Dragonspawn

The Dragonspawn Trilogy, Book 1

By: Ava Richardson

Narrated by: Kim Churchill

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Some secrets are best left buried. 

Desiree Black’s foster family welcomed her years ago, but most of the villagers merely tolerate the 17-year-old’s presence with barely concealed hatred - and fear. Dez herself can’t stomach remembering the strange power that rose up inside her and left her brother with a shattered arm. The only peace she finds from others’ accusing stares is in the misty swamps surrounding the village. Swamps that have long held mystical secrets. 

Secrets that are ready to be exposed. 

After a narrow escape from the town bully sends Dez deep into the swamps, she stumbles across a glowing, warm stone buried in the muck. Long-hidden truths are divulged when a crazy hag rescues her and sets Dez on an extraordinary new course - to become one of the legendary dragon riders. 

Now Dez and her dragon hatchling must harness their magical link on the long journey to join the Rebellion - and avoid the enemy closing in on them. But it’s in the heat of battle where Dez discovers the painful reality of her forgotten past. 

And exactly why she can’t be trusted. 

Queen of the Dragons Ava Richardson invites you to immerse yourself in a dragon-filled world with epic magic, fearless characters, and, at its heart, the deep bond between dragon and rider.

©2020 Relay Publishing (P)2021 Relay Publishing

Typical YA Fare

The plot is a pretty standard story ... orphaned child of prophesy has to learn to fight for what should be hers until she achieves the greatness that is her destiny, despite moranic allies that apparently have no idea how to actually run a rebellion. In short, this story was irritating with all the adolecent drama and repetitive teenage aingst ... but the death knell was quite literally the fact that the good guys (the rebellion) was so odious that I would actually hope for their failure at the hands of pretty much anybody ... even the big bad bogeyman (the Spirit King) who was so undeveloped that we really don't know what makes him so evil ... or at least more evil than an organization that would potentially condemn people to an execution without ANY evidence what so ever simply because they don't like them. Seriously .... if the author wanted me to identifiy with the rebellion at all ... she failed miserably. Oh ... the magic system was actually interesting, so +1 star for that.

I was given this free review copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#Dragonspawn #TheSecretAudiobookClub

Don't Discourage

A fascinating world brought to life by Ava. Finding one's place is more often a struggle than smooth, and I love how Ava brings Des's forth.

The narrator had a tendency to sound a bit robotic especially in the beginning. She did smooth out and come more in character throughout the story. though it seemed to falter here and there though.

Still an amazing story! So, don't let the narrating discourage you.

*I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Just ok

"yeah, didn't see that coming...smirk". This was my common thought throughout the book. It was also just a little...just a little...too much whining. Not really interested in the rest of the series, as the plot is completely obvious.

Personal and Dragon Battles!

Personal and Dragon Battles!

For some reason, I usually read books and even series out of order. I did so in this case, listening to The Last of the Dragonriders series before this one. In this world's timeline, this Dragonspawn Trilogy series certainly comes first! I was in no way lost, however. In fact, I enjoyed meeting the younger versions of characters I've come to love. Especially at the beginning of the book, I found it particularly amusing to watch the actions, reactions, and interactions of the sometimes bratty sibling teenagers! But they each definitely had their own growth arc in this book, even if Dez’s was more at the forefront than her brothers. After seeing Pieter so strong in the other series, it felt weird to see him as the younger, often ignored brother, although I loved seeing his meeting and initial battle with Gloriox, his dragon. Dez gets her dragon, too, Nightsoul, which hatches from an egg, and she has to convince it to bond with her by believing in herself and acting despite fear. Watching Dez find a lost family member, learn the truth about her parents, and tune into a particular magic based on bringing up memories was intriguing and enjoyable to listen to. This author certainly has creative types of magic in these books. I liked how Des was not only able to tap into her own memories but also pull from more collective memories; her magic, too, when used to perform difficult magic feats, actually made it so that her memories started to fade or even disappear temporarily, actually making her ill. Intriguing concepts! Loved it. If you enjoy books with dragon warfare, fire- and ice-breathing dragons, powerful tide-turning magic, and teleportation mid-air, you'll enjoy the battle scenes in this book! I've already started listening to the second book of the series, and I'm looking forward to hearing what will happen to Desiree Black, her adoptive brothers, and their fight against the Spirit King.

Passable for a YA Novel

Decently written, but same fantasy-involving-dragons trope that gets repeated ad nauseam. Also, when did the overuse/abuse of the word 'surge' become a thing endemic to these novels?

Narrator's performance is strangely halting. The slow, staccato articulation come across as robotic. I had to speed up playback by 25% to mimic natural, connected speech.

Will not continue with series.

Amazing Adventure !!!

Audiobook is narrated by Kim Churchill who will bring the story alive for you! Desiree Black (“Dez”) is afraid of her strength, not wanting to hurt people, yet with a strong desire to fulfill her destiny. Sparring with her older foster brother, Khan Roser, she hesitated then overcompensated with her wooden sword and ended up thrusting it hilt-deep in a cypress tree. Only her great strength let that happen and let her pull it out again. If she didn’t do better, the Rebellion captain who was watching from the sidelines would decide she wasn’t worth recruiting. She imagined drawing on the strength of the trees around her and it steadied her. Their final attempt to impress the recruiter was about to start. She saw Khan’s face and knew what he would do. But once more, she feared her strength that could seriously injure him, and it made her hesitate.

Pieter, her younger foster brother then asked to join the sparring – but on Khan’s side against Dez. He wanted her to show her full strength, make her fight with instinct rather than hesitate and try to hold back. She wanted to fight in the Rebellion to honor her dragon-rider parents and help stop the Spirit King. But once again, her fear of hurting them distracted her and Khan got the points he needed to be recruited for the Rebellion. What she feared was rumors that the Spirit King was sending recruiters this way, too, and if she didn’t leave with the Rebellion now, chances were good that she’d end up a conscripted soldier in Ashimax’s army which would be intolerable! She would have to somehow find another way to impress the recruiter that didn’t involve sparring.

Wandering and thinking about her situation, she was surprised when Jaklin Moild and her pack of bullies came up behind her to mock her about her failure. Jaklin played with a knife in her hands. Dez knew she could fight all of them, but she didn’t want to hurt them. Jaklin threw a handful of swamp mud all over her, then the gang moved in and grabbed her roughly as they hurled her into a deep, bad-smelling bog. Jaklin kicked her hands every time Dez tried to get out of the bog, fearful that alligators would be drawn to the bloody dead duck carcass she spotted. Sure enough, she heard at least two of them and the bullies hurried away, leaving her to fend for herself.

With the alligators in pursuit and trying to cut off her escape, she ran deeper into the swamp until she tripped over a large rock. But the rock had purple veins that were actually glowing. Digging it out of the mud, she found it was larger than she realized and felt warm. Engrossed in her find, Dez did not hear the gator that began to lunge at her, mouth opened wide, until a walking stick smacked it on the head. The old “gator lady” had saved her, surprisingly lifting the rock out of the mud and handing it to her. Then she took Dez home with her to tell her about the “rock” she had found.

Another shock also awaited her when the old woman took off her disguise and told her she was her Aunt Lula Black! She also told her that her parents were the king and queen of Gald before Ashimax destroyed it—and that Dez was actually a princess. Lula was a dragon-rider and when she fell from her dragon’s back, she had a vision that a dragon rider would rise from the southern swamplands and become a great hero for the Rebellion. She knew that Dez would be that hero! And her rock with the purple veins was her destiny -- a dragon egg. Is this what she needed to join the Rebellion? Can she actually become a dragon rider with the help of her Aunt and fight for the Rebellion against the Spirit King?

This book is so amazing! It will grab the reader’s imagination and never let go! It flows so well that it feels as if you are living the story and not just reading it! Grab your copy and follow Dez’s amazing adventure to see if she is indeed the hero who will save the world from the Spirit King!

This is my favorite book to date

My favorite book so far. A must read, I have read every Ava Richardson book and this series is the best. Kim Churchill does a fantastic narrative. Thank you ❤️

Ava

if you have read and/or listened to any of Ava's story you can't help but get sucked into the world she creates. This one is no exception. Looking forward to see how this story plays out.

Unoriginal, just a different perspective

Though this story was a enjoyable diversion it was Way to much like many other books bring written lately. The main Character is afraid of her own abilities, has a older Foster brother who has to be the Best at Everything, and a Jerk. The younger Foster brother is quite, intelligent, and a Good person. Most of the time the reader/ listener knows what is going to happen next because it is so much like previously written Storylines. Narrator does a good job with the characters voices and the storyline.

A phenomenal and Beautifully narrated story!

The story was captivating and kept you enthralled from beginning to end, although it ended on a cliffhanger, I know already that there are two more books to the series, and I impatiently wait for them to be released on audible, Des had to deal with some of the YA drama and tough but understandable mistakes that she made and that others made, it might be annoying to some, but to me, it makes the character closer to home, when the main character is essentially perfect and they can do no wrong, It just doesn't seem something that can keep my attention, I want to see them fail, but I want to see them stand up and fight even though there's a chance of them losing, even though they might lose friends or might have friends die. And she dealt with all that, yelling at people she didn't truly want to lose, and regretting it afterwards, she is human in this book, she is not a God, she is not immortal, and she is not perfect. So all in all, five stars, because there's very few authors that can captivate me like the works of this lovely and ultra talented author Ava Richardson, I hope she never stops because as long as it continues, and as long as the quality doesn't drop, she has one guaranteed buyer here.

great performance by the reader

This was a captivating first book in a new trilogy. I liked the dynamics between the girl and her dragon, and how their bond developps. There are however points in the story that could have used a good trim to not loose the reader/listener in a looong explanation. I also feel that some of the reactions and avtions taken or described do not feel genuine compared to a natural character development (yes, i look at you Jacqueline). So these points compelled me o only give 4 stars. But really, yhe atory is interesting, amd amyone liking sword and sorcery amd dragon should check this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Fantastic dragon adventure

Introducing Dez and her foster brothers as they discover and try to become dragon riders for the rebellion. New bonding with a dragon and discovering secrets makes for a fast paced dragon adventure with strong characters and plot twists. The story telling and world building is fantastic. Action packed with growing threats, plots, secrets and dragons.

The audio is clear and strong and the narrator brings the story to life and builds suspense.

I received a free copy of this audiobook via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thoroughly entertaining fantasy

An entertaining and engrossing YA dragon rider fantasy that I could not put down. When Desiree Black discovers a hidden dragons egg in the swamp she embarks on a life changing adventure. This story has everything you could want in the genre. A powerful, ruthless enemy, a heroic if narrow minded army of rebels, a prophesied hero and lots of Dragons and magic. The writing is excellent giving the characters real depth, self confidence issues and a little jealousy and envy, Great dragons and big magic. The narration is superb, really easy to listen to and has a good range. The story has a conclusion but not an ending so I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I received a complimentary copy and am leaving a honest voluntary review.

excellent!

I did not want it to end.
completely engrossed
a must read story
narrator was first class.