I enjoy how well Taran is able to craft these new worlds in every single one of his series. This one felt a bit like The Summoner series, but there were so many new elements that intrigued me. I really enjoy stories where the underdogs, Jai, rise up and really learn about themselves and what they are capable of throughout the course of the story.

Taran is also skilled at creating characters you love and characters you hate. Jai's partners in crime are enjoyable and are given a lot of complexity and growth as well. Now, the villans. Oh boy, do I hate them and want them to suffer when they get theirs, haha. Also, I have to applaud Winter. Best little dragon ever.

The ending was suitable and thankfully not a cliffhanger that makes me tear my hair out. I did a little fist bump in the air at how good the last line was.

This was my first foray into this author’s writing, and I think his style just isn’t for me. I was anticipating an adult fantasy, but this book read much more like YA, which I’m also not a huge fan of.

For folks who miss the world of Eragon, Dragon Rider might be just what they’re looking for. However, as someone with a ton of amazing books waiting for me on my TBR, getting through this felt like a slog. I couldn’t find it in myself to care about any of the characters, and there was just something missing. It lacked a spark to really draw me in.

Thank you to the author, netgalley, and harpercollins for the opportunity to get an early copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Jai spent most of his life serving as the personal aide to the aging retired emperor who murdered his father. Held as a political hostage, Jai hardly ever leaves the palace, where he's viewed as a slave and an enemy. When he has a chance to escape during a coup for the throne, Jai runs for his life. But escape isn't easy. Traveling through a large empire with his distinctively foreign looks, practically no money, and with enemies on his tail, Jai will need the help of a newly hatched dragon, a frosty handmaiden, a mysterious drunkard, and lots of luck, grit, and magic to survive.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminds me a bit of Eragon - a teenager finding a dragon egg, bonding with a dragon, learning magic while traveling across the empire and running from enemies... There's a lot to like here, and while this bears some similarities to Eragon, it was also very different.

Jai grew a lot throughout the book. He started off as a sheltered palace servant, and has to quickly learn survival skills. I wish there were more female characters, but the ones who are in here have a strong presence. The magic is cultivation style, mixed with a western type of fantasy setting, culture, and political system. There's a lot of fast paced action, magic, dragons and other magical creatures, and secrets to discover.

When Jai finds a dragon egg during his escape from the palace, he finally has the chance to learn magic and become a soulbound. Traveling through the vast enemy empire with his new dragon, a handmaiden in hiding, and a drinkard, Jai will need to quickly level up in order to survive and find the freedom he's longed for all his life.

DNF at 50%.

This book is so long, and for what? Why does the synopsis focus on him running away with the handmaiden and they just now did that at 50%? It feels like the book literally just started. Not to mention that I feel like I'm meant to swoon after Jai soon, but he's written as a young teenager with very little (if any) maturity. I could not get into this at all, which made me extremely sad as I wanted a new dragon series to obsess over.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this earc. All opinions are my own.

I thought the book was slow to start and I wish there had been more action, the book was getting great then it was over. I did enjoy seeing the trials Jai went through to grow his core though. The story line was great and iliked the character growth but I needed more meat to the story. I know the answers to some of my questions will probably be answered in the next book but I feel like there is a ton to wrap up! Also Frida being Erica was very obvious the whole time, she was too secretive and the details she gave were suspicious. I can see why Jai believed her though. Rufus was my favorite, im hoping he survived his fight with his nephew. I also loved Winter, im excited to see her growth in the next book. I hope she has a sassy attitude.

What is that secret room?
Who is the little girl?
What's in the journal Jai took?
Why did Leonid have such a soft spot for Jai?

I need answers!!
I would definitely recommend this book.

Phenomenal!

Jai is the personal manservant to the old emperor Leonid. Once a great and ruthless leader, Leonid is now old and gray, and relies almost entirely on Jai to be his eyes and hands. Jai must serve Leonid and his family, as the third son of Rohan, a once great king of a nomadic kingdom who was conquered by Leonid. Separated from his culture, his brothers, and his birthright, Jai is nothing more than a glorified slave. When the Dansk, a neighboring kingdom, agree to join their daughter, in holy matrimony with Titus, Leonid's grandson, Jai's entire world shifts as new political players make themselves known and throw the entire geographic region back into a vicious war.

This book includes:
- dragons!! and other supernatural creatures
- geopolitical conflict with strong world-building
- a complex and well-developed magic system
- a fascinating mentor-mentee relationship between Jai and Leonid
- slow burn love story (not central to the main conflict
- Strong MC and an intelligent FMC
- TW: gore and violence

It took me a second to get into "Dragon Rider," but, listen, I ended up loving this story. Jai has such a powerful character arc where readers can see his growth from a child into a man. The author expertly defines Jai's "why" for each one of his decisions which allows us to understand how the protagonist evolves from someone who is almost cowardly, to a true hero worthy of his name and title. The magic system was so intriguing and well-developed that I was really able to visualize even the most complex of magic scenes. And it isn't just Jai who is well-developed, Frida, Erica, Rufus, Leonid, and even Hennebel are each given strong motivations no matter how minor of a character they may be.

All fantasy readers will enjoy this book and I can't wait to recommend it to my friends and family asap. I imagine fans of Eragorn, specifically, as well as "Wheel of Time," "The Hobbit," and even "Percy Jackson" will love "Dragon Rider."

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Taran Matharu, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

Imagine living your life on the brink of death at any moment.

I finished reading "Dragon Rider" by Taran Matharu, an ARC I received in advance from NetGalley. I want to thank Harper's Collins and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it. While the e-novel is unedited and contains grammatical errors, I believe it has potential.

The best part about this story is the power system hands down. And I could see it. It felt as though the author spent so much time detailing the intricacies of the magic system and left some other parts of the novel in lesser regard. The power system is mixed in with the respiratory system. As a beast “soulbonds” with a human, a core develops inside the human. The core is a receptacle for storing and dispensing mana like lungs for oxygen/carbon dioxide. How does one bring in mana? BY BREATHING!! The author goes into such detail about the Core/Mana system that it’s evident it’s a central theme of the story.

Now hear me out, this story has room for improvement in its current format. I truly believe that. The exposition is paced well to capture the reader’s attention. The plot line is predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. There are dragons, gryphons, khiros, and more fantastic beasts. There’s enough action to keep my fighter folk interested.

HOWEVERR, I have some beef with the book.

How are you going to have a novel called dragon rider but there’s no dragon riding after the first few chapters? If you have beasts that bond with humans, give them speech capabilities. It allows for much more personality growth and relationship building. I believe the novel drug out too long towards the end. This novel could have ended around the 75% mark and the effect on me as a reader would have been the same.

I will be keeping an eye on this book when it releases in April, because it has potential. What’s left to see is if that potential is achieved.

I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of DRAGON RIDER by Taran Matharu through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and have a safe and healthy holiday season!

Taran Matharu has done it again! Dragon rider was highly anticipated for me and this did not disappoint! I love anything to do with dragons and this book was fantastic!

I have loved Matharu's writing since I read his young adult fantasy novels. So when it came up that he was going to be doing an adult dragon fantasy. I was like YES PLEASE with Grabby Hands!! But sadly this one was a let down. It was so slow and full of politics that it didn't need. I wish he would have brought what made his YA books so good to this.

I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book because I have loved this author since his first book came out, but I can honestly that I was a little disappointed with this book. It was a struggle to find the motivation to read it. At times it felt like the story really just dragged on and I just had to push through to get past it. I do appreciate his world building, but in this case it felt like there was too much world building happening. I was sad during the massacre scene and the fact that after everything Jai loses his brothers too, I was hoping one would survive. Although I will say that I called the big plot twist about Frida from the beginning and I felt pretty proud of myself for figuring it out. I do love how the magic system works in this book and I appreciate how Rufus taught Jai how to use his new abilities and how adorable Winter was. Despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I was hoping I would, I did still enjoy reading it and can’t wait to see where the story takes us next.

WOW. This book was so good, I didn’t want to put it down. The writing is so clear that you can see everything perfectly. The characters are fully fleshed out and have their own separate stories and not just Plot Device #3. It is a little slow to start, but I have a feeling this series is only going to get better. I can’t wait!

I've never read Matharu before so I didn't know what to expect. This was a solid start to a new adult series and I will definitely be continuing.

This starts of a saga that promises to be epic in scope, it follows a young prince who escapes the empire who imprisoned him when he was wrong and along the way he find a dragon to bond with and a princess to protect.

The premise of this intrigued me but the execution was lacking and I was quite bored throughout this. It read as more YA than Adult.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

If you like magic, fantasy and dragons you will enjoy this book.

It is a bit subpar to Fourth Wing and the magic system is highly complex an difficult to understand, but the story is fantastic and it helped with my Fourth Wing / Iron Flame hangover.

The fantasy world is descriptive and complex. Once you get into it, it is addictive.

Recommend.

I have the Summoner series by Taran Matharu and they got me back into reading when I saw this book on the list I knew I had to read it!!!
This book did a wonderful job with world building. The twist and turns weren't to obvious which I like, I usually can quest how a book will end.
I like that the MC isn't a rich well train prince or anything, it feels more relatable.

I’ve loved Taran Matharu for years- I’m so glad for their branch of a more mature book! Great formula, great world building, amazing characters. I can’t wait to read more!

Gosh If you loved Fourth Wing or just Fantasy War books in general you will love this book.
It does start a bit slow but when the plot thickens and the twists start twisting, its SOOOOO GOOOD!!!!
Its a long one, so be ready for world building, relationship developments and drama!

No romance but maybe later in the series if I'm picking up on the vibe right????
The suspense and story felt so original and I couldn't put it down!

Cannot wait for the next book!

Fellow once "Eragorn" obsessed adults, gather around. This new sci-fi series is perfect for those of us who never quite grew out of our hyperspecific dragon obsession. "Dragon Rider" is epic, action-packed and full of plot heavy details. The worldbuilding is exquisite, just enough to get readers invested in the rest of the series. I love that this series uses the popular 90s and early 2000s chosen one/orphan trope, which makes me feel even more connected to my childhood spent reading about dragon adventures. As for the characters themselves, I was intrigued by Erica as soon as I read that she had a dowry of dragons - HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! The concept of soulbound warriors in this world is so fascinating and I can't wait to see it expanded upon in the sequels. The political drama, dragon lore, and complex characters guarantee that this series is the next big thing. Honestly, I'm over the "Fourth Wing' drama and I'd rather read these books instead.

I love a dragon fantasy, but the world building in this one was a little lacking. The pacing wasn't great - really slow at the start and rushed at the end. I also wasn't keen on any of the characters, unfortunately

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for review