Dragon Rider cover art

Dragon Rider

The Soulbound Saga, Book 1

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Dragon Rider

By: Taran Matharu
Narrated by: Tom Babbage
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About this listen

FROM THE ASHES OF AN EMPIRE, A HERO WILL RISE…

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘A dazzlingly epic and richly complex world of dragons, magic, and rebellion’ Amélie Wen Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

'Dragons with depth… Taran Matharu masterfully layers the history, politics and soulful magic of his world with page-turning ease, all the while delivering shocks, bloodshed and a splash of slow-burn spice' Cari Thomas, Sunday Times bestselling author of Threadneedle

FROM THE ASHES OF AN EMPIRE, A HERO WILL RISE…

Jai has spent his life forced to serve the cruel empire that killed his family and now rules his people.

To grow ever more powerful, the emperor’s young son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom. An unconquerable realm, where ancient beasts roam. The princess brings with her a priceless gift: dragons. Only Dansk Royalty can bond with these magical beasts to draw on their power and strength. Until now.

When the betrothal goes wrong, a bloody coup leads to chaos at court. Finally, Jai has a chance to escape. He flees with a fierce Dansk warrior, Frida, but not before stealing a dragon egg.

To vanquish the empire, he must do the impossible: bond with a dragon. Only then he can seize his destiny, and seek his revenge …

An epic new fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Taran Matharu, where dragons fly and empires fall.

'Eragon and Sapphira, Laurence and Temeraire, and now Jai and Winter. A brilliant beginning!' Michael R. Miller, bestselling author of the Songs of Chaos series

‘Bloody, glorious, and irresistibly compelling, Dragon Rider is a riveting epic that is at once sweepingly vast and heart-wrenchingly personal’ Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of The Bone Maker

‘Brutal politics, intricate worldbuilding, and edge-of-the-seat battles’ Prashanth Srivatsa, author of The Spice Gate

‘A classic fantasy adventure that reminds me of the novels I loved growing up, but with a flair of cultivation from the novels I love now’ Will Wight, New York Times bestselling author of the Cradle series

©2024 Taran Matharu Ltd (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
Action & Adventure Coming of Age Dragons & Mythical Creatures Epic Fantasy Genre Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt
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i found this book brilliant and left me wanting more, I am so excited for the next one to come out.

brilliant

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You know summoner, one of Taran Matharu’s other book sets, there are so many points throughout this book where the MC (don’t know the spelling) reminds me of fletcher from summoner. Absolute amazing memories this book brings up.

Reminded me of fletcher

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Ive been on a dragon rider kick and this was a fantastic listen. Tom was a wonderful narrator and Taran's world is enthralling. Im looking forward to the next book.

had a great time

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I was disappointed in this one. Felt like a book of world building and small obstacles rather a story. The main character was unlikeable and just dumb, everything was just dumb.

Unlikeable main character

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Overall, I liked it. Interesting storyline’s, blank characters and flavors of all successful fantasy novels published in the last 20 years. The author seems to have the same issue all fantasy and scifi has with power levels increasing and characters needing to power up to quickly making baddies have to be more powerful. There were a number of contradictory points sometimes within the same chapter. At points it did feel a little AI. But I liked it, the story and world is built well. I’ll keep listening to the other books in the series and I already bought the paperback to read again.

Cliche’s abound

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I found that the story is so slow and boring and I couldnt finish that book

slow and boring

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I persisted as far as I could but the narrators voice bored me. It was like a drone which then made the main character lacklustre . no excitement no thrills no suspense. Not for me.

Boring no spark

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