Centuries ago, Illarion was betrayed- a dragon made human against his will, then forced to serve humanity as a dragonmount in their army, and to fight for them in barbaric wars, even while he hated everything about them. Enslaved and separated from everyone he knew and from his own dragon brothers, he was forced into exile in a fey realm where he lost the only thing he ever really loved. Now he … Now he has a chance to regain what’s been lost– to have the one thing he covets most. But only if he gives up his brothers and forsakes the oaths he holds most dear. Yet what terrifies him most isn’t the cost his happiness might incur, it’s the fact that there is just enough human in his dragon’s heart that he might actually be willing to pay it and betray everything and everyone- to see the entire world burn in Dragonmark, the next blockbuster Dark-Hunter novel by #1 New York Timesbestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon.
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let me start by saying the cover and the art work on the inside of this book was beautiful!! i love this dragon series by kenyon. in this book we get some back story to the characters and what happened to them. illarion is one of the oldest dragons around and he has survived by staying hide in his cave , he is the keeper of many objects that can destory mankind. not that he has any love for man kind in fact he hates them all for what was done to him and his brothers so long ago. their is one human though that he did love edilyn, but she was taken from him long ago.but like all things in life he finds out that edilyn is not dead. also after not seeing his brothers in over a thousand years he is reunited with them and so many of the dark hunters. will apollo and morgen finally destory this world or will the dark hunters stop these two for good. cant wait to find out!
Dragonmark is a FANTASTIC READ…AS ARE ALL OF THE OTHER books in this series…they are full of realistic characters, situations, and great prose…this series had me up for a week reading them all…I LOVE HER WRITING in general…this series is only one of many that she has…and it is just as good as the rest…..enter a world of dragons, vampires, and all the supernatural BOO you can handle..as well as a few HUGE twists…YOU HAVE GOT TO READ THIS BOOK!!!
Don’t get me wrong….I’m a die-hard fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon, but this book did not live up to the standards of the previous Dark Hunter novels.
This book had too much regurgitation of the previous novel and not enough of the romance I’ve come to expect.
Illarion was locked in another realm for centuries with nothing to do but fight the ones who had taken everything from him. He was rescued in the book Son of No One. He has hated humanity since he was a young dragon who was attacked and held against his will, until he meets Edilyn. Edilyn has no hope of ever escaping the drudgery of her life. She wants nothing to do with dragons, but things with Illarion are different. Will they be able to get past their differences to forge a future together? I enjoyed this book but I wish it would have had more of their lives in the present.
Love it
Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2018/11/17/dragonmark-sherrilyn-kenyon/
Twenty-five main books is a really big number and Kenyon is not stopping anytime soon. But so many books and so many on-going sagas are paying a toll. The price has been paid with Dragonmark, one of the weakest Dark-Hunter books I have ever read
This story is supposedly to be Illarion’s book (more on that later). He is one of the oldest dragons, a solitary creature until he met Edilyn, a human daughter of a demon. As it is very common with shapesifters, Illarion knew she was her mate. This book tries to tell the love story between the two of them…
I say try, because the plot of the book is developed in a pretty wierd fashion. We start in the past, with Illarion meeting Edilyn and her brother Virag. They fall in love and, as any normal couple, go to a demonic realm to fight The Morrigan. It goes pretty bad, pretty fast… Edilyn dies behind the scenes. One chapter she was there, the next she wasn’t. The book had barely begun and, suddenly, Illarion’s book mutates into Cadegan’s book (again!!). A huge chunk of this book is a retelling of Son of No One, where Illarion is mere supporting character.
But the travesty doesn’t end there. Illarion is rescued from the demonic plane and the plot travels to the present. I could barely believe what happened then… Kenyon retells us Max’s book, Dragonbane!! That was the previous one… I don’t have a great memory, but it is not so bad!! Almost 80% of Illarion’s book is not about Illarion. I think this story was just meant to fill some contractual obligation with the editorial, because I don’t understand why the author would do something like this on purpose. I hope this doesn’t happen again…
Is Illarion’s short story any good? The part in the past is pretty basic. Boy meets girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Girl’s jerk of a brother steals from boy and all hell is set loose… It looked pretty interesting, actually. Virag (the brother) is a nice character that I want to meet again in the future. After the huge retellings, Illarion takes again the spotlight. If you remember, in Max’s book he joins Apollo’s gang to save his mate (yes, she didn’t really die). What happens after that is very short, but good; so, overall, the story is decent. The final revelation is SOOO sweet. I’m savouring it!!
Kenyon is lucky to have such an amazing (and huge) cast of characters. Thanks to them, even a poor book like this one can be enjoyable. Any other author would have got a strike on my chart, but I can’t really be that tough with her. I like her books too much. Let’s hope the next one makes me forget this book (another way to say I don’t want more retellings!!).
I don’t even know what to say here…. I do not mind rereading scenes from different perspectives (for example Acheron and Styxx’s books), but when most of the book is from other books, not a new perspective and the romance almost none existent except in the beginning. Illy got seriously shafted for his book. The reunion was so boring and lackluster, and that was the only reason I kept reading! Gah… Why, SK, why?!
I loved it, couldn’t put it down.
It has been far too long since I’ve read Sherrilyn Kenyon and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to read Dragonmark and immerse myself in the Dark-Hunter series again! I might be a couple of books behind now, but it didn’t feel that way at all – everything about it was familiar and yet completely new, all at the same time. The Dark-Hunter world has only gotten bigger and more elaborate and while I ran into trouble a few times, I never felt overwhelmed and it always sorted itself out. Dragonmark was truly marvelous and I couldn’t have stopped myself from loving it even if I tried!
Ms. Kenyon always creates excellent heroines and Edilyn is no different. She’s warm and sweet, tender and gentle, and kind and compassionate. Don’t be fooled by all that though, because Edilyn is fierce warrior too. She’s strong and brave, can handle herself in any situation, and she can more than hold her own in a fight. I especially loved Edilyn’s strength and skill as a fighter, but I loved her soft, kind-hearted, playful nature even more. She makes you feel all warm and toasty and special inside – it’s no wonder that Illarion fell so deeply in love with her because I did too and I have no doubts that you will as well.
Illarion is definitely a surly, grumpy, gruff dragon at times, but he is also so sweet he will melt your heart. He’s serious for the most part, but he has a silly, teasing nature about him too. My favorite thing about Illy would have to be how devoted he was to Edilyn. She is his entire world and there is nothing that he wouldn’t do for her – he’s a complete and utter marshmallow for her and he made me a complete and utter marshmallow for him in return. I just positively loved this loyal, amazing dragon.
Dragonmark, like all of Ms. Kenyon’s books, gave me the feels. It made my heart ache, made me want to cry, enraged me, melted me, and charmed me. It had my heart pounding, my blood pumping, poised on the edge of my seat flipping the pages as fast as I could, eager to know what would happen next. There was never a dull moment, each one filled with passion, action, horror, beauty, and above all – heart. It was a touching, heartwarming, spectacular read and I can’t wait to get caught up on the books I’m missing and the ones that have yet to come!
Dragonmark is a standalone in the Dark-Hunter series, but it would most likely be best enjoyed if read in order. It is told from multiple points of view, and although I was worried near the end that there wouldn’t be enough pages to wrap Illy and Edilyn’s story up, I am glad to say I’m wrong and they get their well-deserved, hard-fought happily-ever-after!
Oh how I love Illarion. Much of this book is back story and events form The Son Of No One and Dragonbane, but it wasn’t annoying like all the repeat events in Fang and Amiee’s book. I loved Edilyn, she was a great well balanced character. She complemented Illy well, and vice versa. Their story was full of love and heartache. But it was an amazing ride, and an hope we see a lot of them in the future.
All Kenyon’s books are superbly written. Love the Dragon characters! Highly recommend
I’m only 15 and it was great just wish i could afford to get the rest of the books
Loved it. Sherrilyn Kenyon is the BEST
I really loved this book.
Love the author. Have read all her books.
Every single book by her is AMAZING!!
Well, I’ve read Kenyon for years, I love the Dark Hunter series. About 25-30% of the book is spent poorly explaining other characters and their past/current issues. It might be time to retire the series at this point. Too much backlog and cross-book character references for me.
Kenyon is always great!!!
This is my favorite author. Her books keep me under a spell. Intoxicating. I love it.
I love all if Sherrilyn Kenyon’s work. She’s an absolutely amazing author.