Dragon Champion is the first book in the The Age of Fire series by E. E. Knight. This book follow the new trend of fantasy writing, writing views from the other side of the fantasy world (aka the bad guys). There have been books told from the view of dark elves, orcs and now dragons. Being a sucker for this kind of books, I just have to pick it up.
The book is told by Auron, a rare, defenseless gray dragon. Early in the story, the young dragon's parents were killed by dwarves and Auron sets off in search of his kind. He faced elves, humans and a particlar dragon-slayer (who usually would be the hero of the story).
I love the way Knight spilted the book. It is told in 3 parts, hatchling, drake and dragon. It showed Auron in the 3 phase of his life; when he was a hatchling and depended on his parents for everything; when he was a drake, a young dragon without wings; and when he was a full-blooded dragon and became a champion for his kind. It was almost like reading 3 different books.
The world building was very good. Knight sets several varied histories of the world, you get the views of history from the elves, dwarves, and dragon, depending on who is doing the telling. I also liked the fact that Knight did not sugarcoat the fantasy world. There is plenty of violence including a savage survival of the fittest birth ritual (the book started with a bang). And the lessons the young hatchlings learned from their parents was great. It made the loss felt by Auron later on more real and painful.
However, the book is not without some problems. First; Knight ram into you the view that Auron is 'special'. A rare grey dragon, he is without scales but faster than most other dragons. He is also very resourceful, smart and has boundless determination. He is the Batman of dragonkind. Second; some of the fight scenes are very confusing. Maybe Knight wanted to show that dragon fighting is different from a fight from a human, elf or even an orc because the fight scenes do 'jumped'. You are in a cave, next thing you know you are flying in the air. Confusing to say the least. Lastly; for a book that is so different from other fantasy books, the ending was a little disappointing. I won't say what it is to prevent a spoiler but it is a happy, very happy ending. A very fantasy ending.
Overall, the book is great. Auron is a captivating character and the world is very well made. I liked the strange and different allies Auron made and the pace of the book was very good (especially in the drake section). Besides, how often do you get a book told from a dragon's point of view! Pick this up.
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