Fledgling by Nicole Conway Review!

   

Title : Fledgling
Author : Nicole Conway
Pages : 296
Published : May 27th 2014
Publisher : Month9Books
Source : From Tour Host

Can one boy stand between two kingdoms at war? Jaevid Broadfeather has grown up as a wartime refugee, hiding from the world because of his mixed racial heritage. He feels his future is hopeless, until a chance encounter with a wild dragon lands him in Blybrig Academy--a place usually forbidden to anyone but the rich and royal. But Jaevid's case is special; no dragon has voluntarily chosen a rider in decades, so the proud riders of Blybrig must begrudgingly let him join their brotherhood despite his bloodline. Lieutenant Sile Derrick, a sternly tempered man with a mysterious past, becomes his instructor and immediately takes a peculiar interest in Jaevid's future. While struggling through the rigorous physical demands of training, things begin to go awry. Jaevid witnesses the king's private guards kidnapping Sile in the dead of night. When none of the elder riders are willing to help him, Jaevid begins a dangerous adventure to save his instructor. Everything Jaevid learned at the academy will now be put to the ultimate test.

My Thoughts : 

Jaevid is a halfbreed, he is half grey elf and half human. When his mother dies, she names his father as a local man, and now that man has no choice but to take Jaevid in. Jaevids future looks bleak because halfbreeds are looked down on, that is until Jaevid gets the chance to go to Blybrig, the Dragon-rider Academy, to help his father.

One night Jae goes off in search of food. He hears a sound from the strange building he saw when he first arrived. He goes to the building an peeks in. Inside is a magnificent dragon and Jae is mesmerised by it. He sees Sile Derrick, a dragonrider, in there. Sile begins to tell him that this dragon is a wild dragon and not one bred at the Academy. Its been a long time since a wild Dragon chose a rider and no one can seem to tame this one. Jaevid feels drawn to it and gets closer. The dragon responds to Jae and from that moment Jaevids life changes. He is thrown into the world of Dragonriders and when he uncovers a plot to kill Sile, no one believes him so Jaevid is the only one who can help him. 

I adore dragon books!! They are my favourite mythological creature so when I saw Fledgling, I immediately added it to my list. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read it too because, while aimed at younger readers, I still really enjoyed it. 

 Plot wise we didn't see much action till the end. Its a little slow going but I attribute that to the fact its the first in the series. There's a war going on between grey elves and humans but we don't learn much about why it started or whats happening with it. Its supposed to be why the Dragon riders are needed yet its never really discussed. I would of liked a little more history and background of the war.

Poor Jaevid!! He has such a tough time. His mother died and his father and his family hate him! They treat him really bad. My heart broke for him. Jae is hated by both Grey Elves and humans because he is part of each and gets treated like he is the lowest of the low. Yet he is kind, honest, brave and a true hero. He is so happy to become a Dragonrider because he thinks it may give him respect but people still frown upon him. His whole life is a struggle to be accepted and liked. He has one friend in the academy, Felix, and even though Felix trys to protect him, Jae still gets bullied. I was rooting for him the whole time!

Then we have the Dragons. Mavrik is Jaes dragon and he is magnificent!! I loved reading about them and loved Jaes bond to Mavrik. Most of the other riders don't have the same bond because the dragons didn't choose the rider so Jaes bond is special. 

Overall I really enjoyed Fledgling. It shows us that its not always the biggest that can be a hero! It was a nice, fast read and I'm really hoping that we learn more about the Grey Elves, the war and the Dragons in future books because this series has the potential to be really great.