Season of the Dragon

Dragos Primeri, Book 1

By: Natalie Wright

Narrated by: Amelia Hugh

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Quen was born cursed with two souls—one human, the other a changeling. Sensing her oddity, animals avoid her. A misfit among her people, Quen has failed to match with a herdclan. At nearly 20, she’s at risk of becoming pesha—no one.

Then, a dragon attacks Quen’s village, leaving her life a charred ruin. Fueled by her quest for vengeance, Quen joins a band of rogues hunting the dragon. She finds kindred spirits—and the possibility of love. But she’ll lose her newfound family, too, if they discover her secret.

As their hunt spans the realm, Quen’s journey reveals a terrible truth: her dark secret has caught the attention of dangerous eyes. And now, she has become the hunted.

Quen and her companions face a power-hungry ruler, a shadowy dragon cult, and an esteemed leader of magical pillar—all vying to control her growing power. But Quen’s fiercest battle lies within as she struggles to maintain control of her own skin.

Will Quen overcome her curse and unite her warring souls? Or will her phantom soul consume her—and everyone she loves—in this Season of the Dragon?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Natalie Wright (P)2023 Natalie Wright

loved

Quen knew she was different but the day a dragon attacked her village everything change. Without wanted to give spoilers all I'm going to say this is a must read and/or listen.

Woman with a warrior heart and soul

Natalie Wright builds a complex world of magic, survival, greed, and power with dragons across time at the heart of this tale. Quan Santu works for her father, tanning hides in a booming yet modest business in a hamlet. Her brothers protect her yet see her as pampered by their father.

The central character, Quan, sometimes feels she is battling herself or at least something inside. Animals run from her, people shy away in her presence, and making friends has never been easy. She is a strong independent character cherished and taught by her father early on to calm herself rather than lash out in anger. When Quan overhears a conversation between her father and a visitor demanding that Quan join her, the lines are drawn between love and power. Before Quan can learn the details of a secret her father never wished to tell, he and many of the people in her community are slain by a dragon in a fierce massacre. Angry, Quan decides to take matters into her own hands to find the answers. Not yet twenty, she joins a rogue band of vigilantes. With this motley group, she not only learns to fight but values acceptance of her differences by others and discovers, over time, the soul within herself.

Ms. Wright describes vivid colors that paint visual scenes of the country Quan travels through, from deserts to royal courts, icy waters, and vicious battles enhanced with magical accents. The action and adventure are non-stop when Quan strikes out on her own. Her tenacity to learn the truth makes her stronger and more resilient. The entire cast of characters, including the animals, is well-developed and essential to the strong storytelling of this unique fantasy.

The narration by Amelia Hugh compliments the tension of the story, which escalates within the first few minutes. Ms. Hugh does a masterful job with the various voices with well-placed pauses to draw the listener further into the tale. There were no issues with the pace or quality of the audio rendition.

Fans of dragon lore and fantasy will thoroughly enjoy Season of the Dragon, Dragos Primeri, Book One. The unexpected ending will keep fans on the hook for the follow-on tales of this world. An exciting series for young adults and beyond to enjoy.

Didn’t Quite Work for Me

I enjoy epic fantasy with a complex world every so often. I found this one too complicated to follow in audiobook format and fully understand as the story unfolded. The book has A LOT of made-up names and places—as does happen in fantasy—as well as author-created words for concepts or objects of the foreign realms. So much so that the author includes an 18-page PDF with the audiobook that includes 11 pages of terminology along with maps and a description of magic in the world. Any book with that much specialized vocabulary won’t be an easy read/listen. It’s particularly tricky with an audiobook. Unlike flipping back and forth in a physical book, stopping and starting an audiobook often (especially in the first part of the book as it uses a LOT of words and phrases you’ve never heard before) to refer to multiple pages of notes is not simple or enjoyable, at least for this listener. Trying to remember these words and phrases from one part of the book to the other isn’t easy or pleasant, either. I felt sorry for the poor narrator, whose pronunciations of these different words/phrases were uneven. She even mispronounced a few regular English words, probably because of the complexity of the rest of it.

As for the story itself, I didn’t enjoy it. Too violent for my tastes. Immolation and forced public stripping with “medical” inspection ... amongst other possible triggering events. Umm, just no.