Scales of Empire cover art

Scales of Empire

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Scales of Empire

By: Kylie Chan
Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

'So much fun ... adorable characters, seductive dragons, narcissist cats, crazy imagination and lots of wisdom' LIAN HEARN

An exciting new adventure filled with diverse characters, strong heroes and heroines, and wild creatures from the best-selling author of White Tiger.

Corporal Jian Choumali is on the mission of a lifetime—security officer on one of Earth's huge generation ships, fleeing Earth's failing ecosystem to colonise a distant planet.

The ship encounters a technologically and culturally advanced alien empire, led by a royal family of dragons. The empire's dragon emissary offers her aid to the people of Earth, bringing greater health, longer life, and faster-than-light travel to nearby stars.

But what price will the people of Earth have to pay for the generous alien assistance?

In this first book in a brand new series, Kylie Chan brings together pacey, compelling storytelling and an all-too-possible imagined future in a tale packed with action, adventure, drama, and suspense.

'Scales of Empire is not your average sci-fi adventure. This genderbending inter-stellar romp is full of delightful surprises that kept me enthralled from start to end. I am dragonstruck! TRACI HARDING

'So different to her other books, but unmistakably Kylie Chan ...Imaginative, epic, and heaps of fun, while still exploring thought-provoking and important themes.' ALAN BAXTER

©2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Fantasy Dragons

Critic Reviews

"A smart, entertaining read." (Australian SpecFic)

"A fast paced novel with liberal quantities of romance, action and fantasy ... a rich tapestry of culture, action and love and makes for good entertainment." (OzHorrorScope)
All stars
Most relevant
incredible series spanning the cosmos, and with dragons?! the author holds a very believable narrative from both a human and alien perspective, and the narrator expresses dialogue with such conviction that I am "dragonstruck" all throughout the storytelling. however my only criticism is the portrayal of the "dragonstruck" effect which had effected some of the main characters. I think the medical and psychological advancements could have better portrayed the condition in interesting ways, which were never explored... I'm so looking forward to the next book and hope there will be redemption amongst the storytelling not only for the mental effect which was so poorly portrayed, but redemption for love in which read as a major factor in the relationships that ensued, transcending the influence of the dragons. we'll see...
peace all <3

Almost perfect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Scales of Empire - the title is prophetic. I bought this audio book based on Kylie Chan's reputation. Much as I enjoyed the audio performance, I won't bother with the rest of the trilogy. Why not? The story faded out back on earth, there was no hook for a future, the whole story seemed aimless, the characters were not engaging with no inducement to find out what happens next. The pacing of the story was choppy. Choosing to cast Jian as a welsh born afro-chinese lesbian takes political correctness to a cringe worthy extreme. There is gender fluid sex with dragons, and with a mutilated war hero who has none of his sexual parts left.

Told in the first person by Corporal Jian Choumali, the plot explores alien first contact when space travelling, teleporting dragons rescue Japanese interstellar colonists. This is a dystopian dying future Earth, reaching out to the stars. The red dragon with her AI assistant Marque and capacious space ship offer the restore earth and transport the colonists, all in the name of love. Nothing is as it seems. There is no such thing as a free lunch. The sentient AI Marque comes to the rescue in sticky situations, how convenient!

What kept me listening was the wonderful narration. I also empathised with Maxwell. I make many long road trips and 15 hours was just enough to cover a round trip.

Entertaining First Contact with Dragons

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First of if your reading this push through the first few chapters they are slow but necessary everything after is perfect I loved the books so much I read the paper back twice and then used my credit to get the audio book it has a few minor political opinions pushed in your face that I just feel are not necessary however they are few and far and mostly in the first quarter
Some events can feel rushed and unjustified/not needed however every book has that
This is not for everyone however if you want a science fiction series that isn’t entirely action and has funny and sly characters this is a great read

Loved this so much I have read it three times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Kylie chan is the best author I have ever come across, her talent as an author is remarkable and she is able to take from me from laughing my head off to sobbing and then back to laughing all in the same chapter

Stunning book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was a struggle to finish, a constant theme of rejecting any advancements in high technology. For every step forward the main characters get shown they take two back.
Then in the last three and a half hour some solid progress is made, it maybe enough to listen to the second book but only after I have been through all of my wish list and am waiting for something to come out.

Crazed xenophobia and constant self loathing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book makes no sense they keep making the worst decision and blaming it on the anybody but themselves

How to make the dumbest decisions over and over

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Initially it had an interesting premise but quickly turned very childish. I only made it to chapter 10 then gave up, too silly.

Started of promising...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
it has some interesting concepts but it seems to be more appropriate for young adults.

not engaging

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve read a few of Kylie Chan’s other books and enjoyed them quite a bit but I really struggled with this one. I really wanted to like this story. I got to chapter 8 and decided there are just too many books I want to read to keep going. A bit of a shame.

I wanted to like it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn't get to finish this book. the first hour or So wasn't great but the premise I found interesting. then it gets real weird real quick and I still tried to listen but I just couldn't do it. unless you're into furry stuff I wouldn't recommend.

weird

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.