Drawing you in from the very first page, Dragon Rider is an epic fantasy that is a must read for fans of Eragon, Green Rider and The Name of The Wind.
Partly court politics, partly coming of age saga, Dragon Rider is about Jai - a young boy serving the elderly former King that conquered his people and killed his father. When the Crown Prince is betrothed to a neighbouring kingdom in an attempt to forge peace, it sets in motion a change of events that will challenge everything Jai understands about himself and his place in the world. With the Prince declaring war on half of the known world, Jai must learn to become an adept Soul-bound - learning magic and fighting - to protect himself and the Handmaiden he tries to warn away from danger.
I CANNOT WAIT to see how this progresses. Book 1 was filled with action - near death experiences, betrayal, murder, jailbreak, torture, dragons, thieves, magic, mayhem - and I am ready for more.

I really wanted to love this book. As a fan of Matharu's previous books, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this because it sounded like a book I would devour. However, the first half, yes half, of the book was so heavy with it's world set up and politics that I almost DNF'd it. Thankfully, I was intrigued enough by the 'Souldbond' that I continued to where the events of the blurb actually happen.

Definitely think this could had been a bit more fast pace, as this was far too slow for my personal tastes, and maybe could've started nearer to the action but once things get going, this was wonderful! Matharu does a fantastic job of setting up everything that allows you to enjoy the second half of this story for what it is, a brilliant political fantasy, with great worldbuilding and dragons

I want to thank Harper's Collins and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it. And I do think a lot of people will love this book. I am intrigued enough that I want to know what happens next, so will definitely be looking out for book two.

I've no doubt people are going to love this series. The first book sets things up nicely - it's a great introduction to the magic system, the world, the politics, a few mysterious characters who are more than they seem and, of course, dragons and other fantastical beasts. There is also plenty of intrigue and action and some nasty villains to keep the reader on their toes so it really has it all.

I read this ARC over the weekend, so it would still be counting into my march reads 😄 It’s been on my shelf for some time now and I finally felt like jumping into a new dragon book.

The first third of the book really had me. It was the perfect balance of world building, meeting the characters and figuring out where the story would take us. But then the middle part came which was a long stretch of absolute boredom, it nearly made me stop reading the book altogether. I didn’t feel the connections or the new characters, everything felt very dragged out. But then the last third came and that had me hooked again 😆

Overall I’m not sure if this is a must read, but I did like when idea of the story and the writing (at least at the beginning).

The book was around 400 pages and either should’ve had more tension to keep the reader hooked, or just canceled out a few chapters all together.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is a progressive fantasy heavily drawing from historical empires and moves at a slower pace with shorter chapters. Jai is the youngest son and prince of Rohan of the Steppefolk. Ever since he was a child, he has been a political prisoner of the Sabine Empire and served its former emperor as a manservant. The time is drawing nearer for him and his brothers to return home, but the interrupted wedding between Titus, the heir to the Sabine Empire and Princess Erica of the Dansk disrupts everything.

The story opens with a lot of political intrigue as Jai has a front row seat to a lot of what happens in politics but he is not well-respected and is even treated as lesser despite his status as a foreign prince. When he meets Frida, the handmaiden of princess Erica, he grows more curious about the soulbound, a group of people who bind themselves to creatures, such as direwolves and dragons. Frida later proves to be his greatest ally when Jai makes a connection with Winter, a hatchling dragon, and the two hurry to return Frida to Dansk.

I really liked the dynamic between Jai and Frida and I even ship them. Jai is a goner for Frida while she is trying to hold everything together and do what’s best for her people. Despite her seeming single-mindedness, she shows trust in Jai several times and expresses reluctance in leaving him behind. I’m always here for the guy falling first and the girl trying to keep it together.

Winter and Jai’s dynamic was also really cute. From Jai seeing the world through Winter’s eyes to her sleeping on his chest, it was very gentle and sweet.

Because the story moves at a slower pace, we spend a decent amount of time worldbuilding and exploring the Gryphon Guard, Sabine soldiers who are soulbound to gryphons, the various ways the empires in this world are connected, and how soulbounding works as it’s various levels. The progressive fantasy aspect is mostly linked to the magic system and how the soulbound ‘level up’ in their connections and abilities.

I would recommend this to fans of dragon fantasies looking for something slower, readers looking for longer, worldbuilding-heavier books, and those who are looking to try out a progressive fantasy but prefer dragons and political intrigue.

DNF'd at 22%.
Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. The premise of dragons is what first appealed to me. I found the story to be very slow and boring, and I didn't have any feeling towards any of the characters. There was nothing that made me "care" about Jai, the main character. He just didn't have that "buzz" for me.
The world building in this book was very confusing and quite inconsistent at times. There was also that thing that I hate in fantasy books, where the author just throws in terms - in this case things like "soul bonding" and "Chamrosh", with the expectation that the reader will just "know" what these things are or what they mean or what they entail. No explanation or description of what these things are is ever given.
Very disappointing because I was really hoping this was going to be good, and unfortunately, for me, it just didn't deliver.

Having read each of the Summoner books, I wanted to see what Taran Matharu's adult fantasy fiction would be like. I was not disappointed and am already eagerly anticipating the new book in the series. Jai is one of the few 'free' members of his race and Dragon Rider tells his story from nobody to discovering that he is somebody. A tale of adventure, risk taking, plots and conspiracies, allegiance and ultimately the bond between soul bound and their totem.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves to be lost in a fantastical world for an hour or two.

I LOVED this book. I don’t even know where to start! We follow Jai, who is an indentured servant for a controlling empire which is responsible for the destruction of his family. The princess of the Dansk kingdom, Erica, is engaged to the Emperor’s son, but the rehearsal goes horribly wrong and Jai must escape or die at the hands of the empire. He steals a dragon egg, and discovers that he has a connection with the dragon he thought only the Dansk could have. I thought the first few chapters seemed a bit slow but interesting, and once Jai discovered the dragon egg, the story really picked up and I just couldn’t stop reading! I liked that there were shorter chapters so it was easier to read in bursts and it didn’t seem too big of a book to get through. I was so pleased to have been given the chance to read this, as it was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I can’t wait for more, even though the book hasn’t even been published yet! I would 100% recommend this to any fans of Eragon or Fourth Wing, or just fantasy and dragons in general. It has to be one of the best books of 2024 so far!

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is like one of those really deceptive roller coasters, it starts with a slow rollout onto the tracks, tentatively and carefully aligning to the track to take grip and gradually build the speed to stealthily ascend and then it explodes in a crescendo of pace, plot development and ultimately thrilling ride… and this is just book one!

Dragon Rider is set amidst a world of warriors, war, conquering rulers, colonialism, slavery and of course politics! A domineering empire that has sought to devour, control and imprison their neighbouring countries and regions, some who have only held fast because of their dragons! Yes, I said it – Dragons! Matharu delivers a masterclass in the development of world-building, politics and war, and all that this has brought to the kingdoms including colonialism, dualistic society, slavery and suffering, alongside a magical system – souldbonding. Soulbonding is the development or melding of a relationship between human and mythical (in our world,) beast – Direwolf, Zhiro (I want one!) and Dragon!

There’s no question that this is an adult fantasy novel – the levels of physical and sexual violence, subjugation, torture and slavery are significant but, not delivered for the sake of shock, but as part of the plot, the world and the character development.
Jai is the core protagonist of the story, the unassuming 3rd son of a conquered royal family, he is serving boy to the abdicated Emperor in his twilight years. Jai has spent his life being overlooked, scorned and made to feel that he has no value, other than the perfunctory and dutiful love of his two elder brothers, who are also subjugated in service to the Royal Prince. I can’t say that there’s anything new or surprising about Jai’s character arc, but despite this he is empathetic and likeable. The other protagonist in the story is Frida, hearthmaid to the Princess Erica, she is a strong, brave and truly inspiring character. Her quiet strength, empathy and compassion for others shines throughout, despite the fact that she is fighting her own demons and mourning her own significant loss.

Finally, there is Winter – she is utterly adorable and I assure you that there is plenty of space in my heart, my hearth and my home for Winter, no matter how big she grows. Winter is just utterly wonderful and you will definitely fall in love with her too!

Taran Matharu has delivered a spectacular first book in a trilogy, creating a layered and intriguing world, character arcs of depth and consideration and a plot that just goes from strength to strength! I can’t wait for book 2 and am in mourning for how long I will have to wait!

BOOK REVIEW: Dragon Rider by @taranmatharuauthor @harpervoyager_uk @harperfiction

4 Stars 

I was so excited for this book as I love Dragons and although it was different to what I expected, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I have to be truthful and say I nearly DNFed at 10%, but I am SO glad I pushed through the slow start because the rest I was addicted to.
The Dragon Rider blurb is "a world of magic, warriors, and dragons, in which a fearless orphan and an ambitious handmaiden flee from the empire that would imprison them, with a dream to return to their homelands and a determination that's unbreakable."

Taran did a remarkable job with worldbuilding. It included politics, world structure, colonisation, slavery, war, mythical creatures and magic called soulbonding. It was brilliantly done except there was too much of the political aspect at the beginning. Also there are definitely less dragons than I expected given the name!
There is a lot of violence. Taran definitely puts his characters through the ringer and I felt extra connected to them in their times of strife. Please know this is an Adult book and there is torture, gore, imprisonment and slavery.

The lead characters are Jai and Frida. Jai is a quiet, unassuming boy at the beginning but grows into a brave, clever and wonderful man by the end. The second lead is Frida and I loved her strength and bravery and the small moments with Jai that she shows vulnerability and care for him. I adore them both and hope we get to know more about Frida in book 2. Also there is a cute baby dragon called Winter who has utterly stolen my heart.

Taran Matharu's writing was mainly stunning and I could see a lot of the beautiful things he was describing so well. It wasn't perfect, with pacing being off at times but the writing was brilliant.

Overall, this book grew on me and I am so glad I stuck with it as I loved it in the end. I highly recommend it to Adult Fantasy fans!

Please note that I was given this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Eragon for adults, with the feel of Lord of the Rings. A slow build with a lot more expected to come in the next books. Incredible world-building and characters. This broke my reading slump!

This book is well written however it is very long - so be prepared!
Lots of world building however it was very clearly written and easy to follow!

- dragons
- unlikely friendships


Lots of plot twists however they are very predictable

It is my honest opinion that you can never go wrong with dragons. Of course not all books with dragons are at the same level, but I’ve yet to find a book with dragons that I didn’t at least enjoy (always because of the dragon part). And dragons in epic fantasy? Sign me in. So of course I had to request this ARC as soon as I laid eyes on it.

I will, however, admit that when I reached the middle of the book, while I was enjoying the plot and the writing, that it added nothing new to the genre. Don’t get me wrong, I was really enjoying the book, but at the same time I felt like I had seen this plot before. The main character, a boy that is far from perfect or powerful but with a good head on his shoulders and knack for doing the right thing ends up (through events that are out of his control while he tries to do right thing) bonded to a dragon. This did not diminish my enjoyment while reading, specially because the politics and world building were done right. Also, I think this book was astonishingly great in terms of the writing quality and so, Dragon Rider was a much needed reminder for me of why I adore this genre.

But I was pleasantly surprised with the development of the plot during this book. I understand, of course, that this is the first book of a series and that there was a lot of information about the characters, politics and world to pass on to the reader. But as the plot thickened and developed, I found more and more elements that made this a different take on stories I have already read in the past. The politics, the war and greed are believable. This world has a beautifully complex history that we get to be privy to exactly at the right time.

Something worth mentioning is definitely how flawed, yet likable, the main characters are. And how much potential they show not only for this book, but for the continuation of this story. Jai’s relationship with Winter was adorable and inspiring from the beginning, adding so much love to this story in the middle of all of the intrigue.

I will definitely continue this series and I stand by my statement: You can never go wrong with dragons. Specially if they are loyal and adorable like Winter!


Thank you very much HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.

This was a great read.

When romance is included within fantasy it can be good, so I was glad that it didn’t take away from the main story.

Full of fantasy,

Building the world and characters did make the initial 10-20% of the book feel quite heavy, but after that it was a complete page turner.

Dragons, violence, betrayal, and redemption. I adored this. A perfect introduction to the saga

A fantastic new fantasy! Really enjoyed this, and the dragon is so so cute! Small bit of romance but it's not a huge contributor to the story which I liked. My only issue is that it felt a bit slow at times. Otherwise really great!

Taran Matharu delivers a classic fantasy adventure full of dragons, politics, danger and magic with Dragon Rider.
Book one of his debut fantasy adult series, it's a novel that will appeal to fans of the Fourth Wing and Dragonfall.
The story starts a little slow but soon kicks into gear with a solid coming of age story set against a backdrop of political games and a clash of cultures.

DNF'd at 50%. For an 'adult' fantasy, the writing in this book felt incredibly juvenile to me, as did the characters and descriptions. I also felt like it detracted from the emotions the writer was hoping to get out of their readers, there were some pretty hard hitting scenes, but I couldn't really find it in myself to get upset because I simply wasn't bothered enough.

I liked the Dragon, but all the other characters felt bland and overly tropified in some ways, and it was just a bit of a slog to get through.

3.9⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVoyager for this eARC!

First of all, dragons. What else do I need to say? 😂

We meet our protagonist Jai as a hostage to an aging Emperor, ten years after his father (a king) was overthrown.

Of course, shortly after the start of the story, chaos ensues and Jai finds himself on the run. Luckily for him, he manages to find himself in possession of a dragon egg - and then shortly afterwards, a dragon called Winter, plus special powers.

One thing I really liked about this book was that Jai doesn’t automatically have nearly immortal powers when he bonds with Winter. Too often in these sorts of stories, the protagonist goes from 0-100 in terms of power and brute strength, but although Jai has a burst of power when he first meets Winter, he spends a great deal of the book then working to build up his strength.

It did take probably 35-40% of the book for things to start moving along at a decent pace, but I expect world building in multi-book fantasy series. There was also a twist with one of the characters which I saw coming, but it was well done.

All in all, a great read and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in book 2!

I mean there are dragons! No more seriously this was a very enjoyable read, slower paced in the beginning than I usually enjoyed, A solid world build was created by the author with a very original (to me anyway) magical system based around soul bound animals. Jai is the main character we are introduced to from the start, a political prisoner like his older brothers he is the son of Rohan the last king of the plains people. Unlike his brothers he is the servant of the dowager-Emperor and knows more about the politics at play when the Dansk princess and the Dansk king the only dragon soul-bound practitioners from the north come to cement a final alliance to secure peace.

But a warrior people who has created an empire by the blood of others are not going to accept such a peace when they feel they have the right to colonise the whole world. Jai runs, taking with him the dragon-egg and the Dansk handmaiden to the princess, they must make it north before the conspirators catch them to want the Dansk but to protect his soul-bound dragon Jai must also learn on the run how to soul-bound, a process that usually takes years. My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyer for gifting me this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I loved it.

I am a sucker for dragons! But what a great story, I absolutely couldn’t put it down!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.