A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2/5; DNF @ 54%

Ileth (14) is an orphan who has wished her entire life to ride dragons at the famous dragon-rider boarding school "The Serpentine." Dragoneers are esteemed dragon-riding warriors, and Ileth wishes to join their ranks. The odds are against her (and mostly everyone at the Serpentine), but nothing will stop her from becoming a part of the dragon-riding elite. Our young hero just barely makes it into the school and her first job? Gutting fish. But this will not dissuade her from her heart's desire. Trouble comes along after a boy from a well-to-do family kisses Ileth and a jealous society girl (Santeel Dun Troot) quickly snitches. Ileth is given one chance to stay at the school and is "punished" by a change of jobs - dragon dancer. There she makes her first dragon friend- The Lurcher, and her adventure ensues.

OP: This book is definitely a high fantasy (which I enjoy), including talking dragons and a school for dragon riders, which I thought was really neat. I loved the main character in that she was clever, committed, and had a stutter which she wouldn't let bring her down. I am personally a fan of high fantasy AND books with strong female characters (SFC) in them, however, I failed to finish this book at around 54% since I found myself skimming through large portions to see when the plot line would thicken. I feel like this book is not plot driven, but people driven in that it mainly focuses on the development of the MC. The plot line feels secondary. I also noticed that while some of the themes touched upon in this book are definitely YA, the MC and most of the characters around her act a little too maturely for their ages. This, to me, seemed pretty unrealistic. The themes were perhaps 16+ while the MC was only 14, which was confusing for me. The MC's age kept making me feel like I should be reading juvenile fiction, but then themes would frequently come up that were definitely YA.

+Dragons that talk!
+A school for dragoneers that admits women
+A strong female main character with a stutter

-Too much description and history (I think the target audience would not appreciate this)
-Characters not acting like the typical 14-18 year old
-Story dragged a little too much for my liking
-Characters fell flat (except the MC)

This was a long book. And the fact that there wasn't really a mystery to solve or a problem to overcome per se, it felt longer to me. I like reading books where I know what the purpose/quest is. This is Ileth's journey as a novice dragoneer - her efforts to even get her foot in the door, her hopes to stay, and the things she learns along the way.

Ileth made that long reading journey doable. She's a great character, and I cared about what happened to her from the beginning. There are some great secondary characters and terrific moments along the way. There's a nice twist towards the end and a mystery of sorts at that point in the book that I enjoyed.

Fantasy fans and dragon fans should check this one out. (CW: assault)

Back in the summer, I had a mighty need for something light and above all, nostalgia-inspiring. Something that would give off the same general vibe as the books that first got me into fantasy. Then I saw this. It seemed absolutely perfect - dragons, magic schools, plucky underdog orphan girls, fuck yes, give me all of it. And it delivered on that. If I read this book when I was a kid aroung the time I read Eragon, I'd be singing it nostalgic praises to this day.

There is only one problem that keeps me from enthusiastically recommending it to everyone in sight. A rather large one. It's simply not that well-written.

In some ways, this is an age-old fantasy story. Ileth, an orphan with a severe stutter, becomes inspired to join dragon riders after one of them was kind to her as a child. Initially turned away from the academy for being an hour too late, she wins entrance through sheer determination and so her training can begin.

The first impression admittedly wasn't good. The writing was awkward, clunky, and graceless; the sentences overlong and oddly phrased.

I was here for dragons and fun, I wouldn't have minded plain prose. Not every book needs to be a poetic masterpiece. I was willing to forgive many sins as long as I got what I came here for - hell, I reread the first three books of Eragon in the summer, one of the most criticised fantasy series, and I was fine with it. But the point of windowpane prose is its unobtrusiveness, and the broken flow made this very obtrusive indeed. Still, after much complaining, I decided to persist. Eventually, I did get the hang of how to read it so that I could at least focus on the story.

That is, I started skimming hardcore.

As I went on, my relationship with the book kept swinging between love and hate. As I got used to the prose, a clumsily executed maybe-maybe-not sexual assault scene at about a third in (in which the 14 y/o protagonist is kissed/groped by an older guy, consent is ambigous, and she is then slut-shamed by everyone and punished by the head teacher for it because "a woman risks much more with this sort of debasement") nearly made me DNF. The plot was in general the saving grace, since it delivered what I came here for, but there were still plot twists and turns that made me go "well okay then" and opportunities to do something interesting wasted. For example, when some students complained that it's basically a labour camp and not a school I thought "oh this could go somewhere interesting," but then it never came up again. The rather mundane and slice of life approach to a magic school was wonderful, and the episodic plot arc made me think of The Name of the Wind, but there were so many flaws and plain bafflingly bad writing it was, at points, quite hard to go on.

It was doubly frustrating because I could clearly see the makings of a nostalgic masterpiece underneath and aspects of it were genuinely great. Ileth's stutter was handled incredibly well, and I liked how at the same time it was a deconstruction of magic schools (more shovelling dragon shit than glamour and glory...) and in general very downplayed yet still had the old-school nostalgic charm. I love how she initially fails quite a lot in very realistic ways - a small 14 y/o girl did, for once, not beat a man far larger and stronger than she just by the virtue of being the protagonist. She makes through everything eventually, but she's not a chosen one, or the top of her class, or in any way Special™. That is, neither the best nor the worst. Just determined. It was awfully refreshing to see.

It made me think: do the virtues of a book make up for its flaws? Or is it the other way around and flaws ruin what would otherwise be a great book? Or can both simply coexist side by side, near-independently? Because honestly, in a strange way, I would perhaps like to read on and continue with the sequel. If I don't find another book that scratches the same itch before.

I flat out loved Novice Dragoneer! Novice Dragoneer is an extraordinarily vivid fantasy with amazing characters, outstanding world building and the enthralling ability to sweep the reader straight into Knights fantastical tale.

The story follows a young orphan girl who dreams of becoming a Dragoneer. Penniless, Ileth, embarks on a journey that will change the lives of all around her, including the dragons.

When this novel ended, the book hangover immediately issued leaving me bereft that the words ended and the reintroduction to reality must begin. This might be my first read by E. E. Knight, but it won’t be my last. And my solace, for now, E. E. Knight has 2 more fantasy series I can devour. In the meantime, I will be anxiously awaiting book 2 in the Dragoneer Academy series.

I received this ARC copy of Novice Dragoneer from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Buzz

Dragons always get me buzzing and I've read E.E. Knight in the past and remember enjoying his creativity when it came to dragons. I was excited this was for teen readers though because I was looking forward to a lighter writing style from him.

Love the title Novice Dragoneer! It brings to mind lances, war and dragons in flight! I like the cover art too. I love the dragon being the star and the lonely blue color. The girl and the mountain make it seem like this is a modern setting, which it isn't and muddies the graphic. It would have been better to stick with the dragon outline, something simple and graphical to draw us to the dragon.


The Premise

A military order of dragon riders where girls are welcome too! An orphan who has to bust a gut to stay at the academy and gets into all sorts of trouble and angst. I just loved all the ideas here. You don't really realize from the premise though... this is seriously medieval. Which isn't bad, dragons hale from medieval times and come on we're talking dragoneers (a rather old fashioned term) and fortresses. But since the word "academy" was used as part of the series title I expected a setting that was more fantasy than historical.

It didn't really feel like an academy at all. It felt more like a monks' order (very popular during medieval times!) Of course, there were other students of different levels but no regular classes and everyone was assigned a duty. There was tons and tons more world building though. These were just a few things out of step with what I expected. I enjoyed the partnership with the dragons and how they were accepted as a creature that was reasoning (i.e. on level with humans rather than animals).

Ileth was a grand character. She didn't feel 14 years old to me but I liked her nevertheless. She gets into diverse situations and stirs up trouble and I really liked that about her. She was someone who knew what she wanted and would do what she thought was right. I can certainly see her as someone any teen reader could and should emulate. And the Lodger is someone I loved and cried over and he totally stole my heart like he did Ileth's.

Despite some things I didn't enjoy Novice Dragoneer is set in a strong dragon world with a character I rooted for every step of the way. There are several secondary characters that populated the world and made every interaction with Ileth a joy.


My Experience

Soooo reading Novice Dragoneer wasn't perfect. I did quite enjoy how creative it is, as I said E.E. Knight has always impressed me with his ideas... However the writing left a lot to be desired.

Right away the pacing of the beginning was quite slow. The first chapter was soooooo long. Once it got going though the pacing didn't really improve. There was too much description and too many pages before something happened. And this pattern continues like this. It equals a lot of world building. You know what things look like, even rooms and little details that can be fun to visualize if you really want to know everything. However it slows the story down quite a bit.

I eventually started to skim the extreme description setup in each scene. It’s long and tedious. I wouldn’t suggest this to middle grade readers because of it though it’s not unreadable just too adult of writing. There is a lot of telling too but not middle grade and teen telling. It's a lot of excruciating detail of day to day happenings. Things that I didn't need to know in a teen dragon story. Like you could tell an old man wrote this as she goes off about digestive issues in a letter. A 14 year old isn’t likely to do that.

I did enjoy everything that happened to Ileth in Novice Dragoneer. Every one of her big events was intriguing and unexpected. I loved the twists and turns her time at the Serpentine took and all the different experiences we got to enjoy through her. I just wish this were truly written for a middle grade to teen reader.

Novice Dragoneer is crammed full of dragon world building. It's a touch exciting and a bit of a drag all at the same time. Ileth is a girl you'll be glad to meet and happy to follow anywhere, on any adventure, even if the odd bit is a little dull. She always makes up for it with adrenaline filled moments. 4⋆ for adult readers, 3⋆ for teen readers.

A solid and competently written fantasy novel, although not really pushing the envelope in many respects. I found this an enjoyable and almost relaxing read!

I have read many books involving dragons from young readers, YA, to adult fantasy; so needless to say, I was so excited to finally read this book.
The Novice Dragoneer is the first book in The Novice Dragoneer series. It’s the story of Ileth, orphaned as a child but now a teenager, accepted into the Serpentine Academy and facing down all the challenges in her way. When she’s up close and personal with an old sickly dragon, we experience all the over-whelming excitement and wonder of being so close to such a wonderful beast. Ileth’s tough as nails attitude and her compassion to the misunderstood dragons, only help to catapult her greatness.
…
At the age of seven, and only having seen a dragon twice before, Ileth encounters a silver dragon and it’s dragoneer. For the adventurous orphan, these few moments only further fueled her passion to one day be a student at the Serpentine Academy.
Now at the age of 14, she sits outside the gates on a rainy and cold night, because she was denied entry.
Six days of sleeping on the cold and wet doorstep, Ileth was finally invited in – not because of pity, but because of her strength.
Starting off at the Academy on the wrong foot has only hindered her success there – an orphaned girl with a stammer, sleeping on the steps, ending up at a party where things could have gone terribly wrong, and a duel with the long-standing Dragoneer. She is punished and stuck underground looking after an old and sickly dragon. Although, this job was avoided by all, Ileth took pleasure in cleaning and watching over this former great beast as he slowly recovered. Dare I say, their conversations were almost parental and their relationship mutually close.
With the death of her closest companion, it is now up to her to figure out who has betrayed her, and who has betrayed the Serpentine.
…
So many emotions to process with this YA novel: excitement, loneliness, devastation, and sadness; with that being said, what a fantastic way to escape from the everyday. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Novice Dragoneer, it was such a pleasure and I look forward to the next one.

True Grit!

One thing I can say about Ileth is that she has determination, almost to the point of foolishness. Ileth is a Cinderella figure in her village with the emphasis on Cinders. She knows little but had work and nothing about kindness. As an orphan without a known paternal name and a person with a stutter, she's not only the butte of jokes, she's labeled as the daughter of a whore due to her affliction.
Having idolized dragons by the actual meeting with a dragon as a seven year old child, at fourteen Ileth leaves her village and journeys to the Serpentine gate at the Accademy, to put herself forward for training as a potential Dragoneer. She needed to arrive by Midsummer's Day. Her late arrival has her having to seek other means of being noticed. I did feel for her.
After this quite solid beginning, I was disappointed at the slower pace of the novel.
All Ileth wanted to do was become part of the Accademy. Unfortunately trouble kept finding her, but yet those challenges also took her into places she might never have gone. Ileth it seems is one of those people who's a lightning wand for disturbances, things just keeping happening to her. From her entering the dragon hold to becoming a dragon dancer and more, Ileth was never still.
Apart from Ileth's first encounter, dragons seemed to take forever to appear. When one did take up Ileth's time it was in a completely unsuspected way. I loved Lodger, the wise older dragon. The way he and Ileth bonded was natural and became something precious. Some thought dragons were more like pets, but a couple of small references made me discount that.
Ileth is an exceptional hero, made the more enjoyable for her straight thinking and hard headed northern ways. There were moments when I felt teary. The ending is perfect.
I look forward to seeing her future unfold.

A Berkley ARC via NetGalley

This Book was a slow read for me
It a great story but the pace was to slow and i was waiting for the dragon entrance forever but
love the fact that the main character is not perfect and has an illness
a beautiful light story ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this title and I have a special group of readers who will enjoy it. The imagery created was unbelievable as well as the entire world constructed. I can't wait until the next book in the series!

I was afraid to start this book because of how long it was. 514 pages is pretty small compared to some others but it still scared me especially in the case of maybe not liking it and then having to suffer through. Honestly, this book surprised me in such a good and glorious way! It had me feeling all sorts of ways.

At the start of the book, we are introduced to seven-year-old Ileth. She is an orphan and upon meeting a Dragoneer and a dragon, she decides that is who she wants to become.

Even though there was not much that happened during this interaction, I still found myself drawn to the Dragoneer and the dragon. They were just so cool and it was no wonder that Ileth wanted to join their ranks. Plus, the dragons actually talk! That was a fun surprise.

Ileth is a great character and as an underdog you can't help but root for her and hope that she accomplishes what she sets out to do. The unique thing about her is that she has a stutter. I honestly don't think I have read a book with someone who has this and I thought it was nicely done. She doesn't let it define her and even though some may find it to be a curse, she embraces it and shows them all what she can do. I loved everything about her and I've never felt so connected to someone right from the beginning.

The other characters are just as intriguing and bring something to the table. They never felt like minor characters. Of course, there were some that I liked more than others and that includes all the bad apples!

After reading a couple dragon books in the last month that just didn't do anything for my needs, I was hesitant but this one knocked it out of the park. They have their own customs and since they talk, it just adds to the plot and I couldn't help but fall for them especially when it came to The Lodger. What a dragon!

The plot had me feeling engaged and connected by 5% which is really hard to do. It was a bit slow at times when it came to the action but I didn't mind it since I loved the characters and the world that was being created. Each plot twist was a surprise that I wasn't expecting and some had me yelling out loud! I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the book and it's contents.

5 star reads usually invoke some form of emotion and this one did not falter. It had me excited, mad, sad, and with the last one some tears were definitely shed.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this one because words are just not enough for it. I can't wait to see what happens next for this new series because I am definitely invested!

This is a fun read that has a lot going for it, and I think I would have rated it higher if the dragons had been introduced into the plot earlier and if the pacing had been just a tinge faster. That said, there's an incredible world built here, and the inclusion of a main character with a stutter was done so well; it doesn't make the narrative difficult to read and isn't included constantly, but it is present enough that it wasn't inserted as an afterthought, or just to add random diversity to the plot. Highly recommended to the younger side of the YA spectrum who enjoy high fantasy, and well done on the beginning of what I'm sure will be an exciting series!

I've always loved E.E. Knight's writing style. It has a wonderful way of building a unique world for the reader to explore. I was rooting for the main character in this story. She came from nothing, but had a dream to fly a dragon. Her persistence helped her prove herself. She had many wonderful adventures along the way. I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.

This is a funny coming of age story that keeps you turning the page. I keep wanting more of everything, more dragon, more letters home and all the side character’s need a novella.

Ileth, the main character of Novice Dragoneer, had a rough life. All she ever wanted to do was become a Dragoneer and make a name for herself on the back of a dragon. Doesn’t that sound like a great story? Immediately it reminded me of a combination of the movie How to Train Your Dragon and the Poppy Wars series. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Life at the dragon academy is strenuous and full of hardships. Ileth has to work hard to distinguish herself and show her superiors that the faith put in her is not misplaced.

A captivating story of personal growth will keep you hungry for more.

Novice Dragoneer is engaging, fun, and adventurous. If you liked the Dragonrider of Pern books, you might like this book as well. I'm excited for the next book already.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an ARC.

This was my first E.E knight book, and while there were things that I tremendously enjoyed, there were many more things that I had issue with.

The book started out so well. Dragons, a flawed female protagonist with something to prove, and daily “school llife” adventures— what more could you ask for? As a YA novel, I loved that the characters were more or less angst-free and that there was an absence of love triangle drama. The world of the Vale and the Serpentine school were interesting and faintly reminiscent of Anne McCaffery.

However the book dragged. Very slowly. And while I appreciate the details of ileth’s daily life... I enjoy a good ol’ coming of age school story, the narrative was boring. Much of the story, especially in the second half was told to us, instead of letting the reader experience it. This got progressively worse as the story progressed. Notably in Galentine. The obstacles and crises that Ileth faces in the fist half of the story do not seem to relate or add to the urgency of the climax at the end of the story.

Ileth was such an interesting character. I loved that she had a stutter and was small for her size which made her tenacity more endearing. I liked her sense of honor that remained consistent throughout the story and her love of dancing. I’m not sure that I was satisfied with her character growth by the end of the book. She accomplished a lot, but did her self-awareness/ self-acceptance increase? Most of the other characters were very two dimensional and lacked redeeming traits. The character interactions were also bland and served only to further Ileth’s storyline. This is quite unfortunate because there is such a large character list and many of them had promise to be very interesting. I particularly like Rapoto, Joai, Baron Hyrasmess and Amrits and really wish that they had been more fleshed out.

Finally, as a story about dragons, it think that it succeeded and failed. The dragons were rarely mentioned in the first half of the book. I did not get the sense that they were intelligent beings, not mere animals as the author wanted us to believe. Probably because I only envisioned them as hard-to-pronounce names and color-of-their-scales. We learned a bit about them, their scales, grooming needs, voracious appetites, saliva and strong but sail-like wings... but not enough about their long-lived race and how they are superior to the humans. Which they clearly are as their needs and desires must always be met and Serpentine exists because of them, and for them.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book while fantastic reminded me a lot of the Eragon series hence why I continued reading and finished the book in one setting. I am also a fan of characters with unique names such as Ileth at first was a tongue twister but as I read on, I grew to love the name even more. The premise of this novel was very intriguing starting out as a novice to the dragons and the talent Ileth possesses through her whole journey with the dragons was very breathtaking and magical. This book also had a red queen vibe to it with Ileth's background growing up in a tough upbringing while all her other apprentices are from rich families and are following in their footsteps. I could not stop reading this book and I know fans of Eragon and Red Queen will appreciate this book as well as all fans of YFantasy.

We will consider adding this title to our YFantasy collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight, A very enjoyable book. Ileth is an orphan who dreams of being a dragoneer, with numerous hardships, trials and difficulties thrown in her way will she ever make it?