonbane and Son of No One. The publishing company should be ashamed of themselves.

Profile Image for Candace.
950 reviews
July 9, 2018
Illarion is a dragon who can assume human shape. Edilyn is half human and half kikimora. Illarion wants nothing to do with humans. Edilyn wants nothing to do with dragons. When a beggar is denied entrance to the festivities, Edilyn is the one to grant him enter and serves him a meal. It is not until they are attacked, that the beggar transforms into Illarion, the dragon.

I feel this book was confusing, but that could be because I have read the books out of order. I should have read Dragonbane first. I don't know the story of Josette and Cadegan either or which book in the series it is. Illarion and Edilyn have fifteen chapters and the epilogue in a book of 28 chapters. I enjoyed the story of Illarion and Edilyn, but the efforts of Ms. Kenyon to re-hash backstory failed to give me clarity. There was just too much I was missing of the other two storylines. Now to go back and read Dragonbane.
Profile Image for Sara.Lectora.
317 reviews788 followers
July 25, 2018
En realidad 2,5, un aprobado porque es la autora. La historia de los protagonistas le falta mucha fuerza y las partes de los libros anteriores me han resultado innecesarias. Me esperaba un poco más pero seguir viendo a todos los personajes anteriores es genial.
Profile Image for Ashley.
196 reviews2 followers
August 8, 2016
Seriously disappointed in this one. There was almost nothing new in it. Over half of the book (I'd say about 3/4) was literally copied and pasted from the previous 2 books. I really wish I'd looked at the reviews before buying this one. it wasn't even rewritten from another characters point of view. IT WAS WORD FOR WORD! I can't even begin to express how disappointed I was in this. I mean seriously we wait a year for a new book in the series and get maybe a hundred pages of new material while the rest was transferred whole from the books before it. And to make it even worse much of what was copied was totally unnecessary. it had no impact on the storyline, some of it didn't even have anything to do with the main characters of this book! I've read every book in his series along with CON and the Lord's of Avalon, even some of the League books. And not one has disappointed me this much (not even Son of No One which I previously thought to be the worst with a storyline that did nothing and went nowhere). The only upside to this book is she did get back to a bit more of actual action in this book, however as it's the same action from the prior book it didn't really help. While I'm not quite ready to give up on the series or author just yet I do hope she has a bit more respect for readers who have been loyal to her and love her as an author in the future. Even if it means waiting longer for quality that would be better than just repeating the SAME EXACT WORDS in a "new" novel. It you read Son of No One and Dragonbane, don't bother with this one. The tiny bit of new material isn't worth it. This really should have been a novella if SK couldn't come up with more to the story.
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