Dragon Fate (War of the Blades) by J.D. Hallowell

         I received a copy of this boon in exchange for my honest review. I have a thing for dragons.... not in the hot sexy way, but in the fascinating way. I really think they are cool and o love reading about them. So when I saw this book, I wanted to read it right away.

         Dragon Fate, the first book in J.D. Hallowell's War of the Blades series, is a heroic fantasy adventure in the classic tradition of the genre.

         Delno Okonan is a young former soldier eager to put the swords and strife of war behind him, when a chance encounter leaves him inextricably entwined in a tangled web of dragons, magic, and intrigue, as he struggles to find his place among dragons and men, and stave off a plot by renegade dragon riders that threatens all he now holds dear.

Click to view on Amazon: Dragon Fate

         I was really excited about reading this book but the more that I read it the less it seemed like what I thought it was going to be like. I thought it was going to be a tale of a man and a dragon struggling to learn each other and their new life together, but it turned out differently than that. Delno just totally accepted everything, from finding a dragon to raising a baby dragon, to being at war, and becoming a military leader. I just thought it was a little unbelievable that he would just adjust to all of these things right away. And as much as I liked all the things that Delno did on the trail I thought a lot of time was spent dwelling over mundane things that Delno did. In the beginning I had a hard time liking Delno, even though I really wanted to, because he seemed kind of air-headed, but too perfect at the same time.

         There were a lot of things I liked though. I really liked the deep bond that Geneva and Delno had and I liked all of his talents while camping, from cooking to carving. I did like his leadership skills, but I thought it was weird that everyone would automatically defer to him, even if he had the air of a leader, he was extremely new to the whole dragon thing.

         This book actually really made me think of the Temeraire series by Naoimi Novik. or maybe that is what it made want it to be. I was just expecting something deeper. It was like a weird insta-love between Geneva and Delno that made me kind of uncomfortable. I know I said I liked the bond, and I did, but i felt the bond started in a place that should have taken months or even years to get to.

         I liked the elves and I liked the weird half animal creatures that were killing everyone. And I think one of my favorite things was the dream-scape that all the dragon's can go to to talk when they get lonely. And I thought how the Dragon mother can gift a sword made out of the shell of a dragon egg to a new rider, was a really cool and original idea. And the more I read the book the more I liked it and I did end up getting pretty invested in the story and wanted to read more, so  I am going to see if I can get Dragon Blade (which is the second book in the series) and see how the story goes. I'll give this book a 3 out of 5.