What do you think?
Rate this book
Age of Fire #3
Dragon Outcast
Dragon Outcast continues E.E. Knight's thrilling fantasy series about a brood of young dragon siblings-each unique, each powerful, and each fated to battle the other to the end. Here, the darkest of the dragons is introduced as he strives to make himself the strongest-and the last-of his brethren...
368 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 2007
46 people are currently reading
1738 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
April 10, 2025
Dragon Outcast by E.E Knight
Trigger warning: ableism and child abuse
Age of Fire quickly became my favorite dragon series as he builds complex worlds and characters. Copper is a good example of this. Cooper, who was previously the minor villain in the last two books. As he betrayed his family to the dwarves. From his point of view, we get his train of thought about situations, how close he was to one of his sisters, and how he regretted them. But the book doesn’t shy away from his selfish personality either. Make him a well-rounded character.
Overall, I give it a 10/10
Trigger warning: ableism and child abuse
Age of Fire quickly became my favorite dragon series as he builds complex worlds and characters. Copper is a good example of this. Cooper, who was previously the minor villain in the last two books. As he betrayed his family to the dwarves. From his point of view, we get his train of thought about situations, how close he was to one of his sisters, and how he regretted them. But the book doesn’t shy away from his selfish personality either. Make him a well-rounded character.
Overall, I give it a 10/10
December 8, 2015
Arguably, I think this is probably my favorite book out of the original trilogy. While Auron was busy trying to find more of his own kind, and Wistala was busy trying to avenge her family, the Copper was trying to deal with his guilt (no spoilers) as well as trying to deal with being doubly outcast; driven out by his family as well as the rest of the world. Surprisingly this part of the world where the Age of Fire series takes place got my attention far more than the great Inland Sea, ancient Hypatia, Old Uldam, and all the other lands of the surface world. I don't know if it's because of the setting (the 'Underdark' setting being one of my favorite concepts in modern fantasy) or if it was because of the characters (and there are a lot of great ones in this book, believe me) or if it's because of the change of pace dealing with dragons as if they were less like animals and far more like sentient beings alongside the hominids, but this book really tickles me in ways that the other two didn't or, rather, couldn't.
This is definitely a book on my recommended list to most fantasy readers out there. I kind of wish that there was more besides the next three to follow after this one.
-Kerian
This is definitely a book on my recommended list to most fantasy readers out there. I kind of wish that there was more besides the next three to follow after this one.
-Kerian
January 29, 2016
Ah, the story of the final sibling in the Age of Fire series. First, I want to note that 2 stars means it was ok, not actually bad, according to goodreads rating. I know my first reaction on seeing 2/5 stars would be thinking it's not good so the rating is a little misleading.
Second, I'll mention that Dragon Outcast was basically I, Claudius with dragons. Not saying that's necessarily a good or bad thing, just that the story will sound very familiar to people who know it. I won't get into the specifics of the comparisons.
Dragon Outcast deals heavily in the politics of a dragon society and it seems to me that it sacrifices character development and motivations in order to keep the political intrigue running.
The Copper, later given a name (even though it doesn't seem like he wants to use it), has much the same issues that his siblings have in the first two books: success. If you read my reviews on Dragon Champion and Dragon Avenger, know that the success itself isn't a bad thing. The problem is that, like AuRon but unlike Wistala, everything works out for him all the time.
The book started off fine: he made a decision and it worked out, just not in the way he wanted, blowing up in his face with horrible consequences. It actually would have been a great catalyst for character development. Unfortunately this is the one and only time the Copper fails at anything or has to really struggle through adversity. He only knows success from this point forward, no longer needs to question his judgment, and no longer grows as a character.
Along the lines of success, other dragons seem to like or tolerate the Copper for no reason, or at least not good enough of a reason.
The Copper's motivations are extremely vague for the majority of the story as well. After his disastrous beginnings, he tries to find a place to call home, with other dragons he can call family. He finds such a place pretty early on, but then he just bumbles along with no real direction for the rest of the book, eventually . Maybe he has ambitions, but they certainly aren't established.
The above points cause the Copper to seem like a puppet just being led on by the plot strings to make the I, Claudius parallels work.
Dragon Outcast also follows several other gimmicks that the previous two books use. First are the random animal sidekicks. Thankfully, they stay relevant to the end of the book instead of being ignored later on like in the former stories. So that's a plus.
Second is the love interest. For whatever reason, all three siblings in this series are inexplicably drawn to dragons they initially dislike. It was so predictable that I immediately pegged as the love interest when her name was mentioned in passing as a rival-like dragon who left a turd in the bathing water.
Third is what I perceive as an inability to show relationships; we are instead told of them. This is especially apparent in the love interest. Their conversations and actions do little to convince me that they are in love, except for the part where they keep calling each other "my love" or some such. When real friends speak and do things together, an outside observer can typically tell they are friends from how they treat each other, not because they keep sprinkling their dialog with "you are my friend." It's very clunky and unnatural and the dialog doesn't fit their actions.
There was an added twist in Dragon Outcast that I initially had high hopes for. The Copper is more-or-less forced to . At first I thought this was great and respected the Copper for sticking to his decision, albeit coerced, despite his personal feelings on the matter. He even eventually came to . But then the author pulled a Dragon Champion and . Taking this together with the love interest above, I actually feel like
A couple minor complaints before I move on: the Copper's lisping was very inconsistent. He'd speak eloquently one moment, then start lisping crazily the next. Supposedly the lisping kicks in when he's nervous but it seemed random and jarring.
Second, how exactly did he defeat This seemed like a deus ex machina of the highest order: unexplained, came out of nowhere, specifically manufactured to let the protagonist triumph.
The last gripe I want to mention is actually some sneakiness on the part of the author (or maybe the editor, or someone). There's incest in this book. Dragon incest. Now, I actually have no problem with this; if incest isn't taboo with dragons, that's perfectly fine with me. My issue is that the author's wording tiptoes around this as if to mask it. Just be honest about it.
are all siblings. But when , no one says anything about it. Again, if it's fine in dragon society, that's cool. But he only refers to her by name. On the flip side, he calls "sister" instead of by name. Why would he refer to one sister as sister while the other only by name? My guess is to try to hide the incest from the readers. It must have worked too since no one really talks about it in discussions, reviews, etc.
Alright, I lied. One final thing. If you read my other reviews, this should come as no surprise. And I assume I'll also end up complaining about the same thing for books 4-6 because it doesn't seem to be going away.
Bats don't bat-fly, dwarves don't dwarf-build, humans don't human-walk. Stop making the dragons dragon-dash. Just say they dash. There's nothing about dragon-dashing that seems different from any other creature dashing. Plus, it's told from the POV of a dragon so there's even less incentive to put your own species' name before the action. A dragon's dash should be the norm from a dragon's point of view, and if they wanted to differentiate it, they should call everything else's dashing by (insert species)-dash.
Stories with dragons as the focus, or even the protagonist, are rare. And I love dragons so I really want to like this series. Unfortunately they've all been a solid mediocre so far. At least they're not bad.
Second, I'll mention that Dragon Outcast was basically I, Claudius with dragons. Not saying that's necessarily a good or bad thing, just that the story will sound very familiar to people who know it. I won't get into the specifics of the comparisons.
Dragon Outcast deals heavily in the politics of a dragon society and it seems to me that it sacrifices character development and motivations in order to keep the political intrigue running.
The Copper, later given a name (even though it doesn't seem like he wants to use it), has much the same issues that his siblings have in the first two books: success. If you read my reviews on Dragon Champion and Dragon Avenger, know that the success itself isn't a bad thing. The problem is that, like AuRon but unlike Wistala, everything works out for him all the time.
The book started off fine: he made a decision and it worked out, just not in the way he wanted, blowing up in his face with horrible consequences. It actually would have been a great catalyst for character development. Unfortunately this is the one and only time the Copper fails at anything or has to really struggle through adversity. He only knows success from this point forward, no longer needs to question his judgment, and no longer grows as a character.
Along the lines of success, other dragons seem to like or tolerate the Copper for no reason, or at least not good enough of a reason.
The Copper's motivations are extremely vague for the majority of the story as well. After his disastrous beginnings, he tries to find a place to call home, with other dragons he can call family. He finds such a place pretty early on, but then he just bumbles along with no real direction for the rest of the book, eventually . Maybe he has ambitions, but they certainly aren't established.
The above points cause the Copper to seem like a puppet just being led on by the plot strings to make the I, Claudius parallels work.
Dragon Outcast also follows several other gimmicks that the previous two books use. First are the random animal sidekicks. Thankfully, they stay relevant to the end of the book instead of being ignored later on like in the former stories. So that's a plus.
Second is the love interest. For whatever reason, all three siblings in this series are inexplicably drawn to dragons they initially dislike. It was so predictable that I immediately pegged as the love interest when her name was mentioned in passing as a rival-like dragon who left a turd in the bathing water.
Third is what I perceive as an inability to show relationships; we are instead told of them. This is especially apparent in the love interest. Their conversations and actions do little to convince me that they are in love, except for the part where they keep calling each other "my love" or some such. When real friends speak and do things together, an outside observer can typically tell they are friends from how they treat each other, not because they keep sprinkling their dialog with "you are my friend." It's very clunky and unnatural and the dialog doesn't fit their actions.
There was an added twist in Dragon Outcast that I initially had high hopes for. The Copper is more-or-less forced to . At first I thought this was great and respected the Copper for sticking to his decision, albeit coerced, despite his personal feelings on the matter. He even eventually came to . But then the author pulled a Dragon Champion and . Taking this together with the love interest above, I actually feel like
A couple minor complaints before I move on: the Copper's lisping was very inconsistent. He'd speak eloquently one moment, then start lisping crazily the next. Supposedly the lisping kicks in when he's nervous but it seemed random and jarring.
Second, how exactly did he defeat This seemed like a deus ex machina of the highest order: unexplained, came out of nowhere, specifically manufactured to let the protagonist triumph.
The last gripe I want to mention is actually some sneakiness on the part of the author (or maybe the editor, or someone). There's incest in this book. Dragon incest. Now, I actually have no problem with this; if incest isn't taboo with dragons, that's perfectly fine with me. My issue is that the author's wording tiptoes around this as if to mask it. Just be honest about it.
are all siblings. But when , no one says anything about it. Again, if it's fine in dragon society, that's cool. But he only refers to her by name. On the flip side, he calls "sister" instead of by name. Why would he refer to one sister as sister while the other only by name? My guess is to try to hide the incest from the readers. It must have worked too since no one really talks about it in discussions, reviews, etc.
Alright, I lied. One final thing. If you read my other reviews, this should come as no surprise. And I assume I'll also end up complaining about the same thing for books 4-6 because it doesn't seem to be going away.
Bats don't bat-fly, dwarves don't dwarf-build, humans don't human-walk. Stop making the dragons dragon-dash. Just say they dash. There's nothing about dragon-dashing that seems different from any other creature dashing. Plus, it's told from the POV of a dragon so there's even less incentive to put your own species' name before the action. A dragon's dash should be the norm from a dragon's point of view, and if they wanted to differentiate it, they should call everything else's dashing by (insert species)-dash.
Stories with dragons as the focus, or even the protagonist, are rare. And I love dragons so I really want to like this series. Unfortunately they've all been a solid mediocre so far. At least they're not bad.
April 6, 2023
Wow, what a huge improvement this book was over the first two. More tragic and more sad, but at the same time, it had a very interesting plot that was made even better by the world building that the author somehow managed to improve and expand upon, yet again, despite it already being fantastic in the first two books.
The main character, the outcast referred to as Copper, had a much darker and much rougher story compared to Auron or Wistala, and a much more satisfying one. The world that he found himself a part of, a world that basically tried to be some kind of high dragon society, was super interesting too. Flawed to the bone, with so many social intrigues and civil wars and disputes. The Lavadome was the best part of this book for me, simply because it illustrated a lot of faults that a society like that would have, especially when the dragons of that world are so sheltered and unaware of just how fragile their position in the grand scheme of things is.
Plot had great pacing and was well developed throughout the book, and had plenty of action and twists and plot points that were established at the start of the book only to be revisited and concluded towards the end. The end itself was perhaps just a little bit rushed, especially in terms of action, but it was still very well done and kept me hooked.
Very curious to see how the series progresses now, because I've heard many people say that the quality drops after this book, which would be very unfortunate because the lore and setup that was done with the first three books has some amazing potential for the rest of the series.
The main character, the outcast referred to as Copper, had a much darker and much rougher story compared to Auron or Wistala, and a much more satisfying one. The world that he found himself a part of, a world that basically tried to be some kind of high dragon society, was super interesting too. Flawed to the bone, with so many social intrigues and civil wars and disputes. The Lavadome was the best part of this book for me, simply because it illustrated a lot of faults that a society like that would have, especially when the dragons of that world are so sheltered and unaware of just how fragile their position in the grand scheme of things is.
Plot had great pacing and was well developed throughout the book, and had plenty of action and twists and plot points that were established at the start of the book only to be revisited and concluded towards the end. The end itself was perhaps just a little bit rushed, especially in terms of action, but it was still very well done and kept me hooked.
Very curious to see how the series progresses now, because I've heard many people say that the quality drops after this book, which would be very unfortunate because the lore and setup that was done with the first three books has some amazing potential for the rest of the series.
August 23, 2013
Dragon Outcast is the story of the Copper (later: Rugaard), the outcast of the clutch, sibling to Auron and Wistala. Crippled at birth and cast out by his family (only one male per clutch survives), he seeks revenge through dwarves... who betray him and slaughter his family before his eyes. Fleeing to the Lower World, the Copper finds a family in the form of the dragons of the Lavadome; however, political unease makes it a dangerous place for those who oppose certain dragons.
This book was nothing like what I expected, but I loved it just as I did the others. Again, it is different, but follows the same hatchling-drake-dragon format. It was interesting to see the Copper grow despite his limitations and watch him overcome them. In some ways he is more clever than his siblings (he certainly got himself into less trouble with the hominids, at least later on in the story!). I enjoy Knight's writing style and look forward to reading the next books in this series.
This book was nothing like what I expected, but I loved it just as I did the others. Again, it is different, but follows the same hatchling-drake-dragon format. It was interesting to see the Copper grow despite his limitations and watch him overcome them. In some ways he is more clever than his siblings (he certainly got himself into less trouble with the hominids, at least later on in the story!). I enjoy Knight's writing style and look forward to reading the next books in this series.
February 11, 2015
Dragon Champion, Age of Fire #2, is the last good book in this series.
The copper dragon is a Mary Sue. Horrible things happen to him, then he almost magically overcomes them. Vampiric blood rites are a disgustingly common part of this novel. I started reading this series for dragons, not for the chapters on chapters of blood drinking.
The plot isn't all bad. This book doesn't ruin the series. I could have given it a two star rating on its own. Unfortunately, #4 does ruin the series, and if I'd known that in advance, I would have never bought this one.
I literally used this book as kindling for my fireplace.
The copper dragon is a Mary Sue. Horrible things happen to him, then he almost magically overcomes them. Vampiric blood rites are a disgustingly common part of this novel. I started reading this series for dragons, not for the chapters on chapters of blood drinking.
The plot isn't all bad. This book doesn't ruin the series. I could have given it a two star rating on its own. Unfortunately, #4 does ruin the series, and if I'd known that in advance, I would have never bought this one.
I literally used this book as kindling for my fireplace.
January 15, 2009
I just finished this one, and I have to say that the main thing that jumped out at me is how small a world this seems to be. I can kind of see how he'd want to weave the stories of the three siblings together (as promised in the newly-published Dragon Strike), but it's approaching claustrophobic.
Even so, I think that either the writing's getting better or I'm getting accustomed to it. I have to find out Who Will Prevail (If There's Prevailing To Be Had).
What is interesting as I look back is how each one so far has been less adventurey and more intriguey.
Even so, I think that either the writing's getting better or I'm getting accustomed to it. I have to find out Who Will Prevail (If There's Prevailing To Be Had).
What is interesting as I look back is how each one so far has been less adventurey and more intriguey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2018
'Dragon Outcast' is the story of the Copper, the last living brother of AuRon and Wistala, and I will be honest, I didn't actually expect to like the Copper very much when I started this book. I just couldn't forget that it would be his actions and his betrayal that would lead to the death of almost all of his family and cause AuRon and Wistala so much grief, and so I steeled myself to read about an unlikable protagonist. But I couldn't have been more mistaken, because it was surprisingly easy to sympathize with the Copper who had to fight for survival from the very first day of his life, an outcast from his own family. The Copper's viewpoint gives certain aspects of the dragon siblings' story a new light – it was pleasantly surprising to see that the Copper's mother and father actually cared about him, at least so far as to keep him alive and wish him a better fate in the future. And it's through the Copper's eyes that we actually get to know Jizara, the fourth hatchling in the clutch who got so little attention in the previous books. The bond the Copper develops with sweet, kind and gentle Jizara melted my heart and then completely broke it when the inevitable happened. When the Copper found Wistala in their home cave and called her by her sister's name in 'Dragon Avenger', I assumed it was because he was so distant from his family that he didn't know which of his sisters was which. But now that we know it's because the Copper had a special bond with Jizara and so hoped against hope that she was the one to survive, this episode became so much more poignant. When that fateful episode came where the Copper betrayed his family, I was torn between wanting to strangle him and to hug him. On the one hand, I could understand why he gave in after his captors beaten him bloody, broken his tail, and then allowed an elf to treat his injuries, pulling classic 'bad cop, good cop' scheme at him. It was foolish of the Copper to trust their word, but he had already been bitter about his family and really desperate. On the other hand, I couldn't forget how the Copper fervently wished for the death of his parents and siblings save for Jizara. At the end, it caused even the Dragonblade's disgust, and you really hit it low if even he of all people loathes you.
'Dragon Outcast' takes a unique turn compared to 'Dragon Champion' and 'Dragon Avenger' – while both AuRon and Wistala fled their home cave to the surface and travelled through new kingdoms and old empires, encountering humans and elves, dwarves and blighters, the Copper's path led him through the deep tunnels of Lower World to the hidden Lavadome, the last sanctuary of dragons where dragonkind rules. The very concept of dragons forming such a complex, large and very human-like society as Lavadome seemed a little unnatural to me at first, since the previous books portrayed the dragons as being solitary and highly territorial by nature – how likely it is for such a large number of them to co-exist peacefully? However, many of my misgivings were explained or touched upon as the story began to explore Lavadome's way of life and the inner workings of their politics. As one may expect, the history of Lavadome is filled with strife and bloodshed, and only recently different dragon clans managed to unite under the leadership of Tyr. Another aspect that I find realistic about Lavadome is that because of so many dragons living together the rivalry between them is strong and aggression is high - many dragons go crippled and scarred, and one may even get seriously injured for entering a wrong cave unannounced. And since the dragons are so highly individualistic species, they find it hard to cooperate as well as hominid races, and that's something that had cost the Lavadome a battle when the dragons didn't wish to spill their blood in attack after one of them was killed and another wounded. Eventually, when we get to see the Lavadome's Upper World provinces, it becomes clear how exactly the dragons are supplied with cattle herds and hominid thralls. It's quite interesting that the relationship between dragons and upworld humans resemble those of liege and vassal instead of the ones of overlord and thrall. Of course, AuRon maintained similar relationship with blighters in 'Dragon Champion', but Lavadome dragons are much more despotic in their rule, so it was unexpected to see them making alliances instead of simply conquering the hominids. And while I think that certain aspects of Lavadome's social hierarchy and customs were too human-like, there were enough reminders of their draconic behaviour to make it believable.
In Lavadome the Copper got a chance to start his life anew, and it's both touching and symbolic that it's here where he was finally given a name - even the bats that accompanied the Copper in his journey, for all the respect they showed him, never bothered asking his name, and without name it was as if the Copper never existed. However, it's also symbolic that the author keeps referring to the hero as the Copper and not RuGaard, and so I continue to think of him as the Copper as well. He immediately drew the attention of Lavadome's ruler, Tyr, but his favor didn't make the Copper's path easy. The sheer amount of hardships he had to overcome is staggering, and most of them lay with the limitations of his own body that the Copper had to cope with before facing any outward threats. Truly, with his foreleg crippled in a hatchling duel with AuRon, his eye damaged by Wistala, his wing joint dislocated by the Dragonblade and his firebladder pierced by a demen spear, it's hard to find a more physically challenged dragon! Yet the Copper persevered through sheer stubbornness and cunning. Of course, both AuRon and Wistala are also smart and inventive on their own right, but, unlike them, during his time wandering the tunnels the Copper developed a very practical and down-to-earth approach that's all about survival and mutual gains. Let's take his relationship with the vampire bats that he met in the caverns, Thernadad and his numerous family – who, I should note, turned out to be more entertaining sidekicks than I expected, at least during the first third of the book, when they played an important role in the story. However, while AuRon and Wistala also gained animal companions during the course of their travels that they regarded to be their true friends and even part of the family, the Copper isn't attached to his bats on personal level. To him, the bats are guides, messengers, spies and even hidden guerilla fighters, and that makes him both brilliant and cynical. The Copper's character is quite paradoxal, though, since despite his harsh demeanor he is also capable of nobility and true loyalty to his friends and Tyr. I was truly surprised to see the Copper treating his thralls fairy and even giving them certain perks, considering his 'good hominid is a dead hominid' view.
Aside from the Copper, there are a lot of intriguing characters whose stories are connected to the Copper's, and while they are not very prominent, they certainly deserve a mention – like NeStirrath, the Copper's mentor in the Drakewatch, and Rethothanna, a bossy Anklene that shares a complicated relationship with NeStirrath, and Rayg, the Copper's thrall with a knack for constructing and engineering things. Even DharSii, the dragon that we met in 'Dragon Avenger', is mentioned, and while his backstory wasn't revealed fully, enough hints were dropped to make me intrigued. Another element that 'Dragon Outcast' excels at is romance, and I should say that the Copper's romantic relationships are the most developed out of all three siblings, even though I adore AuRon and Natasatch's sweet romance and the chemistry between Wistala and DharSii is undeniable. The Copper's love interest, Nilrasha, is a complicated character, and she has her flaws, being ambitious and ready to walk on heads to reach her goals, and she outright admitted that her interest in the Copper was not entirely sincere. But Nilrasha and the Copper knew each other in youth and became friends first instead of falling in love straight away, and their bond is all the stronger for it. I don't think that Nilrasha would've agreed to become a mate to a spoiled brat like SiMevolant for all the gold in Lavadome, so she must have liked the Copper well enough. And while we'll never know for sure why Nilrasha renounced her feelings for the Copper after a visit from Tighlia, she herself said that there was nothing Tighlia could threaten to take away from her what she cherished. To me, it meant that there was one thing Tighlia could still use as a lever: the Copper's life.
But their road was a thorny one, and Tighlia's political scheming kept the two apart – and as a way to tie the Copper to the Imperial line and, in my opinion, to make him keep his mouth shut, his mating with Halaflora, Tyr's granddaughter, was arranged. Halaflora was weak and sickly, and no one expected her to live long – including Halaflora herself. I felt so sorry for Halaflora because she knew well enough that the Copper loved Nilrasha and not her and even once admitted that she fully expected him to have an affair with Nilrasha behind her back. It almost drove me to tears when the Copper, being his paradoxal noble self, remained faithful to her and developed a certain admiration of her, if not love. But alas, I knew from the very beginning that Halaflora wouldn't live long, but her death hit me hard regardless. In fact, I still wonder if Halaflora was assassinated by Nilrasha because she was afraid that Halaflora's hatchings would forever tie her to the Copper... However, her death was so incredibly difficult to disguise as an accident for it to be not what it seemed. And while Halaflora's death allowed the Copper and Nilrasha to finally be together, the Copper's ties to his first mate and her family are not so easy to break.
The Copper came to Lavadome in the time of peace, and Tyr FeHazathant is the very image of just and honourable leader with his heart in the right place. But even though Tyr had only best intentions, him growing old and mellow meant that his court was all the gladder to spin political intrigues to secure their place in the Imperial line and to cause the downfall of their rivals. Tyr's mate Tighlia is truly one of the most dangerous characters in the book, and she never once had to unsheath her claws. She is a plotter and manipulator that prefers to deal with her enemies with lies instead of killing with her own talons, and only once did she tell the Copper what she thinks straight away. I don't really believe in her 'for the greater good' intentions, as it seems to me that it’s not the peace in Lavadome and the threat of civil war Tighlia is worried about, but keeping the power to herself and her brother SiDrakkon. So when NiVom, a talented young dragon and the Copper's comrade in Drakewatch, attracted attention of Tyr, I simply knew that he wouldn't last long in the Imperial line, and especially not after he had risen too high for Tighlia and SiDrakkon to let it pass – and I would actually consider NiVom lucky to be able to escape with his life. And the scheme that allowed Tighlia and SiDrakkon to get rid of NiVom was played so neatly that there was practically nothing NiVom or anyone else could do to oppose it without falling into Tighlia's trap, as the words without anything to back them up mean little in a situation like this. Tighlia was way more loyal to her brother than to her mate, and while it was never outright stated, I find Tyr's sudden death just after the Copper tried to warn him of Tighlia's scheming to be very suspicious.
Tighlia was not the only antagonist of the story, but she undoubtedly was the best one. She was a manipulative plotter, but I respected her cunning and wit and political foresight. SiDrakkon and Imfamnia, on the other hand, could easily doom the whole of Lavadome with their incompetence and stupidity. When SiDrakkon was tasked with dealing with the Ghioz that threatened one of the Lavadome's upper provinces, he attacked the city with the force of three adult dragons, a score of drakes and a group of Firemaidens - and he failed miserably. The next time he had four dragons, the Firemaidens were all killed and the drakes didn’t participate in the attack, - and yet SiDrakkon used exactly the same tactic, expecting a different result. One failure would've been a mistake, two is incompetence, and that's only the most prominent example of his arrogance, negligence and love of luxury. Imfamnia couldn't be any further from Tighlia as well, and even though she shared Tighlia's egocentrism, she didn't have even a fraction of her strategic insight and simply kept switching her loyalties and attachments when it benefitted her. At least when it comes to SiMevolant, another of Tyr FeHazathant's grandchildren, I'm not sure if he really was as shallow as he appeared or if he just pretended to be worse than he really were. SiMevolant was truly unpredictable, and he could speak for the Copper before his elders only to mock him later, call him ugly in his face one day and then chat with him amiably the other. In fact, I suspect that SiMevolant simply enjoyed trolling the others for the sheer fun of it. But even though SiMevolant's choices eventually led Lavadome to a disaster and almost destroyed it, there is no denying that he pretty much changed the course of its history.
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was devoted to Lavadome's politics and conflicts, and there indeed were enough of them for me to enjoy – just take the campaign against the Ghioz Empire in Bant where the Copper managed to unite the Drakewatch after a lost battle and devise a plan to bring down a fortified city, or the Copper's life in the upper province of Anaea which he managed as an upholder. But E.E. Knight needed to connect 'Dragon Outcast' with the other books of the series, and so Lavadome ended up being threatened by the dragon riders of the Andam. I didn't like the grand final of the story for several reasons. Firstly, it felt very rushed - seriously, both the greatest threat to Lavadome and its resolution happened in the last 20% of the book or so. The dragon riders take over Lavadome quickly and are disposed of just as quickly, so the conflict was over before the sense of dread could settle in and the tension could be built properly, and we didn't even see a large part of the battle. Of course, the Copper and his allies were successful mainly due to a brilliantly executed plan that left the enemy practically no chance to fight back at all, so that basically the battle was over as soon as it began. However, I can't help but remember how AuRon undermined the dragon riders from the inside in 'Dragon Champion', because while the resolution of both stories is similar, we had seen the inner workings of AuRon's plotting way more, so the final battle on the Isle of Ice and its timing felt more organic.
But what disappointed me most was the Dragonblade's involvement in the final. To me, the Dragonblade had always been more of an honorable antagonist than a villain, an anti-hero that I could grudgingly respect even though he directly opposed the dragon siblings. And I still view him that way, though during the Copper's capture and Jizara's killing the Dragonblade displayed uncharacteristic sadism and unnecessary cruelty that he never showed in previous books. That's why I was so satisfied by the resolution of 'Dragon Avenger', where Wistala managed to break the vicious circle of vengeance and hatred between their families and made peace with the Dragonblade. But in 'Dragon Outcast', the Dragonblade sides with the dragon riders and comes with them to Lavadome – for no other purpose than to be killed by the Copper, thus allowing him to have his revenge on him, it seems. Honestly, the Dragonblade didn't deserve to be dragged into the Andam and SiMevolant's scheming - he honestly quitted his job, and he thought he would only act as an adviser in this mission, but he wasn't allowed to leave his past behind. Not only this was unfair to the Dragonblade's character, but it also basically nullified everything that Wistala had worked so hard to achieve, making her agreement with the Dragonblade for nothing. The Dragonblade's death makes no sense in-story as well – the Copper fights him in a duel and eventually defeats him when he sets on fire some kind of flammable liquid that leaks from the Dragonblade's armor. But the Dragonblade had been a professional dragon hunter for decades and had personally killed many dragons, so the question is, why would he carry flammable liquid inside his armor? It would've made more sense if the contents of the Copper's fire bladder that he had spilled on him were set on fire, but it was already established that the Dragonblade wore armor made of dragonscale that's fire-resistant. So, the Dragonblade’s death became yet another plot convenience, because otherwise his defeat, while indeed possible, wouldn't have been half as dramatic.
'Dragon Outcast' takes a unique turn compared to 'Dragon Champion' and 'Dragon Avenger' – while both AuRon and Wistala fled their home cave to the surface and travelled through new kingdoms and old empires, encountering humans and elves, dwarves and blighters, the Copper's path led him through the deep tunnels of Lower World to the hidden Lavadome, the last sanctuary of dragons where dragonkind rules. The very concept of dragons forming such a complex, large and very human-like society as Lavadome seemed a little unnatural to me at first, since the previous books portrayed the dragons as being solitary and highly territorial by nature – how likely it is for such a large number of them to co-exist peacefully? However, many of my misgivings were explained or touched upon as the story began to explore Lavadome's way of life and the inner workings of their politics. As one may expect, the history of Lavadome is filled with strife and bloodshed, and only recently different dragon clans managed to unite under the leadership of Tyr. Another aspect that I find realistic about Lavadome is that because of so many dragons living together the rivalry between them is strong and aggression is high - many dragons go crippled and scarred, and one may even get seriously injured for entering a wrong cave unannounced. And since the dragons are so highly individualistic species, they find it hard to cooperate as well as hominid races, and that's something that had cost the Lavadome a battle when the dragons didn't wish to spill their blood in attack after one of them was killed and another wounded. Eventually, when we get to see the Lavadome's Upper World provinces, it becomes clear how exactly the dragons are supplied with cattle herds and hominid thralls. It's quite interesting that the relationship between dragons and upworld humans resemble those of liege and vassal instead of the ones of overlord and thrall. Of course, AuRon maintained similar relationship with blighters in 'Dragon Champion', but Lavadome dragons are much more despotic in their rule, so it was unexpected to see them making alliances instead of simply conquering the hominids. And while I think that certain aspects of Lavadome's social hierarchy and customs were too human-like, there were enough reminders of their draconic behaviour to make it believable.
In Lavadome the Copper got a chance to start his life anew, and it's both touching and symbolic that it's here where he was finally given a name - even the bats that accompanied the Copper in his journey, for all the respect they showed him, never bothered asking his name, and without name it was as if the Copper never existed. However, it's also symbolic that the author keeps referring to the hero as the Copper and not RuGaard, and so I continue to think of him as the Copper as well. He immediately drew the attention of Lavadome's ruler, Tyr, but his favor didn't make the Copper's path easy. The sheer amount of hardships he had to overcome is staggering, and most of them lay with the limitations of his own body that the Copper had to cope with before facing any outward threats. Truly, with his foreleg crippled in a hatchling duel with AuRon, his eye damaged by Wistala, his wing joint dislocated by the Dragonblade and his firebladder pierced by a demen spear, it's hard to find a more physically challenged dragon! Yet the Copper persevered through sheer stubbornness and cunning. Of course, both AuRon and Wistala are also smart and inventive on their own right, but, unlike them, during his time wandering the tunnels the Copper developed a very practical and down-to-earth approach that's all about survival and mutual gains. Let's take his relationship with the vampire bats that he met in the caverns, Thernadad and his numerous family – who, I should note, turned out to be more entertaining sidekicks than I expected, at least during the first third of the book, when they played an important role in the story. However, while AuRon and Wistala also gained animal companions during the course of their travels that they regarded to be their true friends and even part of the family, the Copper isn't attached to his bats on personal level. To him, the bats are guides, messengers, spies and even hidden guerilla fighters, and that makes him both brilliant and cynical. The Copper's character is quite paradoxal, though, since despite his harsh demeanor he is also capable of nobility and true loyalty to his friends and Tyr. I was truly surprised to see the Copper treating his thralls fairy and even giving them certain perks, considering his 'good hominid is a dead hominid' view.
Aside from the Copper, there are a lot of intriguing characters whose stories are connected to the Copper's, and while they are not very prominent, they certainly deserve a mention – like NeStirrath, the Copper's mentor in the Drakewatch, and Rethothanna, a bossy Anklene that shares a complicated relationship with NeStirrath, and Rayg, the Copper's thrall with a knack for constructing and engineering things. Even DharSii, the dragon that we met in 'Dragon Avenger', is mentioned, and while his backstory wasn't revealed fully, enough hints were dropped to make me intrigued. Another element that 'Dragon Outcast' excels at is romance, and I should say that the Copper's romantic relationships are the most developed out of all three siblings, even though I adore AuRon and Natasatch's sweet romance and the chemistry between Wistala and DharSii is undeniable. The Copper's love interest, Nilrasha, is a complicated character, and she has her flaws, being ambitious and ready to walk on heads to reach her goals, and she outright admitted that her interest in the Copper was not entirely sincere. But Nilrasha and the Copper knew each other in youth and became friends first instead of falling in love straight away, and their bond is all the stronger for it. I don't think that Nilrasha would've agreed to become a mate to a spoiled brat like SiMevolant for all the gold in Lavadome, so she must have liked the Copper well enough. And while we'll never know for sure why Nilrasha renounced her feelings for the Copper after a visit from Tighlia, she herself said that there was nothing Tighlia could threaten to take away from her what she cherished. To me, it meant that there was one thing Tighlia could still use as a lever: the Copper's life.
But their road was a thorny one, and Tighlia's political scheming kept the two apart – and as a way to tie the Copper to the Imperial line and, in my opinion, to make him keep his mouth shut, his mating with Halaflora, Tyr's granddaughter, was arranged. Halaflora was weak and sickly, and no one expected her to live long – including Halaflora herself. I felt so sorry for Halaflora because she knew well enough that the Copper loved Nilrasha and not her and even once admitted that she fully expected him to have an affair with Nilrasha behind her back. It almost drove me to tears when the Copper, being his paradoxal noble self, remained faithful to her and developed a certain admiration of her, if not love. But alas, I knew from the very beginning that Halaflora wouldn't live long, but her death hit me hard regardless. In fact, I still wonder if Halaflora was assassinated by Nilrasha because she was afraid that Halaflora's hatchings would forever tie her to the Copper... However, her death was so incredibly difficult to disguise as an accident for it to be not what it seemed. And while Halaflora's death allowed the Copper and Nilrasha to finally be together, the Copper's ties to his first mate and her family are not so easy to break.
The Copper came to Lavadome in the time of peace, and Tyr FeHazathant is the very image of just and honourable leader with his heart in the right place. But even though Tyr had only best intentions, him growing old and mellow meant that his court was all the gladder to spin political intrigues to secure their place in the Imperial line and to cause the downfall of their rivals. Tyr's mate Tighlia is truly one of the most dangerous characters in the book, and she never once had to unsheath her claws. She is a plotter and manipulator that prefers to deal with her enemies with lies instead of killing with her own talons, and only once did she tell the Copper what she thinks straight away. I don't really believe in her 'for the greater good' intentions, as it seems to me that it’s not the peace in Lavadome and the threat of civil war Tighlia is worried about, but keeping the power to herself and her brother SiDrakkon. So when NiVom, a talented young dragon and the Copper's comrade in Drakewatch, attracted attention of Tyr, I simply knew that he wouldn't last long in the Imperial line, and especially not after he had risen too high for Tighlia and SiDrakkon to let it pass – and I would actually consider NiVom lucky to be able to escape with his life. And the scheme that allowed Tighlia and SiDrakkon to get rid of NiVom was played so neatly that there was practically nothing NiVom or anyone else could do to oppose it without falling into Tighlia's trap, as the words without anything to back them up mean little in a situation like this. Tighlia was way more loyal to her brother than to her mate, and while it was never outright stated, I find Tyr's sudden death just after the Copper tried to warn him of Tighlia's scheming to be very suspicious.
Tighlia was not the only antagonist of the story, but she undoubtedly was the best one. She was a manipulative plotter, but I respected her cunning and wit and political foresight. SiDrakkon and Imfamnia, on the other hand, could easily doom the whole of Lavadome with their incompetence and stupidity. When SiDrakkon was tasked with dealing with the Ghioz that threatened one of the Lavadome's upper provinces, he attacked the city with the force of three adult dragons, a score of drakes and a group of Firemaidens - and he failed miserably. The next time he had four dragons, the Firemaidens were all killed and the drakes didn’t participate in the attack, - and yet SiDrakkon used exactly the same tactic, expecting a different result. One failure would've been a mistake, two is incompetence, and that's only the most prominent example of his arrogance, negligence and love of luxury. Imfamnia couldn't be any further from Tighlia as well, and even though she shared Tighlia's egocentrism, she didn't have even a fraction of her strategic insight and simply kept switching her loyalties and attachments when it benefitted her. At least when it comes to SiMevolant, another of Tyr FeHazathant's grandchildren, I'm not sure if he really was as shallow as he appeared or if he just pretended to be worse than he really were. SiMevolant was truly unpredictable, and he could speak for the Copper before his elders only to mock him later, call him ugly in his face one day and then chat with him amiably the other. In fact, I suspect that SiMevolant simply enjoyed trolling the others for the sheer fun of it. But even though SiMevolant's choices eventually led Lavadome to a disaster and almost destroyed it, there is no denying that he pretty much changed the course of its history.
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was devoted to Lavadome's politics and conflicts, and there indeed were enough of them for me to enjoy – just take the campaign against the Ghioz Empire in Bant where the Copper managed to unite the Drakewatch after a lost battle and devise a plan to bring down a fortified city, or the Copper's life in the upper province of Anaea which he managed as an upholder. But E.E. Knight needed to connect 'Dragon Outcast' with the other books of the series, and so Lavadome ended up being threatened by the dragon riders of the Andam. I didn't like the grand final of the story for several reasons. Firstly, it felt very rushed - seriously, both the greatest threat to Lavadome and its resolution happened in the last 20% of the book or so. The dragon riders take over Lavadome quickly and are disposed of just as quickly, so the conflict was over before the sense of dread could settle in and the tension could be built properly, and we didn't even see a large part of the battle. Of course, the Copper and his allies were successful mainly due to a brilliantly executed plan that left the enemy practically no chance to fight back at all, so that basically the battle was over as soon as it began. However, I can't help but remember how AuRon undermined the dragon riders from the inside in 'Dragon Champion', because while the resolution of both stories is similar, we had seen the inner workings of AuRon's plotting way more, so the final battle on the Isle of Ice and its timing felt more organic.
But what disappointed me most was the Dragonblade's involvement in the final. To me, the Dragonblade had always been more of an honorable antagonist than a villain, an anti-hero that I could grudgingly respect even though he directly opposed the dragon siblings. And I still view him that way, though during the Copper's capture and Jizara's killing the Dragonblade displayed uncharacteristic sadism and unnecessary cruelty that he never showed in previous books. That's why I was so satisfied by the resolution of 'Dragon Avenger', where Wistala managed to break the vicious circle of vengeance and hatred between their families and made peace with the Dragonblade. But in 'Dragon Outcast', the Dragonblade sides with the dragon riders and comes with them to Lavadome – for no other purpose than to be killed by the Copper, thus allowing him to have his revenge on him, it seems. Honestly, the Dragonblade didn't deserve to be dragged into the Andam and SiMevolant's scheming - he honestly quitted his job, and he thought he would only act as an adviser in this mission, but he wasn't allowed to leave his past behind. Not only this was unfair to the Dragonblade's character, but it also basically nullified everything that Wistala had worked so hard to achieve, making her agreement with the Dragonblade for nothing. The Dragonblade's death makes no sense in-story as well – the Copper fights him in a duel and eventually defeats him when he sets on fire some kind of flammable liquid that leaks from the Dragonblade's armor. But the Dragonblade had been a professional dragon hunter for decades and had personally killed many dragons, so the question is, why would he carry flammable liquid inside his armor? It would've made more sense if the contents of the Copper's fire bladder that he had spilled on him were set on fire, but it was already established that the Dragonblade wore armor made of dragonscale that's fire-resistant. So, the Dragonblade’s death became yet another plot convenience, because otherwise his defeat, while indeed possible, wouldn't have been half as dramatic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2023
The Age of Fire series right now is a reread from about 2012. I remember back then reading this series and loving it a lot.
I'm not so sure I do anymore. It's still fun enough, and entertaining, I guess. I haven't given up on it yet, and I still fully intend to finish it (though, I think this'll be the last time I read it). But there's a lot of things about these books that make me 😐
The whole male dragons getting "excited" when they smell young human females is uncomfortable AF and it's a very, very strange choice. Since this doesn't happen with female dragons, I'd actually forgotten about it from my relatively recent reread of Dragon Champion. But yes, it's still weird and uncomfortable.
There was a lot of like, weird dragon sexism in Dragon Avenger that I was more or less willing to overlook, but then you get this book where the main female character doesn't seem to have any consistent characterization. She's what the author wants for whatever situation the author wants her to, regardless of it makes sense with her characterization or past choices. Also, this book really drives home how almost boring Wistala's story was in relation to her two brothers.
And there's emotions seem to lack any real emotion, at least to my senses. Things happen, but it doesn't really dive into the motivation or the emotions behind decisions. This is not to say this book was entirely devoid of emotion. There were some parts that I absolutely emphasized with. But I think my taste in books has changed over these last 10 years to enjoy writing that's more on the emotive side, and this just doesn't hit the right notes.
Like I said, this book is fine and it's entertaining, and I'm not planning on dropping the series (it's not impossible that I will, but at the moment I'm not, and I seem to recall enjoying the last three books more than the first three books). I do have a particular soft spot for underdog's-meteoric-rise-to-power stories, and this scratches that itch (and almost makes me want to reread Harry Turtledove's Krispos series), and if nothing else, I'm always a sucker for books told from the POV of a dragon. Sapient dragon stories are 100% some of my favourite fantasy tropes.
I'm not so sure I do anymore. It's still fun enough, and entertaining, I guess. I haven't given up on it yet, and I still fully intend to finish it (though, I think this'll be the last time I read it). But there's a lot of things about these books that make me 😐
The whole male dragons getting "excited" when they smell young human females is uncomfortable AF and it's a very, very strange choice. Since this doesn't happen with female dragons, I'd actually forgotten about it from my relatively recent reread of Dragon Champion. But yes, it's still weird and uncomfortable.
There was a lot of like, weird dragon sexism in Dragon Avenger that I was more or less willing to overlook, but then you get this book where the main female character doesn't seem to have any consistent characterization. She's what the author wants for whatever situation the author wants her to, regardless of it makes sense with her characterization or past choices. Also, this book really drives home how almost boring Wistala's story was in relation to her two brothers.
And there's emotions seem to lack any real emotion, at least to my senses. Things happen, but it doesn't really dive into the motivation or the emotions behind decisions. This is not to say this book was entirely devoid of emotion. There were some parts that I absolutely emphasized with. But I think my taste in books has changed over these last 10 years to enjoy writing that's more on the emotive side, and this just doesn't hit the right notes.
Like I said, this book is fine and it's entertaining, and I'm not planning on dropping the series (it's not impossible that I will, but at the moment I'm not, and I seem to recall enjoying the last three books more than the first three books). I do have a particular soft spot for underdog's-meteoric-rise-to-power stories, and this scratches that itch (and almost makes me want to reread Harry Turtledove's Krispos series), and if nothing else, I'm always a sucker for books told from the POV of a dragon. Sapient dragon stories are 100% some of my favourite fantasy tropes.
November 11, 2011
I'd recommend this to anyone who loves dragons.
This one was different from the first two (they are all different in some respect).
First off, you really get to sympathize for the treacherous copper, you learn his side of it all.
To put it in perspective, from very early on, he has a crippled limb, an injured eye, an injured wing, later he loses a toe, and a good chunk of his hide, etc.
This poor thing can hardly fight or fly, yet still finds somehow to keep up his end. His thinking for the most part, is quite different from the other two dragons. He has values, and he is smart at times, at others, he seems rash, or even easily intimidated. Once again, he is different from AuRon or Wistala. And as the story progresses he grows a substantially different view of how the world should be. He also possesses some leadership skills.
I liked the use of bats in the storyline, they really add depth to the experience. And some cute conversation.
This book had action (one war, and two major battles), though not as much as the other two. I'd say, it did have a lot more politics. And the read is quite emotional when you look at the copper's perspective. Amongst all the conniving treachery, the lecherous politics of the lava dome, you practically get a re-enactment of the dragons from Silverhigh (if you've read the other two books, you know what this is).
I still don't quite know what a griffaran is exactly, even after the description. It's apparently a two-tailed large bird that acted as body-guards for the lavadome for a while.
Also, Knight introduces a new class of hominids called Demen, which... don't really do anything significant to the plot. From the description, they sound like... a demon. And I expected them to play a significant part and establish themselves, but they didn't.
As with the other two books, the story is in a parallel timeline, and the plot overlap is kept to a minimal. There's two non-dragon characters that appear in the other books, and though I was quite impressed with one of them, the latter really disappointed me. I don't want to spoil it, but I really feel he'd turn out to be a good guy. I suppose he needed to pay for his deeds.
The story-line was engaging, and well written. 5-stars
This one was different from the first two (they are all different in some respect).
First off, you really get to sympathize for the treacherous copper, you learn his side of it all.
To put it in perspective, from very early on, he has a crippled limb, an injured eye, an injured wing, later he loses a toe, and a good chunk of his hide, etc.
This poor thing can hardly fight or fly, yet still finds somehow to keep up his end. His thinking for the most part, is quite different from the other two dragons. He has values, and he is smart at times, at others, he seems rash, or even easily intimidated. Once again, he is different from AuRon or Wistala. And as the story progresses he grows a substantially different view of how the world should be. He also possesses some leadership skills.
I liked the use of bats in the storyline, they really add depth to the experience. And some cute conversation.
This book had action (one war, and two major battles), though not as much as the other two. I'd say, it did have a lot more politics. And the read is quite emotional when you look at the copper's perspective. Amongst all the conniving treachery, the lecherous politics of the lava dome, you practically get a re-enactment of the dragons from Silverhigh (if you've read the other two books, you know what this is).
I still don't quite know what a griffaran is exactly, even after the description. It's apparently a two-tailed large bird that acted as body-guards for the lavadome for a while.
Also, Knight introduces a new class of hominids called Demen, which... don't really do anything significant to the plot. From the description, they sound like... a demon. And I expected them to play a significant part and establish themselves, but they didn't.
As with the other two books, the story is in a parallel timeline, and the plot overlap is kept to a minimal. There's two non-dragon characters that appear in the other books, and though I was quite impressed with one of them, the latter really disappointed me. I don't want to spoil it, but I really feel he'd turn out to be a good guy. I suppose he needed to pay for his deeds.
The story-line was engaging, and well written. 5-stars
October 15, 2011
Alongside the first one this is one of the finest books of the series I have ever read. You really do sypathize for The Copper in this book. It has a very different tone in the early part of the book as you follow this young exiled hatchling than the other 2 before it. Like the others before it this book restarts the events of the first and second except this time in the perspective of the nameless Copper. You really end up sympathizing for this poor dragon not only for his loss of a family but for his terrible crippling wounds. A crippled sii by his red brother who ends up getting killed after a brief duel, one buy his sister Wistala who mercilessly plunged her claws into the poor dragons face just under his eye, one by dwarves who beat his tail and cause it to become crippled, and finaly one by the Dragonblade that prevents the Copper from developing wings able to allow him to fly. Also the Copper's home in the Lavadome is a truly great place. It is in the basic sense a kingdom ruled by dragons with humanoid thralls as slaves for the royal Dragon family lines there. Like in Dragon Avenger it focuses a lot on the action surrounding one place. Which is in this case the Lavadome. Again you truly sympathize for the wounds he has recieved by his sister, the Dragonblade, the dwarves and the red hatchling that dies in the beginning. I truly found that the action and plot driven around the great Lavadome was a great deal better than the action surrounding the Mossbell residence in Dragon Avenger. A lot more interesting and more fun to read. ALl in all an excellent read. The great thing about these books is as soon as you move on to the next protagonist you quickly become connected with them at that is especially true with the Copper in Dragon Outcast. Yu truly feel for him and how his crippling injuries take thier toll on almost everything the Copper goes through. An excellent book. If you read the other two and/or you love Dragons and fantasy novels you MUST pick up this book!!
October 11, 2017
So i had a great experience with this book, i have only read the first three but i am enthralled by the world,characters and conflicts that happen within the Age of Fire series. Fair warning this will contain some spoilers albeit i will try to refrain from doing such.
The age of fire books is about the adventures of three dragon sibling. AuRon, Wistala and the copper. the first three books focus on one of these dragons. starting out at the same point but with a different viewpoint. This book focuses on the copper Dragon and his story of survival in the lower world and in the Lavadom. the characters of this story are plentyfull but the big players are the copper (later called RuGaard), the Tyr's and the Dragonblade.
The conflicts endured by the copper are many and yet he survives all of them. first traveling the lower world and struggling to get out to the surface only to be thrown back into another struggle with the Lavadom. plots and mystery seem to fill the air, Tyr's deaths and attacks on the Lavadom Copper fights thru and triumphs against the odds.
As to how i liked the book? I believe the book is good to read if you have read the other previous age of fire books. I found it as previously stated enthralling from the world,characters and conflicts. But still this book does has a few flaws. specifically with the copper overcoming things that i thought for sure would kill him. such as when he survive having no food for some time in the caves or when the Copper fought against the assault on the Lavadom.
So for those who are looking for a good read i would suggest this book to you. Its an change from other books and focuses on different viewpoints. I have not read much books akin to this and i very much liked it. It still has the struggles of the main character but i feel matching these struggles with the main character being a dragon gives a scene that everyone in Real life has to struggle as well, even those who seem to be off easy. If anything i would give this book a 4 out of 5.
The age of fire books is about the adventures of three dragon sibling. AuRon, Wistala and the copper. the first three books focus on one of these dragons. starting out at the same point but with a different viewpoint. This book focuses on the copper Dragon and his story of survival in the lower world and in the Lavadom. the characters of this story are plentyfull but the big players are the copper (later called RuGaard), the Tyr's and the Dragonblade.
The conflicts endured by the copper are many and yet he survives all of them. first traveling the lower world and struggling to get out to the surface only to be thrown back into another struggle with the Lavadom. plots and mystery seem to fill the air, Tyr's deaths and attacks on the Lavadom Copper fights thru and triumphs against the odds.
As to how i liked the book? I believe the book is good to read if you have read the other previous age of fire books. I found it as previously stated enthralling from the world,characters and conflicts. But still this book does has a few flaws. specifically with the copper overcoming things that i thought for sure would kill him. such as when he survive having no food for some time in the caves or when the Copper fought against the assault on the Lavadom.
So for those who are looking for a good read i would suggest this book to you. Its an change from other books and focuses on different viewpoints. I have not read much books akin to this and i very much liked it. It still has the struggles of the main character but i feel matching these struggles with the main character being a dragon gives a scene that everyone in Real life has to struggle as well, even those who seem to be off easy. If anything i would give this book a 4 out of 5.
February 18, 2014
In the recent past, I’ve found it difficult to review sequels or books in an ongoing series because sometimes plots can get repetitive or thinned out after the first installment. That isn’t completely true here with the first three of E.E. Knight’s Age of Fire series.
The first one was a great introduction to the series and stayed true to the praises that supported it--it was a great adventure but, with me being sensitive, I knocked back a star or two for the animalistic brutality of the main character. The second book I enjoyed so much more because of the emotion and enlightenment the character went through to achieve victory. However, unlike his first two siblings, the Copper in this book is followed by nothing but heart-breaking bad luck and has to achieve victory through harsh circumstances. Kill because you‘re forced to, lose everyone you love because you‘re not meant to be happy.
I shouldn’t be whining because of this. Knight’s done a great job at taking three different characters and creating three different paths around the same tragedy. But that’s just what I was saying when I said these books aren’t “completely” repetitive. Yes, different things happen, we meet different characters, but the plot kind of remains the same: Dragon escapes terrible tragedy, dragon is on its own for a while, dragon finds animal friend that helps it transition into the next stage of the story. Did all three of them need an animal friend in each book? The Dragonblade’s appearance in each story doesn’t count because his importance is vital to each story but, come one, the animals are just their to drive the story.
But, I’ll be sure to pick up the next book the next time I see it for a rainy day…or when I’m in the mood for dragons.
The first one was a great introduction to the series and stayed true to the praises that supported it--it was a great adventure but, with me being sensitive, I knocked back a star or two for the animalistic brutality of the main character. The second book I enjoyed so much more because of the emotion and enlightenment the character went through to achieve victory. However, unlike his first two siblings, the Copper in this book is followed by nothing but heart-breaking bad luck and has to achieve victory through harsh circumstances. Kill because you‘re forced to, lose everyone you love because you‘re not meant to be happy.
I shouldn’t be whining because of this. Knight’s done a great job at taking three different characters and creating three different paths around the same tragedy. But that’s just what I was saying when I said these books aren’t “completely” repetitive. Yes, different things happen, we meet different characters, but the plot kind of remains the same: Dragon escapes terrible tragedy, dragon is on its own for a while, dragon finds animal friend that helps it transition into the next stage of the story. Did all three of them need an animal friend in each book? The Dragonblade’s appearance in each story doesn’t count because his importance is vital to each story but, come one, the animals are just their to drive the story.
But, I’ll be sure to pick up the next book the next time I see it for a rainy day…or when I’m in the mood for dragons.
January 31, 2013
An exceptional installment of the Age of Fire series, Dragon Outcast takes us down to the lowest pits of draconic society. Maimed by his brother and cast out by his family, the copper, the first male hatchling on the egg shelf, seems to have been born under unkindly stars, for misfortune follows him wherever he goes. Shunned by his family, he leads a pitiful existence, scrounging around in the garbage heaps for meager scrapings and living in the cold depths of the Lower World. Nameless and lamed from his first moments out of the shell, the copper looks for any opportunity for familial affection. So when strangers come to cave, he has no idea that their praise and pleasant words hold a darker, hidden agenda. Betrayed, the copper sets off to find others of his kind, eventually coming to the Lavadome, a clan-society of dragons that are masters of human and blighter alike. Even here, however, his range of disabilities are looked down upon. But as his mother told him, he was an outcast...he must learn to overcome. Even this seemingly peaceful, if not politically scheming, retreat is threatened when dragons, bearing riders and an all-to-familiar insignia come and, with their pretty speech patterns the copper knows too well, masterfully make a grab for power, the copper knows this is the moment of truth. Taking a stand against the intruders, the last of the proud rebels rise in a dragon vs. dragon brawl that will mean everything if they are to remain free. Follow along as we watch the copper, from sad beginnings, rise to the challenges set before him, astonishing all and showing that its the heart, not the shine of scale, that makes the dragon strong.
January 21, 2015
Dragon Outcast by E.E. Knight, follows the story of RuGaard a dragon hatchling banished from his nest. I read this book under the recommendation and gifting of a friend, and honestly I was not disappointed.
In Dragon Outcast, a young copper dragon makes a dire decision once banished from his nest, and ends up having to venture far away from his home. With the aid of cave bats, he finds his way to the Lava Dome, and haven for dragons and a home for royal decent. He is accepted into the royal line by the Tyr, ruler of the dragons at Lava Dome and must learn to adapt to his new lifestyle.
The ending of the book was extremely climactic and full of back to back action scenes. My favorite part in the book, was probably the war with the Ghi men towards the middle of the book, it was an extremely action filled part, and had a lot of characterization for RuGaard and his friend NiVom.
All in all I liked this book a lot, it was worded well, while easily understood, and the world that E.E. Knight came up with was imaginative and fun to learn about as the story unfolded. This book is definitely fantasy sort of build the picture and suspend your disbelief book.
In Dragon Outcast, a young copper dragon makes a dire decision once banished from his nest, and ends up having to venture far away from his home. With the aid of cave bats, he finds his way to the Lava Dome, and haven for dragons and a home for royal decent. He is accepted into the royal line by the Tyr, ruler of the dragons at Lava Dome and must learn to adapt to his new lifestyle.
The ending of the book was extremely climactic and full of back to back action scenes. My favorite part in the book, was probably the war with the Ghi men towards the middle of the book, it was an extremely action filled part, and had a lot of characterization for RuGaard and his friend NiVom.
All in all I liked this book a lot, it was worded well, while easily understood, and the world that E.E. Knight came up with was imaginative and fun to learn about as the story unfolded. This book is definitely fantasy sort of build the picture and suspend your disbelief book.
November 25, 2018
So disappointing.
After reading through total 10 pages worth of bat-conversation, the climax is wrapped up in 10 pages. It was super rushed. Even accounting for the fact that this is a story about a young dragon growing up, still that was such a quick ending with all the powerful build-up just resolving in a few turn of pages. Very disappointing.
The only reason I added an extra star is because the interaction between Copper and bats is sort of done well and is 'believable'. Otherwise there is not much worth reading in this book. The physical world-building is not as great as previous 2 books and there is absolutely no perspective of anyone apart from the main dragon. That might have been fine if the story somehow accounted for that through some other means - spying, eavesdropping, anything. None of that exists. Also, the story moves in spurts as if author wrote different pages at different times and then put them in some order. Completely breaks the flow of the story.
Not reading any further (I looked at the summaries/spoilers and the next novels don't seem worth reading).
After reading through total 10 pages worth of bat-conversation, the climax is wrapped up in 10 pages. It was super rushed. Even accounting for the fact that this is a story about a young dragon growing up, still that was such a quick ending with all the powerful build-up just resolving in a few turn of pages. Very disappointing.
The only reason I added an extra star is because the interaction between Copper and bats is sort of done well and is 'believable'. Otherwise there is not much worth reading in this book. The physical world-building is not as great as previous 2 books and there is absolutely no perspective of anyone apart from the main dragon. That might have been fine if the story somehow accounted for that through some other means - spying, eavesdropping, anything. None of that exists. Also, the story moves in spurts as if author wrote different pages at different times and then put them in some order. Completely breaks the flow of the story.
Not reading any further (I looked at the summaries/spoilers and the next novels don't seem worth reading).
March 31, 2017
As a book that focuses on the Copper, Dragon Outcast provided great insight to his character. Political stuff usually makes me shy away from a book, but i love this series so much that I read anyways. It's interesting to read the events of the Copper's early life through his own eyes. The life he had to live, the choice he made, the regret that followed. It really showed the dynamism of his character. A following trend in the Age of Fire series, not much time was spent on humans except that they were kept as slaves (or "thralls" in the book). The political aspect reminded me of human governments however, and i find it very interesting that Knight has written dragons in such a way that they are just as complex as humans in the real world. As i said before, this book has a lot of political sides, so i wouldn't reccomend it for middle schoolers or high schoolers in their freshman year. As per usual with my ratings, I'd say that this is yet another young adults book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2010
The third installment of the Age of Fire series was very well written. I was sucked into the story immediately, which was awesome considering the amount of time that passed between reading #2 and #3. Knight has developed a really well rounded character in The Copper. I'm glad to finely see the end of the Dragonblade which had me wondering what happened to him in the first two books. The story so far has definitely left me wondering what is going to happen when the sibling dragons all meet up again as they each have such different outlooks on the same ideal. It was fast-paced, entertaining, and left the story finished enough that it wasn't a cliffhanger, but you know it isn't the end of the story.
December 25, 2012
I'm not much for Science Fiction stuff, but this series holds my attention. Each book is told from the POV of one of three dragons belonging to the same "shelf" (siblings, if you will). You get to experience this particular world through three separate sets of eyes. This particular book is told from the POV of the Copper dragon, who remains nameless for a majority of the book. He lost the battle between he and the only other male on their "shelf", so he was rejected altogether... Because Knight waits until the third book to give us the Copper's story, we have already developed an opinion of him (not a favorable one either), but introducing his story so late forces the reader to immediately question their judgment, and think, "what would I have done in his situation".
January 14, 2014
Found this one in 2007 in a bookstore, by itself. Didn't know much about the rest of the series for several more years, but this one alone captured my imagination. This book is much more worn and weathered than the other five in the series on my shelf, and not just because it's older than the rest. The story is my favorite. The lonely, outcast Copper getting lost and in his roundabout way finding a massive, hidden community of dragons, one of the last on earth... It's a really inspiring story. This one was the beginning of my relationship with the Age of Fire series, which has ended up becoming pretty much my favorite book series, period.
August 4, 2011
The Copper wasn't quite so bad (or evil) as his siblings make him out to be, but they also wouldn't have a good grasp on what he's been through. Granted, he's also not a very nice dragon to those he doesn't like, but you can't really blame him considering everything he goes through.
The Lavadome dragons made me want to throttle them a few times, but I'm sure that's what Mr. Knight was going for. He certainly succeeded at setting up a corrupted, lazy society of dragons.
Overall, a good read.
The Lavadome dragons made me want to throttle them a few times, but I'm sure that's what Mr. Knight was going for. He certainly succeeded at setting up a corrupted, lazy society of dragons.
Overall, a good read.
October 31, 2014
I think this book had a lot of the strengths of the previous two books in the series with less of the problems. For the first third of the book, I really just wanted to give the main character a hug or some encouragement, but it was great to see him develop from a very miserable and lowly place to the places of great power and honor later in the book (and go through all the drama, intrigue, and danger that accompanied the journey. It felt like a long journey with a good friend and I'm more excited than ever to continue reading this series.
January 8, 2015
Now it's the turn of the nameless Copper to tell his tale, and I think this is the best of the bunch.
Copper starts off as a coward, betraying his family to better his miserable life, but when he is in turn betrayed, his life only gets worse. His life is one of ridicule and adversity, and this is what makes such a fascinating story to read.
Some excellent characters in here, and mixed in with Knight's wonderful portrayal of draconic society, I am really interested to know where the series continues from here.
Copper starts off as a coward, betraying his family to better his miserable life, but when he is in turn betrayed, his life only gets worse. His life is one of ridicule and adversity, and this is what makes such a fascinating story to read.
Some excellent characters in here, and mixed in with Knight's wonderful portrayal of draconic society, I am really interested to know where the series continues from here.
March 3, 2016
It was a little confusing at first. I have not read the previous books in the series, but as I continued the "Copper" grew on me. I liked experiencing the story through the dragon's perspective and learned about the dragons, races, and other creatures through its perspective with it. I will probably pick up the other two and read them to see how they are. Very enjoyable.
December 2, 2014
I rather enjoyed coppers (Rugaard) side of things. I find myself liking him yet feeling he has much to learn like his two other siblings. Will the three sibling find each other in the next book and if so will they be able learn from each others experiences and find some common ground?
December 28, 2014
As equally masterful as any of the series, Dragon Outcast is on the political side, with the plot having a lot of drama. I don't typically like books with a lot of diplomacy and drama but this was written in a way where I still enjoyed it.
September 19, 2017
3rd book, told in the crippled copper dragon's point of view, and what happened to him, after leaving his brother and sister. Another great story in this world, of dragons, men, elves, dwarves and other hominids.
May 20, 2016
My favourite book of the series, with a stunning portrayal of a all-dragon society. Really the perfect book for fans of dragons.
August 21, 2017
Has some spoilers
Dragon Outcast... Neat. The beginning of the story, like the first two books, retreads a set event, but from a different perspective. The story follows another dragon hatchling from a cluster of eggs inside a dragon cave, following an outcast or a loser but surviving male, later named Rugaard. After losing the egg shelf as top male dragon (baby), one hand or forearm taken off, he survives in the cave for a little while and scrapes by to learn a little of what he can from one caring sister. However, in youthful ignorance, the young dragon made a horrible mistake and does everything he can to survive. The first portion of the book focuses on Rugaard just surviving in the cave channels and learning what he can in the underworld. After, good portion of the travel, the dragon eventually reaches a home filled with a dragon kingdom of sorts and is given a name and status after being caught for a mistaken deed for good will. After a while, Rugaard learns about the political system and ties between dragons, humans, deman, and various creatures and history. Soon, events of squabbles, old enemies and assassinations begin to play out along with invading enemies with old faces returning. Rugaad learns to survive and play a role in the politics as a reluctant hero while those around him play too much into vanity.
I can say I like the book and story has some good weight with plausible settings and reasoning within the story. However, I do not really care for some of the coincidences that play out. While Rugaard had to dance around his own mistakes and lies to survive, it did feel at times like he was a Gary Stu. If only because he was the answer to the problem. But that wouldn't be fair considering many of the trials he has to put up with and it wasn't as if he was never unscathed or not in peril. I very much enjoyed his want for peace among dragons and uncomplicated settings, but there were too many mysteries and questions I had that didn't get answered as I would have wished. Too many secrets that were ignored and brushed over. Maybe this is to cover possible threads for more stories in other books, but that only feels cheap. I mostly feel this way since this book was about being accepted and survival despite ones setting, it also brought in ties from the last book on the theme of revenge, which was more of Wistala's theme. I won't say it wasn't fitting to fix a problem, but it was also not so satisfying since it felt for the most part like the dragon was merely lucky.
As vague as that statement is, it only made things feel like safe toward the end. In all honesty, each of the books to this point have some form of ridiculous luck, but the survival of this dragon came off as just a tease when danger was around. Another part that started to wear on me was some excessive use of description. The vast landscapes, change of clothing and jewelry made sense depending on a party or situation. Yet, this became tedious when the attempts to keep a dragon perspective made forced descriptions go on too long for my liking. One of the human characters became pregnant and, to keep in perspective of RuGaard, the story went on round about ways describing a bulging stomach and swollen breasts all to say she was pregnant. The first time wouldn't be a problem, but to do so again just for another scene made me wish the author just used the term instead of droning on so long and breaking whatever immersion that would have been there, especially since it didn't play any important role in the story. With such detail focused on things like that it also irritated me to see how much mystery and questions were left alone when so much detail was put in other places.
I enjoyed the book, but I am starting to see some running themes and would love to have more answers than questions just so things don't get too frustrating. Either way, I do recommend the story for anyone willing to dive into a political world with dragons as the top callers and not some form of human.
Dragon Outcast... Neat. The beginning of the story, like the first two books, retreads a set event, but from a different perspective. The story follows another dragon hatchling from a cluster of eggs inside a dragon cave, following an outcast or a loser but surviving male, later named Rugaard. After losing the egg shelf as top male dragon (baby), one hand or forearm taken off, he survives in the cave for a little while and scrapes by to learn a little of what he can from one caring sister. However, in youthful ignorance, the young dragon made a horrible mistake and does everything he can to survive. The first portion of the book focuses on Rugaard just surviving in the cave channels and learning what he can in the underworld. After, good portion of the travel, the dragon eventually reaches a home filled with a dragon kingdom of sorts and is given a name and status after being caught for a mistaken deed for good will. After a while, Rugaard learns about the political system and ties between dragons, humans, deman, and various creatures and history. Soon, events of squabbles, old enemies and assassinations begin to play out along with invading enemies with old faces returning. Rugaad learns to survive and play a role in the politics as a reluctant hero while those around him play too much into vanity.
I can say I like the book and story has some good weight with plausible settings and reasoning within the story. However, I do not really care for some of the coincidences that play out. While Rugaard had to dance around his own mistakes and lies to survive, it did feel at times like he was a Gary Stu. If only because he was the answer to the problem. But that wouldn't be fair considering many of the trials he has to put up with and it wasn't as if he was never unscathed or not in peril. I very much enjoyed his want for peace among dragons and uncomplicated settings, but there were too many mysteries and questions I had that didn't get answered as I would have wished. Too many secrets that were ignored and brushed over. Maybe this is to cover possible threads for more stories in other books, but that only feels cheap. I mostly feel this way since this book was about being accepted and survival despite ones setting, it also brought in ties from the last book on the theme of revenge, which was more of Wistala's theme. I won't say it wasn't fitting to fix a problem, but it was also not so satisfying since it felt for the most part like the dragon was merely lucky.
As vague as that statement is, it only made things feel like safe toward the end. In all honesty, each of the books to this point have some form of ridiculous luck, but the survival of this dragon came off as just a tease when danger was around. Another part that started to wear on me was some excessive use of description. The vast landscapes, change of clothing and jewelry made sense depending on a party or situation. Yet, this became tedious when the attempts to keep a dragon perspective made forced descriptions go on too long for my liking. One of the human characters became pregnant and, to keep in perspective of RuGaard, the story went on round about ways describing a bulging stomach and swollen breasts all to say she was pregnant. The first time wouldn't be a problem, but to do so again just for another scene made me wish the author just used the term instead of droning on so long and breaking whatever immersion that would have been there, especially since it didn't play any important role in the story. With such detail focused on things like that it also irritated me to see how much mystery and questions were left alone when so much detail was put in other places.
I enjoyed the book, but I am starting to see some running themes and would love to have more answers than questions just so things don't get too frustrating. Either way, I do recommend the story for anyone willing to dive into a political world with dragons as the top callers and not some form of human.
July 16, 2025
I was pleasantly surprised by the differences in narration and pace that Dragon Outcast brought to the Age of Fire cycle. While not every decision was perfect, I feel that overall this book was a step up from the previous one and proved all my worries about a dislikable and pathetic protagonist in the form of the Copper hatchling wrong.
Though this book's opening is slow, it does not spend even half as much time repeating the events of the first book as the second did; part of this is due to the Copper having a vastly different experience in the cave from that of AuRon and Wistala. Even if he began as a generally uninteresting character, it made the actual book more interesting from the get-go, though it did sacrifice a lot of Knight's brilliant descriptions of setting with a preference for moving the story forward.
The changes of the opening are indicative of changes that will be made across the rest of the story. After about 100 pages of time spent with bats during the Copper's travels (which is the slowest and most difficult part of the book for me to finish as settingwise it is dull and the bats are all too alike to distinguish), the Copper arrives at the Lavadome, which introduces him to another brilliant cast of characters and their brewing political intrigues. Even if it is easy to tell from the beginning which characters are going to cause problems with the Copper and which aren't, their squabbles are still engaging and grow greater in scale at an appropriate pace to keep the novel interesting. Just enough time is spent watching these characters grow that their future deaths, assassinations, and betrayals do make the reader stop and mourn (despite Knight's proven style of being brief and generally glossing over these heavy emotional moments.)
As always, the ending is unfortunately crushed and leads to the Copper's sudden and unquestioned rise to Tyrdom due to a war. While this doesn't deter me from reading the rest of the Age of Fire, it does prove that this is one of Knight's weaknesses as a writer, and makes it difficult for me to look forward to the final 50-70 pages of any of his books. For all the grandiose buildup he provides during the midsection of his books (often the strongest part of the novel), he struggles to stick the landing in a way that feels properly paced.
Looking back on Dragon Outcast, the Copper's travels are easy to visualize and his relationships with Fourfang, Rhea, and Rayg are also personal highlights for me. Each of these books does a wonderful job at introducing new elements of the world and showing the reader different ways dragonkind engages with the hominids, making no two books feel the same. As always, Knight's writing is a treat and highly inspiring for the fantasy-oriented mind. I'm very glad this book was an improvement on the last, as I am now highly motivated to continue reading, even though I know there are no more hatchlings' stories to follow in the fourth novel.
7.5/10, brilliant as always in all the ways E. E. Knight has proven to be and shaves off some of the excessive descriptions for proper pacing, though it doesn't save the rushed ending and transition between the nesting cave and the Lavadome. There is a wealth of fun characters to follow as long as you're willing to abuse the "Draconic Personae" list at the back of the book.
Though this book's opening is slow, it does not spend even half as much time repeating the events of the first book as the second did; part of this is due to the Copper having a vastly different experience in the cave from that of AuRon and Wistala. Even if he began as a generally uninteresting character, it made the actual book more interesting from the get-go, though it did sacrifice a lot of Knight's brilliant descriptions of setting with a preference for moving the story forward.
The changes of the opening are indicative of changes that will be made across the rest of the story. After about 100 pages of time spent with bats during the Copper's travels (which is the slowest and most difficult part of the book for me to finish as settingwise it is dull and the bats are all too alike to distinguish), the Copper arrives at the Lavadome, which introduces him to another brilliant cast of characters and their brewing political intrigues. Even if it is easy to tell from the beginning which characters are going to cause problems with the Copper and which aren't, their squabbles are still engaging and grow greater in scale at an appropriate pace to keep the novel interesting. Just enough time is spent watching these characters grow that their future deaths, assassinations, and betrayals do make the reader stop and mourn (despite Knight's proven style of being brief and generally glossing over these heavy emotional moments.)
As always, the ending is unfortunately crushed and leads to the Copper's sudden and unquestioned rise to Tyrdom due to a war. While this doesn't deter me from reading the rest of the Age of Fire, it does prove that this is one of Knight's weaknesses as a writer, and makes it difficult for me to look forward to the final 50-70 pages of any of his books. For all the grandiose buildup he provides during the midsection of his books (often the strongest part of the novel), he struggles to stick the landing in a way that feels properly paced.
Looking back on Dragon Outcast, the Copper's travels are easy to visualize and his relationships with Fourfang, Rhea, and Rayg are also personal highlights for me. Each of these books does a wonderful job at introducing new elements of the world and showing the reader different ways dragonkind engages with the hominids, making no two books feel the same. As always, Knight's writing is a treat and highly inspiring for the fantasy-oriented mind. I'm very glad this book was an improvement on the last, as I am now highly motivated to continue reading, even though I know there are no more hatchlings' stories to follow in the fourth novel.
7.5/10, brilliant as always in all the ways E. E. Knight has proven to be and shaves off some of the excessive descriptions for proper pacing, though it doesn't save the rushed ending and transition between the nesting cave and the Lavadome. There is a wealth of fun characters to follow as long as you're willing to abuse the "Draconic Personae" list at the back of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews