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Will adapting to a changing world make one young woman lose touch with where she came from?

Far from the kingdom of Torvald, on the Western Isles near the coast, Sea Dragons rule the skies. Lila is the daughter of the Raider leader, destined to take his place one day aboard their plundering ships. Her people value only what shiny trinkets they can get their hands on, but she aspires to much more than that: Lila wants the Raiders to become Dragon Mercenaries, dragon riders who help protect merchant fleets and navies from attack. Her father Kasian is skeptical, but a young monk named Danu—with a quest of his own—comes bearing a prophecy claiming that Lila is the lost heir of Roskilde, a born Dragon Rider.

With Danu’s guidance, Lila finds the unruly dragon she’s destined to bond with—but the mismatched pair soon learn that much more than just their futures is at stake.

408 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2018

509 people are currently reading
387 people want to read

About the author

Ava Richardson

150 books427 followers
Ava Richardson writes epic page-turning Young Adult Fantasy books. She creates lovable characters and drops them into intricate worlds that are barely contained within your eReader. Ava has written 21 YA dragon fantasy series, including her bestselling series Return of the Darkening and her recent series, Destia's Dragon Shifter War.

She grew up on a steady diet of fantasy and science fiction books handed down from her two big brothers – and despite being dog-eared and missing pages, she loved escaping into the magical worlds that those authors created. Her favorites were the ones about dragons; where they’d swoop, dive and soar through the skies of these enchanted lands.

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5 stars
181 (50%)
4 stars
100 (28%)
3 stars
48 (13%)
2 stars
17 (4%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Amanda Kuzma.
50 reviews3 followers
September 28, 2019
Good concept

It took me a little while to get into this book. It started out a little slow, but did pick up some through the middle to the end. I like the concept of the story, and the world is good too. I also liked the take on how humans bond with dragons in this story. There are several different groups within this one story, and sometimes the points of view made it hard to follow.
The execution though through some points could have been done a little better. Lila is our lead character and she did come across sort of juvenile at times, and not as an older teen. Danu comes in as a Mage in training and he is the first in many years. They both can be a little bratty in their mannerisms and the way they interact. Crux the dragon is really a great character, and he comes across as wise with a little sass. I could have done without so much of the calls from the dragons though to be honest. Overall I did like the story and recommend it as a quick and easy read. I am considering reading the others in the series
Profile Image for Paula Dyches.
855 reviews17 followers
May 8, 2019
I'm really looking forward to the next in the series! This book was so much fun. It starts with the story of a girl raised by raiders (pirates) and she is driven by a desire to help her village by becoming a dragon raider... She just needs to catch and tame/train a dragon- no big deal, right? The narrator does a phenomenal job with the acting, voices, and overall narration of the story. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves dragon and fantasy stories. 

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Zachary.
113 reviews9 followers
September 24, 2019
Ultimately didn't enjoy the book. Characters and plot were predictable with some interesting story elements though. Read over half the book and then lost interest.
390 reviews
October 23, 2019
I think the story here has potential, but needs work. I was unable to finish the book, unfortunately. I don't do that very often, but I could no longer read the arrogance of the MC and the blind faith of the secondary MC. The dragon helped the MC's attitude slightly, but not enough for me to continue to read through. I did like that the dragons had intelligence and were not just dumb beasts. I just don't agree with how the MC intended to use them for extremely selfish reasons. I understand it is YA, but I had hoped it would be slightly more adult.
856 reviews8 followers
March 30, 2018
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher for an honest review. Thank you!!
I have read Ms.Richardson's dragon series "Upon Dragon's Breath", which I enjoyed. This start into a new dragon series in the same universe did not disappoint!! It is set 20 years after the "Upon Dragon's Breath" series and it mentions Saffron and Bower and a bit of their legacy.
Lila is the adopted daughter of a sea raider, but wants to use dragons in their quests and give up the life of raiding other ships. She wants people to pay for their services of protection by being dragon riders. She find dragon eggs but is chased away by a dragon and meets Danu, a mage in training and has a natural ability to speak with dragons. Danu has been searching for Lila, for she is the one the prophecy speaks about. Lila is the true heir to Roskilde, but is currently ruled by a tyrant who destroyed the royal family 17 years ago. Lila and Danu return to where the dragon eggs are in hope for her to form a bond with one them. However, Lila ends up forming a bond with a rare Phoenix Dragon named Crux. Crux, Lila, and Danu begin a journey to stop the king of Roskilde. Danu is angry when he discovers some of the witches on the island he grew up on are siding with the king of Roskilde. The West Witches are not supposed to take sides and they are supposed to keepers of the prophecies, which one of the witches told the king, who now chases them. Lila, Danu, Crux, and the Sea Raiders will all have to work together if they want to stop Roskilde and the evil witches. I am looking forward to the next novel in the series!!
582 reviews
April 7, 2018
This is a wonderful start to a series. It's intriguing for the very first page. Prophecy, Pirates, and Dragons; a perfect combination. The characters are interesting, combine this with an action packed plot, keeps you turning pages. I'm looking forward to the next book to see what trouble our heroes get into as they continue their quest.

29 reviews2 followers
April 30, 2018
I read a lot one of the best .it keeps you reading when it was done you want more I advise that any of readers like 🐉 will want more .I want to read more of her books

I chose this because I love Dragon s and and magic .it started slow 🐌 but then it grabs and keeps you.
Profile Image for Susan May.
723 reviews14 followers
September 29, 2024

This was an amazing read the author has created a very intricate story with some unique characters and plenty of dragons. I really enjoy this authors writing style and I am attempting to read every single one of her books.
Lila was found when she was small on a boat by a raiding party. Her real parents were dead and the raider that found her had recently lost their own child so he took her home to his wife and they raised her as their own. She was suppose to take over the raiders as their leader but she had different ideas. She wanted to bond with a dragon and become a dragon mercenary and protect ships and provide safe passage for them. It would also be easier to protect their island home from the air. She tried climbing the rocks to the dragons cave to steal an egg but was caught by the mother dragon. She agreed to let her try bonding with the hatchlings. Lila met Danu as he emerged from the water claiming that she was the lost heir of Roskilde and she needed to fulfill a prophecy. Lila didn’t believe him but after a failed bonding attempt with the hatchlings she started to listen. Then a dragon named Crux chose her and Danu to bond with. As the pair trained on the dragon Lila heard more about this prophecy and wanted to find the truth. The trio traveled to the island of The Western Witches for answers. The witches weren’t happy that Danu had brought an outsider to their home but Danu’s mentor quickly told the two about a betrayal. One of the witches had been dabbling in dark magic and was seen working with the evil king. That witch was trying to convince many of the others to join her. Danu & Lila were now tasked with stopping her and defeating the evil king. Lila agreed to try and was also searching for the truth about her own heritage.
A very intriguing story and now on to book 2.

11 reviews
November 28, 2019
Fair warning, there is no dragon interaction until like 30% in the book.
I wanted to love this book but I had to DNF at 51%. It took so long for anything interesting to happen and when she finally meets her dragon I don't think he gets enough screen time.
You know, I just don't think I liked any of the characters except for the dragon character (who was pretty awesome).
I just didn't gel with the Raiders and what they do, I didn't think there were ANY redeeming qualities about how they kill innocent people just to steal from them. No honour in what they do, and the fact that Lila the main character is so on board with that (even if they were to give her a change of heart) shows shes not really a proper hero and it made her so unlikeable in my opinion.
I kinda liked the mage character but he did get annoying with his constant drabbing on about this prophecy. I just ended up not caring about the prophecy because we kept getting the same info about it over and over again with nothing new, just the mage wanting to make it happen (and almost whining about it in his inner monologue).
Man, this book should have been so up my ally, it has a strong female lead, awesome dragons with rider mind bonding which are some of my fave tropes!
Really disappointing but it just couldn't keep my focus and that never happens to me.
Profile Image for Debbie.
3,633 reviews87 followers
April 24, 2018
"Dragon Raider" is a young adult fantasy novel. The heroine is a young woman who was adopted as an orphaned baby by the leaders of the Sea Raiders, a group of people reminiscent of the Vikings. She wants to bond with a dragon and create a Dragon Raider group because the Sea Raiders' ships are getting destroyed by an evil, neighboring, usurper King. But the heroine no longer quite fits in with the Sea Raiders once she tries to forge a new path, even if it's one that will save them.

Danu is a young man with the ability to do magic and speak with dragons. He was training with the witches when the leader of the witches had a dream prophecy. Now Danu is committed to finding the rightful heir to the throne of Roskilde, who will stand against the returning darkening. However, convincing the heroine that he is trustworthy and that she is the princess is the least of his problems. Not everyone is convinced that a Sea Raider heir can ever be on the right side of a war.

The characters were interesting and acted realistically. The world building was woven into the story. There was a lot of action and suspense, including several battles. There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and exciting fantasy.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
Profile Image for Sabetha.
Author 20 books131 followers
September 24, 2019
This book was a chore for me. The only reason I forced myself to finish it was because it was a book club read.

If you enjoy the stereotypical YA troupe of "a nobody discovers she isn't who she thought she was" then you might appreciate it more than I did. It's not even really the troupe, if done right those books can be awesome. It's more the entire story was boring and predicable. Like a copy and paste over done plot.

The main character was a spoiled arrogant brat, maybe it was supposed to be self assured confidence but it came of as me, me, me. It seemed like an adult wrote a YA book how adults view YA characters, not how YA characters view themselves. Her parents were jarring personalities, and a lot of the facts felt forced. The character growth was choppy at best so when it did happen it was a blink and they were a new rediscovered person. There were so many story issues for me, I just couldn't get into the book.

One of the saving features was that there wasn't any romance, thank goodness the two MCs didn't go that direction.
153 reviews
May 21, 2024
Es geht um Lila, die Tochter eines Piratenkapitäns, und Danu, einen jungen Magier. Lila soll in die Fußstapfen ihres Vaters treten, möchte aber lieber Drachenreiterin werden, während Danu fest davon überzeugt ist, dass Lila die prophezeite Erbin von Roskilde ist.
Die Geschichte insgesamt ist nicht unbedingt sehr überraschend, aber die Drachen waren wieder sehr cool und die Charaktere zumindest teilweise so, dass man mit ihnen mitfiebern konnte.
Die Welt wird sehr schön und ausführlich beschrieben, sodass man sie sich sehr gut bildlich vorstellen kann.
Bei der Sprecherin fand ich es allerdings etwas nervig, dass sie doch viel herumgeschrien hat und einige Geräusche versucht hat nachzumachen. Aus meiner Sicht musste das nicht sein.
Wenn man ein die Drachen der Wildnis Trilogie kennt, dann erfährt man hier auch ein bisschen, wie es in Torvald weitergeht, das fand ich sehr schön eingebaut.
Insgesamt fand ich diese Geschichte nicht ganz so gut wie die anderen, aber sie hat mich immernoch gut unterhalten. Ich werde die Geschichte auch auf jeden Fall weiter verfolgen.
Profile Image for Kitty_ranma.
500 reviews11 followers
April 23, 2019
Addictive.
It strikes me that there doesn't seem to be a explanation for the stars that are given. So I thought I'd start giving my take on it.
1 horrible no redeeming qualities.
2 there are redeeming qualities.
3 good worth reading, or well written but not my cup of tea.
4 great but there's something off.
5 loved it.

Argg, everything I started to write becomes a spoiler. I HATE spoilers so I think I'll just go on to say that the narration gives the story life.
Reasons I enjoyed this audio book:
Wonderful characters, Page-turner, Great world building, Unpredictable, original, Easy-to-read, Entertaining, Action-packed, Whimsical.
Bookshelves/tags.
adventure, cliffhanger, dragon, fantasy, fighting-war, nonhuman, read, recorded, series, ships.
This Audiobook was given to me for free at my request from the publisher, author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review
Profile Image for Naomi Moramarco.
142 reviews58 followers
February 13, 2020
Ultimamente mi è tornata la voglia di leggere libri sui draghi e speravo che questo sarebbe stato una buona reintroduzione al genere. Speravo in un libro avventuroso ed epico e il fatto che nella storia ci fossero dei pirati faceva ben sperare ma ho dovuto ridimensionare di molto le mie aspettative. Non amo molto il cliché della profezia perché rende la trama prevedibile (soprattutto se esplicita come in questo caso), lo trovo assolutamente anti climatico. Che gusto c‘è a seguire le vicende di un personaggio se sappiamo già come finirà? Non solo la profezia era un elemento importante ma veniva anche tirata in ballo ogni tre secondi. Dei due protagonisti lei era arrogante ed egocentrica e lui sarebbe stato anche potenzialmente interessante se non fosse stato che ogni suo dialogo e pensiero interiore girava unicamente attorno alla profezia (giusto per rigirare il coltello nella piaga). Spero vivamente che l‘autrice non intenda farli finire insieme perchè da quel punto di vista hanno zero chimica! Unica nota positiva è stato il drago, a mio parere il personaggio migliore del libro e forse l‘unico ben riuscito, ma purtroppo non posso sorvolare su tutto e leggermi altri tre libri solo per lui! Dubito che continuerò la serie.
4 reviews
June 30, 2018
Bad people: evil witches, power hungry war lord. Good people: raiders, dragons, good witch

A story of a young girl trying to save her raider family and friends from the evil Lord havick's army. She has a dream of riding a dragon and being a mercenary. She meets danu a mage of the western witches. Together they bond with Crux the dragon. A wild ride of attacking and being attacked by Lord havick's men.
Profile Image for Anna Maria.
235 reviews2 followers
November 21, 2019
Not one of her best books I must say

Where almost all of her other books are page turners, I find it difficult to focus on the story of this one. It gets better towards the end, so after re-reading this book after a really long time, I finally gave in and bought the second book as well. I just hope it gets better.
Also this book has some annoying typos which I surely hope she will fix.
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
3,798 reviews30 followers
April 15, 2018
Recieved from Netgalley. As most adventure stories this one starts off with a prophecy. Together Lila, Danu and Crux start their journey. Fast paced, fun and kinda light hearted. Fell into the story right away, I really liked Danu’s character and his relationship with Lila. Crux is my favourite, can’t tell if he’s a friend or babysitter. Good plot and ending to the first book.
Profile Image for Veselina.
227 reviews4 followers
June 17, 2018
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this!
A great and easy to read story.
The author takes us on a trip with a girl who is a long lost princess, a dragon and a magician, still on training. There sole task is to fulfil a prophesy or maybe not. Destiny has a sense of humour after all. Let's read and see what gonna happen in the next book
Profile Image for Kris Talbot.
184 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2019
Excellent

Another great read from Ava Richardson ..This a time the orphaned child is female Lila, princess of the Sea Crown, and her Phoenix Dragon Crux Along with Trainee Mage Danu who finds her and tells her of her heritage and a prophecy to reclaim her home from the evil Havard. Good characters and a great story
322 reviews2 followers
April 30, 2018
Loved the story!

Very likeable characters and interesting story. Fast paced and kept me wanting to read more and see what would happen next. Purchased book 2 and can not wait to start it. Love the way Ava Richardson writes. Thanks!
207 reviews1 follower
August 26, 2018
A New Wrym

From one of me favorite authors comes a trilogy with all new hero's and a very unique dragon. You get to meet Crud a great phoenix dragon. With a personality that goes with him. Plus you'll meet Lila a raider who should be queen.
Profile Image for Olivia Marie Clark.
326 reviews10 followers
September 16, 2019
DNF. Idk why I couldn’t get into this book. The premise sounded intriguing, but I had gotten to chapter 7 and I just could t get into. Maybe it was the writing style, or maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I plan on coming back and trying this book again at a later date.
Profile Image for Neil.
1,593 reviews14 followers
May 15, 2020
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Ava Richardson never disappoints and this is another book I could not put down.
The characters are well crafted and the story moves along at a fair pace.
A smashing start to a series.
Profile Image for Myrna Ortega.
100 reviews
May 16, 2023
wonderful and exciting read. I could not put it down

I hav Eneas almost all of Ms Richardson’s dragon books. They all capture me intensely. This one was no different but I truly could not put it down, wanting to see what was next! Wonderful to read!
Profile Image for Peggy Keleher.
126 reviews1 follower
March 30, 2025
Dragon Raider

Such a good book! Ava is such a wonderful writer! Her stories suck you in from the first page. Full of action and wonderful characters, with an amazing storyline. I can't wait to read the next book.
Profile Image for Nadine Marie.
21 reviews1 follower
April 28, 2018
To Catch A Dragon

I'm a fan of books about Dragons !
I'm only 5% reading the book ,it would be a great movie I guess a lot of reading.Pretty Good!
Profile Image for Lee.
330 reviews3 followers
May 21, 2018
Great

A great first book. Can’t wait for the next book in the series. I have already preordered it. Thanks for the entertainment.
294 reviews
May 23, 2018
Dragons, magic, and more

What's not to love about Ava Richardson's gift for spinning a fabulous tale of magic, Drago s and learning who you really are?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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