A fun new adventure full of peril and dragons!We need more dragons in our fantasy worlds and this book did a brilliant job bringing them to life and I look forward to more from this world of adrenaline filled ventures!

Okay, well....umm...I am clearly the first person so far to not be singing praises for this book. Awkward... Yes, the dragons were cool. The kraken as the enemy was cool. Heck, the entire world built here was cool. But I was just so damn bored for the whole thing. This was listed as an adult fantasy, but the entire thing read to me more like it was geared for middle schoolers.

A huge part of why I didn't like this book was Del. I hated his character. I completely understand that his entire personality was shaped by the brutal life he had had up until that point. I do. I really do. But it still really grated on me how he was constantly looking down on those of higher station than him and judging them. He was such a hypocrite. I could not stand how he only looked out for himself and was even willing to sacrifice an unborn innocent to get what he wanted. He was unable to trust a single human, but he was more than willing to trust the creature that had destroyed a kingdom and killed thousands of people? So stupid.

Del is street rat that has barely managed to survive on his own in a town that would rather see him dead. He was finally able to slip aboard a large ship and escape this city. He only dreams of making it somewhere where nobody knows him and he can start over. When the ship he has stowed away on takes a lot longer to get to a new town, Del is driven from his hiding place in search of food. Goes well enough for a few days, but he is eventually captured. His life is only spared with the appearance of owner of the ship, Etenia. Well, the owner's daughter anyway. She is appalled by the behavior of the crew and offers Del his life in exchange for his making himself useful. Of course he doesn't actually plan on it much, but before he can even try, another ship is spotted and they stop to help. Things only get worse when the creature that has already attacked that ship shows up again and is now attacking the ship Del is on. The kraken is brutal and determined to get what he came for. Destroying both ships and sending Del flying.

There are three survivors from this attack. Del, Etenia, and Lathan. Lathan had managed to escape from his kingdom with seriously precious cargo. He has in his possession the last of the dragon eggs. And it's those eggs that the kraken is after. Almost all of the book happens on this desert island the three of them find themselves on, and quite a bit happens. Two of the eggs hatch, one for Del and one for Etenia, (I did love Del's dragon's attitude) shocking Lathan. Lathan is one of the people who train the dragon riders, and while he has nothing at his disposal to do what is needed, he does do his best to teach the two magic and how to bond with their dragons. Which is good because the kraken is never far. It remains in the waters around the island using some special power it has to not only get inside of Del's head, but the other animals on the island. Making their stay there even more brutal. But food is running out and the dragons are not maturing the way they should be so a plan has to be made to find some way to kill the kraken and get off the island.

The last 30% of the book was definitely better than rest. Del has finally gotten his head out of his ass and learned that he himself is not the be all end all in the world. And the action also really picked up. This group of castaways has an exceptionally hard battle ahead of them, but they also have no choice but to fight with all they have.

The epilogue was really interesting. I am actually left super curious about that place and why they use the dragon eggs the way they do. But am I curious enough to read the next book? Probably not. I fear too much that it'll drag on for me like this one did.

What an absolute delight this book is! I was so engrossed from the beginning, I read it in a few hours! Nothing and no one could tear me away! I really liked Del and his development through this book, touching on unusual topics that I found interesting. What makes this one so much better than the others is that journey. The main character face is a situation where he has to learn to trust after having lived years knowing he couldn’t trust anyone.

What I love about this book is the simplicity of it. In most fantasy books that I’ve read, I always had a hard time understanding the world in the beginning. But in this book, it’s not the case. I love the minimalistic style of writing, I didn’t get confused because the details are easy to grasp and understood. I thought it’s just in the beginning of the book but the good thing is it is consistent throughout the entirety of it. The plot is easy to figure out and it is not that complicated. Talking more of simplicity, the magic system is also pretty simple. It’s nothing fancy and so easy to understand. I just wished that it has more of structure in that department to make the book more intriguing for me. Even though it has a minimalistic writing style, the author still uses descriptive words in the right amount. The book has a simple narration but it is still descriptive and can conveys what needs to be shown.

As for the main character, Del, his character is interesting to read. He creates his own opportunities and doesn’t just go with the flow. Del’s personality on the outside is strong that he becomes arrogant. But in the inside, he is a soft-hearted guy who is so afraid to let other people in because he always expecting that they will hurt him. By reading his thoughts, I can see that Del is what you call “street smart”. He knows how to handle situation (although not perfectly) that needs surviving. His intelligence when it comes to survival is admirable. But there are also times that his character is kinda annoying every time he compares his life to Etenia. I know he had a rough life---the book already established that. But he keeps getting mad at Etenia because his life doesn’t like hers and he resent her for that. I don’t mind reading a character like that, but it keeps happening towards the most part of the book. He goes like “I’m going to do this!” or some other things like being just an outcast because “he’s always been like that” and nobody will take care of him because he’s been doing that for most of his life. And I was like, “Can we stop this already? You’ve been saying it for half of this book now”. It’s kind of infuriating when it keeps happening. I don’t have any say for other characters. I think they are pretty average but still keeps contributing to the whole story.

Overall, I rated this book 3 stars. I think it was an interesting start to a series. The dragons are pretty amusing to read and that’s a whole bonus to it.

I love a good dragon book!
This is a good dragon book.

I was given a free copy for a review. I am rating this book 3/5 stars. it delivered exactly what I wanted when it came to the dragons, other characters and creatures, story development and growth. it had all the elements of a fabulous fantasy read! It was engaging, the names are creative, the world is vast, the magic is interesting and action scenes are well described.

Thank-you for the opportunity to read your latest series Ava!

Del is an orphaned streetrat living a hardscrabble existence in the port town of Pothena. Desperate for a better life he steals away on a merchant ship, heading who knows where – he doesn’t care as anywhere will be better than where he is! Whilst hiding in the ship he often dreams of dragons, something he often does to distract himself from the discomforts of his life. When searching for food he is caught by the crew, who plan to throw him overboard. However, the shipowners daughter – Etenia – stops them. She requests instead, that they put him to work, which Del agrees to. Almost immediately another ship is seen – A Sivarnan warship pull up alongside. It has been badly damaged. The Captain of this ship says they have escaped a Kraken who has destroyed Sivarna and all her other ships in search of dragon eggs. Then the Kraken appears and both ships are destroyed.

Del, Etenia and a Sivarnan man named Lathan manage to make it to an island. Lathan has bags of something with him which Del initially hopes that he can steal. However, these turn out to be dragon eggs. Lathan explains that Sivarna was destroyed whilst the Kraken searches for the dragon eggs to eat to use their magic to live longer and grow stronger.
Del is initially full of resentment and feels Etenia is ordering him around, but Lathan encourages them to learn to work together to survive. He also offers to start teaching them magic. Etenia apologies for her highhandedness and begins to do more manual work. The improving relationship between Del and Etenia is not smooth though, and they both find it easy to get offended or jealous as they have experienced such different upbringings.

Lathan explains that the dragon eggs will only hatch when they find a person to bond with. Whilst Del is attempting to steal an egg for the Kraken (who is manipulating his dreams) it hatches and a dragonling emerges. Whilst Lathan is upset, it is clear the dragon (Searsha) has chosen Del. A second egg hatches and that dragonling (Cember) has chosen Etenia. Eventually reconciled to the idea of non-Silvarnans bonding with the dragons, Lathan explains that he is a dragon master and can teach them bond with their dragons. Both Del and Etenia are anxious about the responsibility but nevertheless, the training commences! Del and Etenia discover they can communicate with their dragonlings telepathically. Del is not as interested as Etenia in the theory of magic, but it turns out he HAS been using snippets of magic already without realizing. The two of them are still very competitive in their training. Given his traumatic childhood, Del also finds it hard to trust in his dragon and has new friends as he is so used to being alone.

Despite the growing closeness between the humans and dragons, Del is still discomfited with the realities of becoming a dragon rider – he is not sure what he will do if they ever get off their island. Life on the island is not easy, Del is battling his demons, finding food for the dragons is difficult and the Kraken patrols the water and starts to use the island animals to harass Del and his compatriots. The Kraken is even able to attack and steal some eggs and, whilst they have some success in stopping it with magic it still gets some of what it wants. Fighting the Kraken almost destroys them, even when they try to use all the cunning tactics Del learned on the streets in Pothena. The Kraken takes Etenia and Lathan, plus the two dragons. Left alone, Del realizes that he needs and wants the connections that he has made and that he needs to become a different, more trusting and caring, person in order to defeat the Kraken. He offers the remaining eggs in exchange for the humans and the dragonlings, but this is a trick and they are finally able to defeat the Kraken through a combination of dragonfire, magic, some acidic plants and finally – actual dragonriding!

Turns out that the Kraken was only the start of their problems though, there is something else down at the depths of the ocean.

I have to say, I absolutely loved this book!

The explanations of magic are easy to follow and very believable. Often I find magic in fantasy too unrealistic, but this was written in a way so that I could easily imagine how they made it happen.

Del’s recollections and explanations of why he is how he is almost read like PTSD, and watching him grapple with them is a really gripping part of the story. The battle between him and the Kraken is epic in proportions, similar to Ahab and his whale. Etenia and Lathan are really side characters, helping Del to reach his final success but not really fully rounded characters in themselves. Unlike many fantasy books there were only a few characters and it all happens in a small area so it felt very intimate.

I enjoyed the developing relationship between Del and his dragon and I think that this will be explored further in the next books in the series, which is very exciting.

I am going to have to go back to see if this series is set after another one that I briefly started & had to put down to do something else. I distinctly remember a couple of kids playing in ruins & finding a dragons egg on a pedestal in a temple of sorts & there was a remark here in this book from a dragon in a dream saying that her rider was one she shouldn't have chosen & was going back into her egg in the same such setting. This will drive me nuts until I find it. Anyway, this is a good ethics underlaying theme in a good story of working for self or as a whole with others. Though slightly more YA it is palatable & smooth reading for adults also in fantasy jantra. I actually would be interested in continuing the series [as well as try to dog through thousands of ebooks to find the other story to finish it also]

Dragon Ally was one of those books that I kept seeing popping up here and there as an ARC but I knew I wouldn't have time to read it before publication day. But then it was free to grab on Netgalley and I couldn't resist.

In short: I loved it.

It was Aladdin meets Blue Lagoon meets Eragon. And that's a combination I didn't know I needed, yet here we are. I really liked Del and his development through this book. It was touching on topics that most authors often shy away from as they glorify poverty in their stories. Yes, it was a jumping start for Del but we saw him face his problems that rooted in his street rat childhood.
The dragons were so cute and fun, I couldn't get enough of them. In fact, I would have loved to see them more.

I think it's a really well written story with a top-notch world building. And I really appreciate how the magic wasn't just another limitless, "anyone can wield impossible power" kind of thing.

I did get a little bored by the last chapters and hence my rating being 4 stars but nevertheless, I do think it was an amazing work and a really good start to a new series.

Thanks, Netgalley and Publisher for the opportunity to read and review!
Another great fantasy series revolving around the not so unusual plotline of society's lowly of the low becoming a hero and being destined to greatness! Everyone loves it! Del is an intriguing protag that resonates with a lot of readers, but his journey has only just begun! We have a lot of action, mystery, a good portion of lovely mythical creatures showing up and an open ending that gives room to even greater adventure starting anew!

Del is a downtrodden young man born into poverty, struggling to survive in a world where he is considered the scum of the earth by the upper classes. He is looking to escape this oppressive life and seeks adventure by stowing himself onto a ship heading to an unknown destination. The ship is destroyed by a mighty Kraken hunting for dragons eggs on the ship. Del manages to somehow survive but finds himself stuck on a desert island with a demanding wealthy merchant's daughter Etenia & former dragon rider Lathan, who's only charge is to protect the dragons eggs he is carrying from the Kraken. Tension's run high between the three, whom despite their differences must work together to protect the dragons eggs from the Kraken and find a way off the island where there is little food & great danger. Due to dire circumstances two of the dragon's eggs hatch and the struggle to survive get's even harder.

This is quite a unique dragon story because it is set on a desolate desert island where the main characters have to learn to use magic to bond with their dragons and defend themselves from a monster who wants to destroy them all. It's definitely not your typical dragon story, with the main antagonist/anti-hero in a constant struggle within himself to stick to his rules of survival which have always seen him through the worst of times or work as a team with the others which could get him killed. Overall I really liked the book and look forward to reading book 2 in the series.