Bob @ Platypire Reviews

I requested and was granted a code for the Audible version of this book.

I like the characters, and I really enjoy that the dragons and riders have a real feeling relationship, and that they argue and fight rather than getting along all the time. Like family. The description are quite vivid for some of the things, and really made a clear picture. This wasn’t always the case, but in general I enjoyed and could picture the tale that was being presented. She definitely put forth effort!

The wording and writing style felt extremely choppy at first. I couldn’t get into it because it just sounded so odd. It smoothed out a little ways in, but never quite enough for me to be able to get lost in the narrative. I think this was made much more noticeable because it WAS an audible, versus me reading it myself, but I still feel like I would have noticed. I give the book a rating of 3.

Now, the narrator. She just doesn’t match the story, for me. Her tone and emphasis felt all wrong, and I really felt I was being read ‘at’ rather being told a story. Hopefully that makes sense. Her voice is very clear and concise, she has a good tempo, but this story was not the one, I think. I can’t quite figure out what genre she WOULD be good at, but with her voice, I know there’s one that’s perfect for her. 2.5 – 3 Stars.

Overall, this was an okay read. Dragon’s, coming of age, and very interesting relationships between said dragons and their riders.
Bob says: 3 Platypires

1 person found this helpful

Not all dragons are the same.

What didn’t you like about Esther Hardcastle’s performance?

She made this story very hard to get through. Her voice and the tempo is something that drove me nuts. She has a monotone voice and her inflection seems to just be nonexistent. I do not think I can listen to another book from this narrator.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about dragons. The story follows Ruskya and other dragon riders. Dragons have been around and plentiful however after a couple of years dragons seem to be going extinct. There are not as many as dragons as there once was. Ruskya is on a mission trying to find out why dragons are disappearing. Come to find out things are not what they seem.

A war is brewing and no one seems to know why certain dragons and riders are attacking innocents. There are so many questions that need to be answered and we do not get them until the end of the story.

This story is a good one and I will continue the series but only via Kindle or Paperback.

1 person found this helpful

Nice cover

Among the plethora of dragon stories, this one will stand out for its kindness. Its central drama revolves around how far and wide peace and health will break out. The mostly simple language features a faux medieval English; like fingernails on slate to my ears. The reading pace is slow, punctuated with multiple stress points in each sentence; suitable for practice taking dictation. Engaging story for those who don't like a lot of tension.

Target Audience: people who like dragons

Dragon's future, by Kandi J. Wyatt, is the first book in her Dragon's Courage series.

In this book we meet Ruskya and Duskya. Twin brother and sister who both aspire to be dragon riders. The dragon mythos of this series is incredibly well thought out and detailed. The first third of this book is character introduction and world building. You will want to pay attention because once the action of the main plot picks up it will move pretty fast.

I feel like this series was a little miss marketed. It's listed as a children's book but the themes presented leaned toward the mature.

Nothing explicit, this is clean fiction. But there is a villain who talks about women like they are breeding stock. A villain who kills people for sport and a fictional plant that is being fought over In a way similar to certain drugs in our world.

All told the story is exciting with great world building and well developed character arcs. But I would recommend it for adults or at least teenagers.

I look forward to more adventures in this rich and growing story world.

On the narrator: I feel like Esther Hardcastle, fell into the trap of a lot of narrators where they want to do a different voice for each character so some characters end up sounding ridiculous all for the sake of not repeating a voice. (Carol's father is one such voice.) The narrator also gave the villain a very evil and gutteral voice when I feel like the character should have sounded more charismatic, since he literally had the power to control people and dragons.

It's not that she wasn't a good narrator, I think I'm mostly confused on if this a children's book or not. If it is for children then she nailed it.

*I was given a free code for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own and are given honestly.*

Refreshing!

Review ( Edit)
This story added a new take on dragon bonding, which was pleasant!

DRAGONS AND THEIR RIDERS ....

THIS IS A UNIQUE STORY, WITH A BROTHER AND A SISTER WHO GET BONDED WITH DRAGONS, IT IS A RARITY IN THEIR WORLD, AND THE ADVENTURE BEGINS FROM THERE,
THE NARRATOR ESTHER HARDCASTLE DID A GOOD JOB WITH THE NARRATION OF THE STORY, I LOOK FORWARD TO MORE FROM BOTH THAT AUTHOR AND NARRATOR!!!!

hold interest

it didn't hold my interest too much (audio version) but it seemed like a decent enough book for middle school age.

Loved the Book, Good Storyline, Good Plot.

This is a really good book for young readers. My kids really liked it and I enjoyed it as well. The narration was a little on the novice level. Or it could be that she was thinking of the young readers as she read. Just not read on an adult level, which is ok, since the book is for young readers. I would highly recommend the book to anyone. It is appropriate for all ages, which is much appreciated! To many pros to list, the only con I have is that the phrase "Honored Rider" And "Honored Dragon" got really redundant and a little annoying. Other than that, a perfect book!!!

Dragon's Future Review

I was very interested in this fantasy when I first read the synopsis. Dragons and riders and mystery, it was all so intriguing. I received the audiobook from a publicity agent and got into it pretty quickly. I found myself putting off listening to it and it took me a month to get through it, but it wasn't the story that was putting me off, it was the narrator of the audiobook.

The story is about a pair of twins that are chosen to be dragon riders, an elite group taken from their small village every so often. They are chosen by these dragons to ride them and they set off almost immediately into their new lives.

Later in the story we learn that there is another group of riders and they are looking for a way to find a mysterious herb that is said to help with new dragons and furthering the line. There is a lot of action in all this plot, but there are also a lot of characters - the twins, their dragons, their trainer and his dragon, their mother, the other townspeople and dragon riders and it made it hard to keep track of everyone. I think if I had read the book it would have been ok, but the narrator had the same voices for many of the characters and it was very difficult for me to keep track, on top of that the names were all very similar as well. That was my biggest issues though.

The battle scenes were very good and the characters all grew to some extent. I liked the communication between the riders and their dragons and the mystery that unraveled through the story which made for good pacing. I loved the dragons! Overall it was a good tale and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the best audiobook I have listened to in terms of the narration. I would have liked more depth in that.

Fun MG Dragonrider Tale

This was a cute story. I love dragons, and this world was very interesting. There are dragons in the world, and dragonriders go out to collect children from the land to become new dragonriders. Though there is little information as to why since it's such a peaceful land. It's only told that they're for protecting the people and keeping the peace, perhaps like a Jedi Council type of thing. There doesn't seem to be much danger to warrant protection, at least in the past. This tale weaves a story where a few dragonriders break off the main ones over a disagreement. There's action, and a bit of a battle. I listened to the audiobook and can see why she had a few complaints on the narration, it was a bit slow, with some words over enunciated. It made it a lot easier to listen to when I changed my speed on my mp3 player to fast. I know this is considered a Middle Grade to Young Adult novel, but my largest complaint is the intelligence of the characters. Often times situations lead to dialog, which there is a lot of dialog in this book, it seems most of the world building is done through dialog, where when the characters are talking, they reach a conclusion that I saw several lines down. I just felt that, "How did it take them that long to figure this aspect out?" If it were one or two times, I wouldn't have thought much of it, but it happened several times, where the characters seemed way too slow to comprehend something that should have been common sense for the world. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book, the dragons are interesting, the communication is cool, and the characters are interesting, if not a little confusing between Duskya and Ruskya.