drewanabri's review against another edition
3.0
Solidly entertaining, but a bit of a letdown after the first. Sadly, all the fun dragon bits and character growth were neglected in favor for discussing obscure, poorly-explained political conflicts. This definitely felt like it was suffering from middle-book syndrome, where too many characters and too much worldbuilding were all introduced too quickly. However, you can definitely tell Lackey's setting something interesting up for the next book, so I'm still intrigued enough to keep reading.
sunshine_kait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jacquibear's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.25
mousie_books's review against another edition
3.0
Having escaped Tia with Avatre, Vetch journeys to Alta to bring his knowledge of dragon training to his people. He finds peers and comrades to champion his cause, but discovers that winning war will not be as simple as training a superior crop of Jousters.
I thought the characters were great, and the plot/intrigue kept me eagerly reading. It was fun and quick, and a good follow up to Joust.
I thought the characters were great, and the plot/intrigue kept me eagerly reading. It was fun and quick, and a good follow up to Joust.
elvenavari's review
5.0
An excellent continuation of the first novel. Though, I'm still upset over a certain character's death. And, I'm excited about the budding romance between other characters.
npscott's review against another edition
4.0
This is a review of the audio version of this book. The narrator was Ryan Burke
What did I like about this book? The story arc from Joust continues here in Alta and the characters continue to be fleshed out and their stories are advanced. The author is able to weave a story that both interests YA and adult fantasy readers alike. The main character continues to grow in this coming of age, politically intriguing, and underdog story. The side characters including the dragons start to come to the forefront of the story which is nice to see.
What didn't I like about this book/story? Actually not very much. The narration of this book was easy to listen to which leads me to believe the writing was probably easy to read. The story pace was nice and easy allowing the family and myself from continuing listening without much interruption. So back to what I didn't like - there was a couple parts of the story that I felt weren't completely finished or fleshed out making the transition of the story difficult but as this is the 2nd book in a 4 book series maybe those story lines will be tied up in the end.
Again, I would recommend this book series to those who like coming of age stories, dragons, mages, and political intrigue. This is more the YA crowd but as I have said all members of my family have enjoyed listening to this story.
What did I like about this book? The story arc from Joust continues here in Alta and the characters continue to be fleshed out and their stories are advanced. The author is able to weave a story that both interests YA and adult fantasy readers alike. The main character continues to grow in this coming of age, politically intriguing, and underdog story. The side characters including the dragons start to come to the forefront of the story which is nice to see.
What didn't I like about this book/story? Actually not very much. The narration of this book was easy to listen to which leads me to believe the writing was probably easy to read. The story pace was nice and easy allowing the family and myself from continuing listening without much interruption. So back to what I didn't like - there was a couple parts of the story that I felt weren't completely finished or fleshed out making the transition of the story difficult but as this is the 2nd book in a 4 book series maybe those story lines will be tied up in the end.
Again, I would recommend this book series to those who like coming of age stories, dragons, mages, and political intrigue. This is more the YA crowd but as I have said all members of my family have enjoyed listening to this story.
shoelessgirl's review
2.0
I quite like some of the ideas in this, but the lead is very boring indeed, and the pace is ploddong.
librarydanielle's review against another edition
4.0
While I enjoy this one I don't think its as strong as joust. There's too much going on, too many sub plots.
mlejoy's review against another edition
2.0
DNF about 1/3rd through. Can't get into it. Everything is so simple and obvious and perfect. Meh.