Customer Reviews

Dragon Avenger (Age of Fire)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight is the second book in the Age of Fire cycle. It tells the tale of Wistala, the sister of Dragon Champion's Auron. The book starts in the same place as the first. With the hatching of the clutch in the cave. and for the first several chapters, it tells the same story, but through Wistala's viewpoint. This time when Wistala and Auron part, she believes he is the one who dies.

Wistala takes off to find her father who flew off to exact vengeance upon the Wheel of Fire Dwarves who betrayed them. She even manages to find him, near death from his rash attack, and spends some time trying to nurse him back to health. Being a coming of age story, of course the outcome of this reunion is bound to be temporary, and it is. Wistala is forced to flee and is nearly killed by the Dragonblade. Tala, though is rescued by a kindly elf named Rainfall. and she spends the majority of the book growing up in his company. Not a lot of avenging going on yet huh? just a lot of talking cats, and mules, Well the avenging does come. Events lead to Wistala getting the opportunity to take revenge on all who have wronged her, and her family, and she takes full advantage.

I liked the book, it was a light entertaining read for the most part. It felt more like a young adult novel than Champion did. Perhaps it was because of the different feel from the Dragonelles perspective. Perhaps it was where the first book had talking wolves, this one had cats, and horses, and mules, and buzzards. Perhaps I just didn't notice it in the first book. Anyway, Knight does a nice job of expanding his world. We see different areas than we did with Auron. We learn more about the history of the land. He also creates characters that you get attached too. I found myself saddened by the loss of certain characters. Its a worthy follow up to Dragon Champion. The next book in the series is slated to be about the little maimed Copper. I look forward to it.

7 out of 10

I'm not one for sappy anthropomorphic animal tales and, as with Dragon Champion, this is definitely not that. Dragon Avenger is a no-holds-barred look at the life of a dragon whose family is mercilessly slaughtered by humanoid races. But things aren't black-and-white in Knight's creation as one finds in most other stories - not all humanoids are bad, not all dragons are good. As is Knight's style, all is not always what it seems.

I was concerned about how Knight would pull off re-telling the story of AuRon's and Wistala's family's murder, but he did it wonderfully. Though they are - at their most basic - the same first few chapters, the difference in the points of view between AuRon (Dragon Champion) and Wistala (Dragon Avenger) read as different as any two true accountings of events between two different people. Throughout the two books I was amazed at how well Knight kept the two stories completely separate - there was no rehashing or plot regurgitation anywhere (something I seriously dislike in most other serial writing). Each book - as each dragon - is its own creation and wholly independent of the other. I cannot wait for Book Three!

E. E. Knight is a master storyteller and creator of characters, settings, and cunning plots. Wistala's travels from nest to the climactic ending are filled with life and color keeping the reader eager to know what comes next. And though she's a dragon, Knight's personification of Wistala makes it easy for the reader to fit into her shoes - er, claws.

After reading the first novel, I picked this up and was startled to realize that is from the perspective of yet another dragon, but not the one in the first book. At first this turned me off, because I thought, how can he write another dragon personality? I realized, that after reading this excellent novel that my main concerns applied to other authors, because Knight has created two distinct and separate personalities, that of the dragon in this book, and AuRon in the previous.

I do have to say it is refreshing to read a novel where the stereotypes do not apply. If you enjoyed the previous novel you should definitely pick it up, you will anticipate the third book much more.

Wistala is a dragonet who with her two brothers and sister survived their hatching and is happy to live in their cave with their mother and father cocooned in their love. The copper dragon stays away from his family; the gray dragon Auron is scale-less; Jizara is shy and clings to her mother; while Wistala is strong and independent. There idyllic life is destroyed when slave traders of the Wheel of Fire kill Tala's mother and Jizara. Unable to fly yet Auron diverts the hunters so Wistala can have a chance to grow up free.

Tala finds her injured father Aurel who is near death and tries to save him but he prefers to die fighting the dwarves. Tala flies away and is joined on her journey by the elf Rainfall who takes her into his home and shows her nothing but love. For years the two live together in peace until Thane Hammar wants Rainfall's beautiful estate. The elf makes Tala his heir and to avoid Hammar's ire he encourages her to travel with his friends where she sees much of the land of Hypatia. While on her journey she devises a way to take vengeance for her family's long ago destruction even though she risks her own death because she will be in the heart of the enemy.

The second book of the Age of Fire concentrates on Auron's sister and how she copes with being alone in a somewhat hostile world. E.E. Knight is a great worldbuilder who populates his story with humans, elves, dwarves, and dragons. This is a charming and enchanting fantasy with magic though it is not much in evidence. The characters who befriend Wistala love her for her mature view that homids are for the most part not evil. Told from the point of view of Tala, readers will be enamored by this beautiful specimen of dragonhood.

Harriet Klausner

Book 2 in the Age of Fire series, and it was every bit as good as the first. Better, in fact, though that might just be because I like Wistala more. It's an interesting thing that Knight does with the first three books of the series--each book written entirely from a different character's point-of-view. And, he does it superbly.

I really enjoyed following Wistala's journey like I did AuRon's in Dragon Champion, and experiencing some truly unique situations in Knight's fantasy world. Who would ever expect a young dragon to ride a horse?

An excellent continuation to an excellent series!

I enjoyed Dragon Champion hugely (go check that review...), and assumed that the remaining books in the series would do the usual thing, and stick with the same protagonist's voice.

Wrong! Knight gently turned his world construct about 90 degrees 'round, and started fresh with a new protagonist, AuRon's sister Wistala. This dragon is female - a "dragonelle". And interestingly, she is far more fixated on getting bloody vengeance than her brother. And where her brother in the first book meets up with dwarves, Wistala meets elves instead, continuing to round out the reader's view of this world.

Wistala is a completely different character than AuRon, and I enjoyed her perspective immensely. She is more hotheaded and angry than her brother AuRon - a nice switch from what you might expect for a female versus male dragon, especially in an imaginary anthropology where the male dragons are instinctively highly aggressive.

This book is just as intensely absorbing and believable, just as well paced and balanced as the first of the series, with characters that are perhaps even more engaging. The series just keeps getting better!

I'm finishing up on the second in this series (Dragon Avenger) and so far Dragon Champion and Dragon Avenger are Great Reads. The characters have depth and are real, both fanciful and intense. The first book centered around Auron, and left me anticipating the second story, which centers around his sister, Wistala. Though their beginnings are the same, their personalities are quite unique, so we are given different perspectives of their Hatchling lives. You will not be dissappointed if you like Dragons, and I am anxious to begin Dragon Outcast. I know it will be very different from the first two books, because the Copper Dragon brother is cast in shadow and mystery. Again, great books on dragons, written in a style from their point of view. I am transported into their world. I like to be transported when I read a book!

I put off studying for my finals just to finish this book. As a 21 year old female, I'm utterly amazed that I even got started on this series, as it doesn't look like anything that I'd ever picked up before. Other reviews already gave you a bit of a summary, so the only advice that I can give is just to go ahead and try it out, you won't be displeased!

Here we have the story of Wistala, the brood-sister to AuRon from the first in this series. Seeing the beginning of the story unfold from a different perspective, then branch off onto its own adventure was enlightening. This book is in Wistala's perspective, which is delightfully different than AuRon's perspective, due to the author's talented style. We see how she approaches her problems with cunning to avenge her family's loss.

I really enjoyed Wistala's perspective as a dragonelle (female dragoness if you will) as well as the humor in this book- a lighter approach than the other two in the series, but I think that works well for her personality.

I love the Age of Fire series- they are a look at dragons as I'd always hoped: dragons as their own entities, without making them big scaly mounts to 'dragonriders' or making them overly malevolent or benevolent- they just are. This is a no-frills realistic type of fantasy that is easy to believe in.

The book I have read is called Dragon Avenger by E. E. Knight it is a sequel in the age of fire collection. This is a very good book for a person how has a big imagination and can follow through with fantasy.

This book is about a beautiful green dragon named Wistala and how her life plays out. (From her mother, father and siblings being killed for there hides to when she meats a kind elf and then the most important part how she gets her revenge on there her families murders.)

My impression on this book is that it is a good book to pass away the hours and get lost in (that is if you like adventure.) this book would be great for kids of about 12 and up.