Dragon Raider by Ava Richardson

Dragon Raider by Ava Richardson ISBN-13: 9781986793100 ebook: 294 pages Publisher: Relay Publishing Released: March 24, 2018

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Far from the kingdom of Torvald, on the Western Isles near the coast, Lila is the daughter of the Raider leader, destined to take his place one day aboard their plundering ships. But Lila wants the Raiders to become Dragon Mercenaries, dragon riders who help protect merchant fleets and navies from attack. Her father Kasian is skeptical, but a young mage named Danu—with a quest of his own—comes bearing a prophecy claiming that Lila is the lost heir of Roskilde.

With Danu’s guidance, Lila finds the dragon she’s destined to bond with—but the mismatched pair soon learn that much more than just their futures is at stake.


My Review:
Dragon Raider is a young adult fantasy novel. The heroine is a young woman who was adopted as an orphaned baby by the leaders of the Sea Raiders, a group of people reminiscent of the Vikings. She wants to bond with a dragon and create a Dragon Raider group because the Sea Raiders' ships are getting destroyed by an evil, neighboring, usurper King. But the heroine no longer quite fits in with the Sea Raiders once she tries to forge a new path, even if it's one that will save them.

Danu is a young man with the ability to do magic and speak with dragons. He was training with the witches when the leader of the witches had a dream prophecy. Now Danu is committed to finding the rightful heir to the throne of Roskilde, who will stand against the returning darkening. However, convincing the heroine that he is trustworthy and that she is the princess is the least of his problems. Not everyone is convinced that a Sea Raider heir can ever be on the right side of a war.

The characters were interesting and acted realistically. The world building was woven into the story. There was a lot of action and suspense, including several battles. There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and exciting fantasy.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.