Fledgling

The Dragonrider Chronicles, Book 1

By: Nicole Conway

Narrated by: Jesse Einstein

Can one boy stand between two kingdoms at war?

Jaevid Broadfeather has grown up as a wartime refugee, hiding from the world because of his mixed racial heritage. He feels his future is hopeless - until a chance encounter with a wild dragon lands him in Blybrig Academy, a place usually forbidden to anyone but the rich and royal.

But Jaevid's case is special; no dragon has voluntarily chosen a rider in decades, so the proud riders of Blybrig must begrudgingly let him join their brotherhood despite his bloodline. Lieutenant Sile Derrick, a sternly tempered man with a mysterious past, becomes his instructor and immediately takes a peculiar interest in Jaevid's future. While struggling through the rigorous physical demands of training, things begin to go awry. Jaevid witnesses the king's private guards kidnapping Sile in the dead of night. When none of the elder riders is willing to help him, Jaevid begins a dangerous adventure to save his instructor. Everything Jaevid learned at the academy will now be put to the ultimate test.

©2013 Nicole Conway (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Not just another dragon story; this memorable escapade is fast-paced and packed with action. It will leave readers on the edge of their seats." (D. J. MacHale, author, The SYLO Chronicles and Pendragon)

A nice light book

Any additional comments?

Its a nice light story, not worth a credit for some, but its a nice story.

I really enjoyed this book

You'll like this book if you like Eragon, Godling chronicles, and other Dragon / Elves stories. Great read. Can't wait to finish the series.

Fledgling bk 1

Jaevid Broadfeather has been bullied all his life, mostly for being bi-racial. When Jaevid befriends Mavrik a wild captured dragon, Jaevid's life takes an unexpected journey.

Lieutenant Sile Derrick, agrees to be his instructor and mentor in spite of the fact that everyone believes Jaevid unworthy and too small for the honor. Jaevid wants to fit in, and Sile is the first person that has given him the opportunity at anything, so he struggles through the intensive physical training, to seek his approval and make Sile proud.

When Jaevid witnesses and hears the king's private guards plotting to kill Sile, he feels a sense of obligation to rescue the one man that gave him a chance and was kind to him, even if no one wants to help him or take him seriously.

I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. Yes the bullying was a bit intense but brought a sense of longing to the main character - I wasn't thrilled with the way the story ended but satisfied with the "closure" - I'm sure the next book will pick up where this one left off and answer questions that weren't answered.

4.25 Stars 🌟

Another "first time" author for me. The story starts off a little slowly as we are getting to know the world and trying to understand the magic system - or the world of dragons I guess would be a better way to say it. Our MC at this point is a young teen who is in an awful situation at home. You honestly cannot even call it home. He is a "half-breed" (gray elf/human) whose mother has passed away and after never having ANYTHING to do with his human father, he is sent to live with him. Unfortunately, the father already has a family and they cannot stand the boy. They will not even let him in the house and he sleeps in a loft in the barn. And "half-breeds" are hated by both species, for the same reason, because they are not fully one thing or another. Oh, did I mention that the gray elves and the humans are at war?

So, this type of story tends to bother me. Why? Because the author is trying to get across how hated this boy is. He is scrawny (very, very, scrawny), weighs like 80 pounds soaking wet and is beaten constantly. At this point in his life, he doesn't even fight back. If boys gang up on him, he just waits for it to be over. Kinda hard to read/listen to.

This is going to be a story about a young man turning into a hero - I think. So, I guess we have to start at the bottom. So, book 1...by chance, he bonds with a dragon and gets accepted into the Dragon Academy (or something like that, can't remember the name). He's, of course, the scrawniest cadet in the academy, so life is not easy.

This first book takes us on that journey. He finds one friend and his dragon Mavrik is awesome. Seriously awesome. I listened to most of this on audio and the narrator does a good job of creating a voice for Jaevid that seems to coincide with his age - he is 15 I think (maybe 16).

Let's see what happens in book 2.

the BEST 5 stars

I've read this series at least 5 times and now that it's out in audible it's even better I highly suggest reading this book or listening to it. a very good story and well written

Pretty Good

This book was much better than expected. The only reason I just decided to get it was because at only eight hours it's not very long. But it was totally worth it.

I am love

I just love the plot and the characters. so sad book on was so short. Can't wait to start book 2. Talk to you later?

Overall a pretty good book.

All together a good book. The readers voice I feel matched perfectly with the character.

Reminded me of Pern series.

Haven’t enjoyed a dragon book this much since Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. As an adult instead of a teen, I appreciated the minimal amount of teenage angst - though I certainly remember what that was like. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Can't wait for the next book

After reading Fledgling I am counting down the minutes to read the second in the series. The book flowed well and the characters were easy to fall in love with. Each member in the story has their own tale and all of them are twined together! Great job Mrs. Conway. I can't wait to finish the series.