Qapira Awakening

Dracwyn World

By: Ava Richardson

Narrated by: Jeanie Talbot

Monsters lurk under the roaring high seas in the Qapira Awakening box set…

After a terrible shipwreck near a deserted island, rescue seems impossible for Del, a stowaway street rat; Etenia, a merchant’s daughter; and Lathan, a retired dragon rider—especially when there’s a kraken lurking offshore, hungry for their only possible means of escape: dragon eggs they’re protecting.

Yet the kraken answers to the even deadlier Qapira, a forgotten race sleeping deep in the ocean. No setback will stop them now that they’ve awakened. To survive, they must triumph over the people of Pothena, and they will destroy anyone who stands against them.

Without dragons, Pothena has no defenses against this deadly new foe. But the days of dragon-riding in the kingdom are over. If they want to stand a chance, Del and his friends will need to escape the deserted island and get home to Pothena to revive the nearly forgotten dragon-riding academy.

Life on the streets taught Del to only trust himself, but everything has changed. Now Del, his friends, and his dragon riders are the only thing standing between the human world and certain doom.

This dragon rider fantasy bundle features the three novels of the Qapira Awakening series: Dragon Ally, Dragon Revival, and Dragon Peril.

©2022 Relay Publishing (P)2024 Relay Publishing

Enjoyable

Enjoyable story and very good narration. Main characters needed to ‘
get over it’ as the whining got tiresome from time to time but I would recommend it

The Hero Within . . .

Their experience on the island has changed each of them in some ways. Back home, Del had been a street rat, used to counting only on himself. Now he has friends he cares about and wants to protect. He also has his dragon Searsha. And unknown to him, the young street rats in the city look up to him and will do whatever he asks of them. He has their respect, but he has to recognize it within himself. Etenia, a wealthy merchant’s daughter, and Lathan, a former dragon rider, and the newly hatched dragons have been Del’s friends and he has learned to cherish that relationship.

Now his homeland Pothena has a threat coming as the Qapira are headed their way for battle. No one in authority will listen to their warnings. And Pothena has no defenses to use against this deadly foe coming for them. Dragons could be the answer, but they will have to bring back the dragon-riding academy that has been shut down for two and a half centuries. Now it’s a race against time to prepare the defense for Porthena even though the leaders do not believe there is danger on the way. Can Del and his friends mount an effective defense for Pothena? And if they survive, will Del and Etenia ever tell each other that they have fallen in love, that her plans to marry Finnlay were never real? Is a HEA waiting for them? The narrator for the audiobook version, Jeanie Talbot, brings the “reading” experience alive for the listener. She does a great job with the voices to personalize the story and make it easy for the listener to get an accurate impression of what each character is like. It helps to set the mood, familiarize the reader with the characters, and offers a pleasant way to “read” and enjoy the book.

Great Boxed Set

This was a great boxed set filled with three books that are well written and entertaining. Jeanie Talbot has done a fantastic job of bringing these stories to life and making them a fun listen.

I received a copy of this audiobook and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

Such Well-Done Worldbuilding; Great Characters

I absolutely adore the dragon fantasy series by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook box set. The three books it contains feel completely different from each other. Book one takes place nearly entirely on a deserted island where three characters have been shipwrecked. They not only have to make shelter, find food, and otherwise survive the island itself, but they also are up against a dreadful sea monster kraken that is determined to get the dragon eggs that a retired dragon rider has with him. Lathan is equally determined to keep these dragon eggs safe and find them a new secure home after his civilization has been destroyed. All are shocked when two hatch; dragon eggs hatch only when they are ready and have chosen their rider. Lathan teaches the younger two, Del and Etenia, how to become dragon riders and use magic. As always in this author's books, the moments between the dragons and their new riders are amusing. One egg hatches for the hero, Del, first, and he doesn't know how to handle it … and the little dragon is a bit insulted! The relationships between the dragons and their riders are always wonderful to watch unfold in this author's books. As is typical in the stories by this author, these intrepid three have a difficult time beating the kraken and escaping the island. Many twists and turns follow as they slowly but surely defeat the enemy and return home.

Book 2 is about their time newly back at Pothena, where the hero and heroine come from. She is a highborn daughter of a very wealthy merchant, but he is a “street rat,” one who had to survive the mean streets, an orphan who used every means to survive. Despite coming in on dragons and bringing a cache of dragon eggs, they receive a lot of pushback from the higher-ups in Pothena, who don't want to believe the kraken or the mysterious undersea people are real or threats to them. Of course, the hero and heroine know exactly what they're talking about and know, in part, what they're all up against. They decide to forge their own path and create a school for dragon riders high on a mountain that was the former school of dragon riders, when Pothena had them ages ago. Despite all they are doing to protect everyone in their realm, the higher-ups make it worse and worse for them. This book has a challenging foe we learned about at the end of the first book, a group of undersea people who, when they decide to, have been known to eradicate entire civilizations quickly and definitively.

These ancient undersea people and the surprising story between its prince and thief-turned-dragon-rider Del take the book in a completely different direction at the end of Book 2 and in Book 3. For much of this box set, the author made it look like it would be very difficult for these two peoples to get past their millennia-long issues without mutual self-annihilation first. But a secondary character (whom we never see on the page but hear about) is the key to unlocking things. I read a lot, and so I'm rarely surprised at a book or series’ twists and turns. So I love it when an author surprises me but in a way that makes sense when you think about it because of the seeds planted earlier and of how she has constructed the world. Kudos!

Throughout the books, the author also shows the effects of a variety of prejudices—especially social strata and income level—without the books seeming preachy. She shows us the perils of prejudice and how people can surprise you when you see them as individuals, not just a part of a particular group.

Both the hero and heroine have personal growth arcs stemming from their experiences and deep wounds, as well as their evolving love story. They certainly come from two very different worlds, even if they lived in the same realm. But as a couple, they don't only have these external differences to get beyond. They also have profound wounds that make complete sense given each’s history. These are not slow to revolve—and they should not be!—and affect their actions and reactions for a long time. Sometimes, these deep wounds are the reasons why the hero and heroine feel like they are at cross purposes when they aren't really. It felt very organic and believable how they acted and reacted … and eventually how they were able to have the metacognition to finally grow past their knee-jerk reactions and wounds to become better leaders and more comfortable with themselves and each other. The ending scenes with them as they come into their own at the end of Book 3 were just the perfect wrap-up to a wonderful set of books. Highly recommended.

binge

book 1: Another series that well grab you, if you haven't had a chance to read and/or listen to any series yet from this author you are missing out. A great read and/or listen for all ages.
book 2: As Del and Etenia try to convince the leaders of Pothena of a deadly threat, they set up a dragon school to prepare for said threat. A must read and/or listen.
book 3: As the threat now escalates into war Del and Etenia (and the whole dragon school plus everyone who believes of the threat) are scrambling to find a way to end it before all of humanity is annihilated. A must read and/or listen.

Great series! Takes a twist you don't expect.

I read the books a while back but decided to listen to it again. Loved it just as much as the first time. Narrator did a marvelous job.

Dragons

This is a few day listen. Love able to listen to the three books at once. Love the story building. People, dragons and lore. The world building is great. Grab the books or audio and fall into a world of fantasy.

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

Another great trilogy by Ava Richardson!

Ava has done it again with another beautiful collection featuring dragons. I love how even though they are a focal point in her writing, each series has the dragons appearing quite different. Jeanie Talbot did a good job narrating as well, bringing Del and crew to life and keeping us interested.