Although apparently written as a young adult fantasy, Dragon Champion is advanced enough to stand on its own as a novel for fantasy fans of all ages.

AuRon the dragon's journey from hatchling to fully fledged dragon is thoroughly enjoyable. Told from the mindset of a dragon, readers see the world through AuRon's eyes. This takes some getting used to, as dragons in E. E. Knights world have a different ethics system in relation to their hominid counterparts. AuRon's experiences cause him to question standard dragon thought processes, however, and his character is well developed by the novel's end.

I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series, which deal with AuRon's siblings and their journey in the perilous world. ( )

this book contains the life of a dragon from birth and gose through its life it can be very grotesc at times but its an overal good book. ( )

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Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight is the first book in the Age of Fire sequence. I'd seen Knight by an author I'm a fan of so I decided to give him a read. Knight is more known for his pulpy Vampire Earth books, but as I'm a fan of high fantasy I went with his new series instead.

Dragon Champion has all the staples of High Fantasy going for it. It has elves, dwarves, and of course dragon's. It even has a dragon on the cover. ( Beautifully drawn by Paul Youll.) The protagonist is an orphan. Sounds cliche right? Well it certainly could be, but Knight take the cliche and turns it around. Perhaps not 180 degrees, but at least a sharp 90.

The orphan protagonist is Auron, a rare scaleless gray dragon, and the story is told entirely from his viewpoint. It follows his life from an emerging hatchling to a full fledged dragon. Along the way he experiences loss, finds new friends, makes new enemies, and discovers what it is to truly be a dragon.

The world building is very good. Knight sets sown several varied histories of the world, differing of course on which race is recording them. The creation mythologies are well layed out. He also does a fine job with characterization. For the most part his characters are very believable. The book sets a strong pace, but also gives the reader time to rest and reflect.

All in all Knight does very well in this endeavor. He takes what could be a tired concept and injects it with new life. I very much enjoyed Dragon Champion and will be looking to pick up the soon to be released follow up Dragon Avenger.

7.5 out of 10 ( )

Excellent adventure story told from the view of the dragon hero. E.E. Knight's usual outstanding battle scenes mixed with a good story line and deep character development. ( )