Dragon and Thief (The Dragonback Series, Book 1)
Dragon and Soldier (The Dragonback Series, Book 2)
Dragon and Slave (The Dragonback Series, Book 3)
Dragon and Herdsman (The Dragonback Series, Book 4)
Dragon and Judge (The Dragonback Series, Book 5)
Dragon and Liberator (The Dragonback Series, Book 6)
By: Timothy Zahn
My Rating: Three out of Five Stars
Best for: 12 and up

STOP EVERYTHING!!!

Are you telling me there’s a ScyFy series written by the king of Star Wars novels about an orphan with his own AI-controlled spaceship AND who has a symbiont relationship with a dragon warrior-poet who lives on his back as a giant golden tatoo?

Yes. Yes I am.

The story was a blast, and I’m a sucker for dragons. Slightly unfortunately, I found the Dragonback series to be well written for the demographic it’s targeted for–upper middle grade–but not so well written for my grown up expectations. The writing and plot were both terribly simplistic. Conclusions to conflicts were resolved with unrealistic ease. The characters discovered or revealed a new skill that saved the day exactly when it was needed. The ebooks had an annoying number of misspelled words and misplaced punctuation. BUT, as I usually find with fun middle-grade stories, once I realigned expectations, I sat back, kicked-off my shoes, and enjoyed the story.

By the end of book 6 I was perfectly happy with the resolution and how things were tied up. The annoying things stayed annoying, and there was much more fiction than science. But the 13-year-old nerd in me was too happy to be reading about a quick thinking, 14-year-old thieving conman, his AI powered spaceship, and an awesome poet-warrior dragon living in a tatoo on his back!

Do you have a 13-year-old nerd somewhere inside of you? Or maybe you are a 13-year-0ld nerd! Either way, I bet you’re going to enjoy this fun space romp. I did!

No content issues at all.

Best for 12 and up.

Get your copy here!

Happy Reading!