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Legends of Tivara
The Dragon Charmer's Apprentice: A Legends of Tivara Myth
A slave shall rise from the ashes to master dragons.Born into slavery, Mai's horizons are limited to one simple to catch the eye of a handsome mate. She dares not dream for more, for like all humans, she’s been taught from birth that her life belongs to the orcs, her destiny to serve.But her world is upended when Aralas, a messenger from the elf gods, reveals blasphemous humanity was created to be free; and hope—if it can be called that—lies in the jaws of the dragon Avarax, whom only Mai can charm with her unique voice.Torn, overwhelmed, desperate to hope yet terrified of failing her kind, Mai has until a rare conjunction of moons to master magic that takes lifetimes to learn. Yet how will she discover who she really is when even her allies seek to control her?Only by making the greatest of sacrifices will she manifest the power of a Dragon Song, and help mankind escape eternal servitude.
- GenresFantasy
466 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2021
40 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Kang
37 books457 followersJC Kang's unhealthy obsession with Fantasy and Sci-Fi began at an early age when his brother introduced him to The Chronicles of Narnia, Star Trek, and Star Wars. As an adult, he combines his geek roots with his professional experiences as a Chinese Medicine doctor, martial arts instructor, and technical writer to pen epic fantasy stories.
To learn more about what goes on in his twisted mind, follow his Facebook page:
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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October 9, 2022(This is my SPFBO 8 review – more here: Queen's Asylum reviews)
Our team agreed that we would not DNF a semifinalist until the 50% mark. This was a good idea, because there is a really great scene at 51%… but let’s start at the very beginning.
Mai, a village girl, spends her days weeding and picking rice, hoping to marry cute Li rather than the not cute Skinny Fang, and avoiding the wrath of His Holiness Cleric Pyuz. The food the villagers collect is offered to the Gods, who will punish them for eternity if they don’t work as hard as the Cleric instructs them, using his whip or turning them into ashes at his whim. This didn’t endear me either to the Gods or the Cleric, so I welcomed the appearance of a mysterious angel, emissary of the good Gods, as opposed to the bad Gods. The magic Mai unknowingly weaved with her voice would help restore the order.
What followed puzzled me. 1) Mai is told she can do something if she tries hard enough. 2) She tries, but not hard enough. 3) She either gets humiliated by others and hates herself, or just the latter if she’s alone. 4) She tries harder and manages. 5) She gets a new task to learn. Mai gets no real mentoring, only vague remarks or anger at her inability to immediately grasp what took others decades. It leaves her with less agency than I’d expect from a protagonist.
While the angel’s shenanigans, the diva, other side characters, and the worldbuilding are interesting, the linear plot gives them little time to shine, carrying Mai through her tasks. Interestingly ambiguous elements, such as the disdainful bureaucrat, remain unused – the divide between the good and bad sides is clear. Cleric Pyuz, in particular, only has one character trait – he’s evil.
Which brings me to the characters. I struggled to connect with Mai from the beginning. Li, her first love, who saved her skin more than once, exits the picture the moment the angel turns out to be very alluring. I hoped Li would get a happy ending once they met again. Instead, Mai was repulsed. “Had he always smelled so…sour? Mai’s nose crinkled of its own accord as she took a step back.”
The writing is strong, even if the structure didn’t work for me and I failed to bond with the characters. Once the book reached the climax, it didn’t end as much as stop – or so I felt. I could no longer invest myself emotionally in Mai’s journey once she dismissed Li the way she had, either. The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice isn’t a bad book at all – it just wasn’t for me.
Our team agreed that we would not DNF a semifinalist until the 50% mark. This was a good idea, because there is a really great scene at 51%… but let’s start at the very beginning.
Mai, a village girl, spends her days weeding and picking rice, hoping to marry cute Li rather than the not cute Skinny Fang, and avoiding the wrath of His Holiness Cleric Pyuz. The food the villagers collect is offered to the Gods, who will punish them for eternity if they don’t work as hard as the Cleric instructs them, using his whip or turning them into ashes at his whim. This didn’t endear me either to the Gods or the Cleric, so I welcomed the appearance of a mysterious angel, emissary of the good Gods, as opposed to the bad Gods. The magic Mai unknowingly weaved with her voice would help restore the order.
What followed puzzled me. 1) Mai is told she can do something if she tries hard enough. 2) She tries, but not hard enough. 3) She either gets humiliated by others and hates herself, or just the latter if she’s alone. 4) She tries harder and manages. 5) She gets a new task to learn. Mai gets no real mentoring, only vague remarks or anger at her inability to immediately grasp what took others decades. It leaves her with less agency than I’d expect from a protagonist.
While the angel’s shenanigans, the diva, other side characters, and the worldbuilding are interesting, the linear plot gives them little time to shine, carrying Mai through her tasks. Interestingly ambiguous elements, such as the disdainful bureaucrat, remain unused – the divide between the good and bad sides is clear. Cleric Pyuz, in particular, only has one character trait – he’s evil.
Which brings me to the characters. I struggled to connect with Mai from the beginning. Li, her first love, who saved her skin more than once, exits the picture the moment the angel turns out to be very alluring. I hoped Li would get a happy ending once they met again. Instead, Mai was repulsed. “Had he always smelled so…sour? Mai’s nose crinkled of its own accord as she took a step back.”
The writing is strong, even if the structure didn’t work for me and I failed to bond with the characters. Once the book reached the climax, it didn’t end as much as stop – or so I felt. I could no longer invest myself emotionally in Mai’s journey once she dismissed Li the way she had, either. The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice isn’t a bad book at all – it just wasn’t for me.
dnf
October 19, 2022The Dragon Charmer's Apprentice is one of Team Queen's Book Asylum's SPFBO 8 semi-finalists. Our group review can be read on Queen's Book Asylum, and our overall rating was 6.1/10.
My personal rating is 5/10.
Where should I start with The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice? I had a hunch it might not be for me, but I still wanted to like it if only because of the music aspect. I’m not sure which frustrated me more, the fact I didn’t like this book or the book itself. Nevertheless, it led me to DNF at the 50% mark. I was more annoyed by the characters than interested in them at that point, so it was better for everyone involved. Especially my Kindle, which I wouldn’t have liked to throw at the wall.
The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice started out well enough for me. We got to meet Mai as a slave, working and living under the terror of the Tivari, forced to follow their gods, and basically dedicate their life to them. Surprising no one, it gets clear early on that Mai has a rebellious streak to her and strong feelings towards her family and friends. She also has a tendency for self-pity which gets tiring pretty quickly. When she meets the ever more annoying elf angel (at one point I just wanted to cut his damn hair myself if he was blowing it out of his face again), we suddenly get a bit of info dump regarding the world and learn that there are elves, angels (and apparently elf angels), orcs (the Tivari, about which I had no idea up to that point) and humans among other things. This was a bit disorientating as I had no indication there were other races out there – although I might have been wiser if I read any of Kang’s other books set in the same world, but alas.
My biggest issue was that there wasn’t a single character in the book I could care for, or even like just a little bit. Mai was either busy wallowing in self-pity or trying to please the horny elf angel who set her tasks, but otherwise not giving much help for her to actually achieve things. Then there was this diva, who was supposed to mentor her, but instead just threw insults at her and treated her like trash – I guess out of jealousy or feeling threatened by her, either way, she was pretty much an asshole to Mai. Which is fine, not everyone has to like her, but it just felt like no one really treated her well. Then again, she had a kinda shallow personality herself. First, she wants to learn magic to seduce Li (a boy from her village). Then when she gets to do that she instantly forgets him and starts to want to please Aralas (the hair flopping elf angel). She berates The Gang (and women in general who want to capture the attention of men) but she does the exact same thing herself just adds self-pity to it to make herself feel superior at the same time. She just made me want to slap her hard at times.
Also, can we talk about a pet peeve of mine? I said it before, but I really don’t like fake swearing. In this instance, Turtle’s Egg is being used as an insult, and I just found it hard to take it seriously. Then there is that scene where a dirty-mouther creature’s speech is being translated without any swear words. I was struggling with that, because if this book is intended for a YA audience and the goal is to have a “clean” book language-wise (something I’ll never understand being a sweary person by default), then why are characters who seemingly only care about sex and other people’s genitals (Mai is pretty fixated with Aralas’ in the part I’ve read) okay?
Overall, I was disappointed by The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice, because it had a great potential to appeal to me – myths, music, Asian setting. I’ve also read one of Kang’s books a couple of years ago which I liked enough, so I had expectations. I’m sorry they weren’t met, but despite my quite ranty review, I really do hope this book will find its audience.
My personal rating is 5/10.
Where should I start with The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice? I had a hunch it might not be for me, but I still wanted to like it if only because of the music aspect. I’m not sure which frustrated me more, the fact I didn’t like this book or the book itself. Nevertheless, it led me to DNF at the 50% mark. I was more annoyed by the characters than interested in them at that point, so it was better for everyone involved. Especially my Kindle, which I wouldn’t have liked to throw at the wall.
The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice started out well enough for me. We got to meet Mai as a slave, working and living under the terror of the Tivari, forced to follow their gods, and basically dedicate their life to them. Surprising no one, it gets clear early on that Mai has a rebellious streak to her and strong feelings towards her family and friends. She also has a tendency for self-pity which gets tiring pretty quickly. When she meets the ever more annoying elf angel (at one point I just wanted to cut his damn hair myself if he was blowing it out of his face again), we suddenly get a bit of info dump regarding the world and learn that there are elves, angels (and apparently elf angels), orcs (the Tivari, about which I had no idea up to that point) and humans among other things. This was a bit disorientating as I had no indication there were other races out there – although I might have been wiser if I read any of Kang’s other books set in the same world, but alas.
My biggest issue was that there wasn’t a single character in the book I could care for, or even like just a little bit. Mai was either busy wallowing in self-pity or trying to please the horny elf angel who set her tasks, but otherwise not giving much help for her to actually achieve things. Then there was this diva, who was supposed to mentor her, but instead just threw insults at her and treated her like trash – I guess out of jealousy or feeling threatened by her, either way, she was pretty much an asshole to Mai. Which is fine, not everyone has to like her, but it just felt like no one really treated her well. Then again, she had a kinda shallow personality herself. First, she wants to learn magic to seduce Li (a boy from her village). Then when she gets to do that she instantly forgets him and starts to want to please Aralas (the hair flopping elf angel). She berates The Gang (and women in general who want to capture the attention of men) but she does the exact same thing herself just adds self-pity to it to make herself feel superior at the same time. She just made me want to slap her hard at times.
Also, can we talk about a pet peeve of mine? I said it before, but I really don’t like fake swearing. In this instance, Turtle’s Egg is being used as an insult, and I just found it hard to take it seriously. Then there is that scene where a dirty-mouther creature’s speech is being translated without any swear words. I was struggling with that, because if this book is intended for a YA audience and the goal is to have a “clean” book language-wise (something I’ll never understand being a sweary person by default), then why are characters who seemingly only care about sex and other people’s genitals (Mai is pretty fixated with Aralas’ in the part I’ve read) okay?
Overall, I was disappointed by The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice, because it had a great potential to appeal to me – myths, music, Asian setting. I’ve also read one of Kang’s books a couple of years ago which I liked enough, so I had expectations. I’m sorry they weren’t met, but despite my quite ranty review, I really do hope this book will find its audience.
July 30, 2022
I have been a HUGE fan of JC Kang since the first chapter of the first book I read by him. His ability to mold words into worlds that are so vibrant and rich in culture, history, legends, characters... I honestly have yet to find a comparable writer. So when I began reading this book I had high expectations... And I can pleasantly and truthfully state as a fact that this book did not disappoint.
Dragon Charmer's Apprentice is hands down my new favorite by JC Kang thus far. It encompasses everything I love about his style of writing but also so much more. This book revealed countless mind blowing connections to the rest of Tivara and the gaps it filled in with Tivara's history made it an amazing read, especially for someone who obsessed over Dragon Songs Saga. Therefore, reading Dragon Charmer's Apprentice was extremely rewarding and in my humble opinion, his very best story yet. I highly recommend it!
Dragon Charmer's Apprentice is hands down my new favorite by JC Kang thus far. It encompasses everything I love about his style of writing but also so much more. This book revealed countless mind blowing connections to the rest of Tivara and the gaps it filled in with Tivara's history made it an amazing read, especially for someone who obsessed over Dragon Songs Saga. Therefore, reading Dragon Charmer's Apprentice was extremely rewarding and in my humble opinion, his very best story yet. I highly recommend it!
January 3, 2022
I appreciated the world and the magic system, but the characters didn’t really grab me somehow. I see I am in the minority on this, and will try another of the author’s works for a second try. I dunno, it just felt like the adventure launched very suddenly, and a lot of the side quests felt kind of random, and I didn’t care that much about the main character. I guess life is like that sometimes, but I often felt like - wait, what is happening now? And I badly wanted this to be more queer than it was, which admittedly I feel about most books, but that really would have improved this one for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2024
Having read and enjoyed all the previous Tivara novels I was looking forward to this one as it relates the events leading up to, and including, how Mia charmed the dragon Avarax.
While the characters are generally interesting and the plot moves along at a reasonable pace, this wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. It's difficult to explain why that is, but for me, that spark that gets you invested in the characters and events was inconsistent.
I still enjoyed the book, and I'm glad I read it, but I also feel dissatisfied with it too.
While the characters are generally interesting and the plot moves along at a reasonable pace, this wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. It's difficult to explain why that is, but for me, that spark that gets you invested in the characters and events was inconsistent.
I still enjoyed the book, and I'm glad I read it, but I also feel dissatisfied with it too.
October 15, 2021
Lovely to read
Kangs work is always well written; his characters are clearly and crisply defined, and he writes surprisingly good female characters. I especially enjoy the freshness of a new myths to explore.
Critically, for me, it’s such a pleasure to read well edited and well punctuated work!
Kangs work is always well written; his characters are clearly and crisply defined, and he writes surprisingly good female characters. I especially enjoy the freshness of a new myths to explore.
Critically, for me, it’s such a pleasure to read well edited and well punctuated work!
November 30, 2021
Extremely good
What a great story encompassing everything’s I like about these type of stories. A big baddy bullying and controlling brought down by the love of a good woman and her accomplice’s all of who contributed to the whole rounding out of the tale. Thoroughly enjoyable and fantabulous.
What a great story encompassing everything’s I like about these type of stories. A big baddy bullying and controlling brought down by the love of a good woman and her accomplice’s all of who contributed to the whole rounding out of the tale. Thoroughly enjoyable and fantabulous.
October 20, 2021
Creative new world
Fascinating new world to explore. Beautiful themes of trying to achieve world harmony while still holding cultural uniqueness, the struggle of understanding identity and a healthy society, order vs domination.
Fascinating new world to explore. Beautiful themes of trying to achieve world harmony while still holding cultural uniqueness, the struggle of understanding identity and a healthy society, order vs domination.
October 25, 2021
Original!
I just loved this story! The plot is heavily nuanced. It seems simple but on the second read through, I think something else is happening.
I just loved this story! The plot is heavily nuanced. It seems simple but on the second read through, I think something else is happening.
June 10, 2022
Oh good prequel to all the books.
September 2, 2022
Like an Asian drama that is really good but also your heart hurts afterwards, like a bittersweet feeling.
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September 25, 2022DNF at 64% — I’ve loved the other books in this world, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
October 19, 2021
Confusion is part of any good tale, one that keeps you guessing till the end. The author certainly does that well. But more than that the world he weaves is one that is wonderfully interconnected with itself.
The main character, Mai, is certainly more human than many heroes, but is a character that sticks with the reader in her ability to grow and understand (albeit slowly in some places) new ideas. From country bumpkin to a heroine, the growth of just that character is amazing. Let alone some of the interesting other characters you meet along the way.
I recommend reading more of the different novels he has written to understand a great story that when considering The Dragon Song Saga spans ages. How does it all fit together, well that is for you to determine.
Overall, another great book and one I will reread at some point. This book has many hidden secrets, so many I’m not sure I’ve managed to figure them all out even. Give it a read and enjoy, this was quite an entertaining ride.
The main character, Mai, is certainly more human than many heroes, but is a character that sticks with the reader in her ability to grow and understand (albeit slowly in some places) new ideas. From country bumpkin to a heroine, the growth of just that character is amazing. Let alone some of the interesting other characters you meet along the way.
I recommend reading more of the different novels he has written to understand a great story that when considering The Dragon Song Saga spans ages. How does it all fit together, well that is for you to determine.
Overall, another great book and one I will reread at some point. This book has many hidden secrets, so many I’m not sure I’ve managed to figure them all out even. Give it a read and enjoy, this was quite an entertaining ride.
October 18, 2021
I've been waiting for this to come out.🤤
At first, the book was a bit confusing because from previous books Yanyan is described as the one who charmed Avarax. Well, turns out that ain't true.
That fact winded me for a bit whereas Aralas' behaviour didn't. I knew that that "angel" ain't no angel from the very beginning.🙂 No surprise there.😑 The end of the book though.😶 To know what I'm talking about you gotta read it.😏
The narration is as beautiful as always.
The characters had depth–and enough backstory for me to dislike some.😑 Their goals were set, even if they got sidetracked sometimes. 🌶️👀
At first, the book was a bit confusing because from previous books Yanyan is described as the one who charmed Avarax. Well, turns out that ain't true.
That fact winded me for a bit whereas Aralas' behaviour didn't. I knew that that "angel" ain't no angel from the very beginning.🙂 No surprise there.😑 The end of the book though.😶 To know what I'm talking about you gotta read it.😏
The narration is as beautiful as always.
The characters had depth–and enough backstory for me to dislike some.😑 Their goals were set, even if they got sidetracked sometimes. 🌶️👀
October 23, 2021
the world building is absolutely amazing I can never say enough about it (throughout all his books). It is a must read.
September 30, 2021
The people of Cathay had long been enslaved by the Tivari, the blue skinned orcs whose leaders were priests who persuaded the people that they were representatives of the Tivari Gods and that the Cathay were born to serve them and that if they disobeyed they would be punished forever in the afterlife. The orcs had magical powers and wielded weapons like the hated rods which they used to keep the people in fear and obedient whilst brainwashing the Cathay that they were born powerless. Their children all underwent a rite of passage through which they were marked by the initiation scar on the back of their necks and thenceforth forever monitored by the oppressors. Mai hated her life of fear, hard work and hunger so when an elf angel appeared to her telling her she had the power of magic though she did not believe him she went with him. Her power was through her voice and her song but she was untrained and Aralas, the angel took her to a place where she could be trained. He spoke to her of revolution, of throwing over the yoke of the oppressor, and he told her she was to be the key to this. Poor Mai, she was just a simple worker who cared dearly for her parents and younger sister Lin and wanted to protect her village from the pain she knew their head priest would inflict in punishment for her leaving the fields. She was to learn the dragon song in order to captivate Avarex, the dragon with whose dragonstone she resonated. Only by turning him in their favour could they become powerful enough to over throw the Tivari. But the lessons were hard and Yanyan the dragon charmer was jealous of her and not willing to teach her thus making her life one of more misery. But she had ability and nothing could hold her back from saving her people. I love this beautiful tale of courage, as I am a real sucker for a good revolution. I also love the beautifully descriptive narrative used in this book, it is almost like the author took a paintbrush and painted the scenes for us to come alive in front of our very eyes. Mai is a strong and kindhearted character and though she lived in fear most of her life she rose to the occasion when called upon. I also love the Madaeri who were really nothing as the Tivari depicted them to be. This was another very enjoyable read in the Legends of Tivara series.
September 27, 2021
I loved this book. The plot and characters are superb, you become totally involved in the story and just have to keep reading to find out what happened. There are unexpected revelations at the end which were a complete surprise but I don't want to say more about that because it would spoil it for others.I have read all J.C.Kang's other books and this is in my top five. In my opinion it's a must read and I shall definitely read it again.
September 28, 2021
Long before Jie and Kaiya, there was Mai. This is the tale of the original myth of Aralas and the woman who charmed the dragon. I love the story; and true to Kang's usual stories, it has twists and turns. I really like the way he writes his characters and his world building is sumptuous. I can see it so easily in my mind. I can't wait for his next book!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews