Except for the fact that I thought this book was long winded, especially the first half, I really enjoyed it. I loved learning about the different cultures that Jai encounters and his developing bond with his dragon Winter. But the pacing was on the slow side for most of the book and I did find myself losing interest at times, but I always went back to continue the story.

Jai is a great main character. He is intelligent, kind and only resorts to killing when he had to. He shows some growth in his character in this book, but not quite enough. I loved his friendship with Feng, and how quickly they bonded and learned to trust each other. Jai is a bit of a fish out of water as he re enters his father’s world. Feng helps him navigate the world and is always there with good advice for him. Jai’s journey to become the best version of himself is a long one, and a dangerous one. But he does surround himself with allies and people he trusts.

I loved his relationship with Winter, his bonded dragon. Even when she isn’t in the picture much, he is always thinking about her and her well being. The bonding becomes much stronger as Jai’s magical abilities grows. Once he masters his magic, their relationship and bond grew in leaps and bounds.

The best part of this book is learning all about the different cultures that live on the Steppe. Not just the Kidara, but the other tribes and some of the cultures that live on the fringes of his world. Jai works hard to understand their ways and to bring all of them together to fight against the Sabine Empire.

While the world building was great, the pacing and overall length of the book was long and slow. Although there are short scenes of action in the first half, they weren’t quite enough to break up some of the more mundane parts of the story. Things don’t get really interesting until the second half of the book as Jai goes off on his own to learn more about his bond with Winter and to ascend to a higher level. The fight scenes are well written and full of action, but also seemed a bit on the slow side. I never felt that Jai was ever in real danger, although there were a few times I worried about Winter.

Overall though, if you enjoyed the first book, Dragon Rider, then you will probably like this one as well. I look forward to the next book as there was a bit of a bombshell dropped at the end of this one. Plus I really want to see how Jai’s journey ends.

Absolutely loved dragon rider and was thrilled to be invited to read book 2!

I loved this one even more than the first! The world building and characters development was awesome

After devouring Dragon Rider I knew I needed my hands on this epic continuation immediately. I couldn’t have been more thrilled to be approved for this ARC. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this amazing opportunity. Now on to my review……

Returning to this amazing world was the highlight of my month! Jai is an amazing MMC with all the determination and foolishness needed to rise above every challenge presented to him. This is an epic continuation with dense world building and a twist at the end that left me tossing my kindle across the room! Only thing I’m mad about is now having to wait even longer for the next in the series.

If you love dense world building, epic adventures, characters you will both hate and love than this is a series for you!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I entered into this book having not read the first one, but the story was so self-contained that it almost read as a stand-alone. While characters and plot moments of the past are mentioned, the book is focused solely on the current situation Jai and his dragon Winter face as he returns to the steppes in hopes of reconnecting with his heritage, reclaiming his title as his father’s son, and building an army big enough to destroy the Sabine Legion even now on its way to conquer the Great Steppes.

Drawing inspiration from Mongolia, the book spends a great deal of time with the tribes and their woolly rhinoceros mounts called khiro. He has to re-learn the language of his childhood as he was given to the Sabine palace as a hostage; he has to learn to fight as they do, to ride a khiro, to maneuver through tribal politics, and eventually to learn how to use his magic.

It’s very much of a coming of age of a young warrior king who makes friends along the way, is too honest for his own good, and does his best to kill as little as necessary — which ends up costing him. He falls in love, learns the truth about his mother, and does his best to become the king his people need hm to be. It’s a fun adventure story with a great deal of world building and some nice plotting.

However, the characters are all a little less developed than I would have personally liked. Jai has a great deal happen to him, but his character never really changes. He gets better clothes and a bigger tent, but he doesn’t really grow as a person. Still. the writing is good, the pace is good, and I was entertained enough to read this book in a single day. It’s easy to read, and I do recommend it if you’re looking for some nice, old-school heroism with a solid Mongolian flavoured world building.

I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

I absolutely loved Dragon Rider, so I was very excited about this sequel. Overall, I did enjoy it, but I did not love it as much as I had hoped to.

Dragon Rider was a book that built with a lot of world building on the front end and a lot of action towards the end. I expected The Tainted Khan to pick up on the momentum from Dragon Rider. Unfortunately, it felt like it put the brakes on the pace from the previous book. It was slow to start with a lot of world building in the beginning. While this is not a pace I generally mind, it is a pace I want in a first book or a standalone, as the pace of a sequel it didn’t work for me.

I did still overall enjoy the story and where it went, I just wish the pace and structure of the story had been sped up.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

Second book is even better than the first. Excellently written and still in love with the world building that's been accomplished. The character growth is a chef's kiss and Jai is such a great MC. Seriously, can't say enough good things about this series.

The Tainted Khan is an entertaining sequel to Dragon Rider, but the series does have room for improvement.

I personally find the characters to be a strength of this series. Jai remains extremely likeable and thus it's easy to become invested in his story. Sure, he solves issues with unusual ease, but he remains humble and good-natured about it. The new characters such as Feng and Sindri are a welcome addition to the cast.

Oddly, worldbuilding elements like the magic system and even Winter herself took a back seat during this installment. This is especially evident in the first half of the novel. However, I did enjoy learning about the different cultures Jai encounters.

Plot wise I definitely found the first third of the book the most difficult to get through. Thankfully, the story does pick up and the last hundred pages were a breeze. Matharu ends the story on both a triumphant and conflicting note for Jai which had me both satisfied and curious to see the fall out.

I'm itching to see where The Soulbound Saga goes next.

So I'm about 75% through this book and its so long I'm taking a bit of a break. THAT DOES NOT Mean I don't love it, I just had a lot going on and wanted to write my feedback now and complete my overall review on Goodreads when I'm done.

Ok. so Book one was everything! I love the characters, the world, the background and the direction of the story so much. Book two started and almost felt like a completely different story. We lost our other main characters and even the Dragon for a bit. The story is intriguing and VERY unique and I'm assuming it will all tie back around because thats what Fantasy Series do...so this all feels like important character building.. but it just felt a bit long before getting to the point of this side quest.
So that's where I am. I love that Jai puts his all into learning and accepting his heritage. Hoping and praying romance is coming back into the picture soon and more magic learning and growth from Winter.

The Tainted Khan begins immediately after Dragon Rider ends. I really enjoyed Dragon Rider– while it superficially has a lot in common with standard adventures about an orphaned male protagonist getting a dragon, there’s also political intrigue, adventure, an interesting magic system, and more. I was particularly struck with the elegance of the world-building and how it shapes the characters. For example, Jai is the third son and the son of a concubine– of lower status than his brothers, who are also royal hostages, to the empire. Thus, he’s chosen to tend to the former emperor because, while he may learn a lot of history and politics through osmosis, he’s less likely to ever rule his father’s people. His brothers, by contrast, are mere playthings of the imperial heir so they won’t rise to be dangerous.

In Tainted Khan, we see how Jai’s time with Leonid, the former emperor, has paid off. Initially, Jai finds himself the captive of a tribe of Tainted, steppe people who are considered virtually untouchables by the Great Tribes. With no resources other than his own cleverness and his young dragon Winter, how can Jai return to his father’s tribe and rise to power?

Second volumes in trilogies are tough– even the best ones are often just bridges and lack distinction compared to the first and third– but this one was great. A LOT of stuff happens, we see more of the world (and I LOVE the steppe-inspired fantasy. I can’t recall another other than Elizabeth Bear’s Range of Ghosts), and many of the events feel dangerous and uncertain. I think Jai’s tremendous growth here and the timing feels a little unrealistic, but his inadvertent tutelage under Leonid gives it context. Some readers might also find some fault in the pacing, but I just sat back and watched the story happen.

Highly recommended, but start with Dragon Rider of course.

This was a really good next book. Matharu keeps fleshing the characters out and I'm really enjoying the overall world.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
***3.5***

I really liked Dragon Rider (the first book in this series)- the characters, their dynamics/relationships, the magic system, the world, the creatures, and the politics.

This book was a step down/back for me- at least the first half was.

Jai finds himself in a clan of his people... but also not his people. They bash him for being raised by royals, but help him learn their ways/culture so they can trade him at a higher cost to his actual clan.

There was nothing inherently bad or wrong with the story or the writing, the author created a lot of tradition and culture, for some reason I just personally found the setting and characters super boring. I think a big part of it is that Jai is on a personal journey having not fit in his whole upbringing and thinking finding his people would solve that, only to learn they also don’t accept him. It’s a lot of personal and internal growth/character development, but being written in third person I had no connection or emotional attachment at all.

Also, having fallen in love with the people and magic system in the first book, we don’t see those people or really delve more into magic (other than “I used mana" and "I refilled mana”) until after the 60% point.

I will say the last 35% was much more similar to the first book and I REALLY enjoyed it. I found the Caelite to be very fascinating and liked being there and learning about them. I was really missing Erica and the magic system, so to see them back here also made me happy. I love that she found a dragon and would have LOVED her POV in there- to read about their journey to get there or even just a bonus chapter of her bonding.

AGAIN- nothing technically wrong with the beginning, personally I just felt bored and detached and had to force myself through it- it just wasn't for me. Maybe a bit drawn out too? I understand the reader needs to experience the growing pains as well, but did we need half a chapter on Jai getting into and sitting in the bath- detailing using the soaps and oils?

I will still continue this series (especially after that ending) and truly look forward to what happens next for Jai.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Tainted Khan, maybe even more than The Dragon Rider. The Tainted Khan primarily follows Jai’s journey of becoming a part of the steppe folk and growing his soulbound abilities. The novel takes us into new directions, covering parts of the world not fully described in Book 1. We learn more about the magic system and the soulbound connections, which actually remind me of the daemons in His Dark Materials. Each new character felt like they had a role in the overall story and it all comes together at the end.

Although the story is told in the 3rd person, we do spend a lot of time in Jai’s head. I’d be interested in learning more about Erica and the Dansk, maybe in dual POV or a novella covering the parts of the story where their paths diverge.

There is some payoff to the slow burn romance started in Book 1, but I’m eager to see how the two characters resolve the political and logistical issues standing in their way.

One small qualm I have with the writing is that there is sometimes an overuse of certain descriptors. Other than that, the prose is detailed and the author creates vivid imagery. Additionally, the cliffhanger at the end was a shocker and I can’t wait for Book 3!

Second books in a series come with heavy responsibilities: will it live up to the energy that was introduced in the first book? will the story progress or will the characters fall into the sophomore abyss where a series stalls out? Happily, The Tainted Khan comes in with even more energy than Dragon Rider. Jai and Winter return to his people and he works to strengthen his powers, unify the tribes against the Sabine Empire, and maybe even takes a minute for a romantic tryst. The expository info dumps of world building that weighed down the first book of the series are better integrated into the action of this story, and there is more action in this iteration. There is some politicking within and between tribes, dueling and battles, and a journal that Jai studies and may complicate his story. Overall, I enjoyed this turn in the saga and am even more curious about the next turn after the revelation at the end of the epilogue.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Avon and Harper Voyager) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

First off, thank you to Harper Voyager for providing me with an eARC!

Jai and Winter's epic story continues right where the first book left off! Taran Matharu filled this booked up with action-packed scenes that had me envisioning it all in my head like a movie!

The writing was so well done for third person, and just everything was planned out so nicely.

The downside I could say was that it was a little predictable, but the ending of the book, aka the cliffhanger that was not predictable, not at all!!