Using the Arts is forbidden. And I just got caught. Now I have three options: death, the Marriage Market…or the Dragon Duels.I’m going to take my chances against the dragons. If I survive, I’ll become be pardoned for my crimes and become a Dragon Defender. If I lose, death will seem like the easy option. Hundreds of people go into the Duels, but only a tenth come out. And this year, I’m going … And this year, I’m going to be one of them.
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Stoking the Embers is book one in the Dragon Duels series, an urban fantasy adventure with a dystopian flare and a slow burn romance.
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This book is so unique, so different to the norm, I found it a great read. Raine and her sister Mila are barely able to survive in a very unequal society, they are part of the City and as such, are forbidden to use magic or the Arts, as they are referred to. Only those in the White Towers are allowed to. Raine toys with the idea of participating in the Dragon Duels, to elevate their financial situation but at the plea of her sister, discards the idea. Yet she finds herself forced to participate, due to the fact her employer filled in an application, forging her signature. The motivation? The employer gets financial compensation at the “loss” of an employee. Raine has no idea what to expect, except that if she manages to stay alive for 10 days, she will join the Dragon Defenders, whether she wants to or not. At the arena, she encounters other “volunteers”, some from the White Towers. She meets a young prisioner, Marina and they plan to stay together to try survive but they’re separated, leaving Raine alone again. With very few resources, other than the weapon she picked, Raine is at the mercy of a dragon, until she unleashes her Arts and kills it, a feat witnessed by Cobalt, a volunteer from the Towers and they form a friendship. This was an easy enjoyable read, a unique storyline on survival of the fittest, settings the pace and stage for subsequent books in the series. And I have a feeling, this book just scratched the surface of what’s to come, pretty much like building blocks, laid one on top of the other, until the full picture is revealed. I am intrigued to read further, to discover how the characters will fare.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
‘Stoking the Embers’ is book one in Laura Greenwood’s Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Paranormal/Urban Fantasy series ” Dragon Duels”. It had me a bit confused at first but then I realized this world is ruled by dragons while humans are split into classes; privileged and working poor. The privileged are given protectors from the dragon duels in order to keep them safe. What about the working poor, you ask? Left to their own devices they are harassed as the dragon’s playthings. Their only other choices? Either the marriage market or entering the Dragon Duels. These games are so intense and brutal!! This read was as intense as the games and had me running through a plethora of emotions while doing so. I’m really interested in seeing where this goes politically and socially. I’m also hoping we get to visit and learn about the Marriage Market.
As a lover of both dragons and a dystopian world, Stoking The Embers is a match made in heaven for me. Raine’s journey to the Dragon Duels is a wild ride that brings the best out of some people and the worst in others. It has magic, survival, battle, romance, and if you hadn’t guessed, dragons! Can’t wait to see where Laura Greenwood takes us in the next book.
Raine and her sister Mila are barely managing to stay alive in a city that is always covered in ash from the dragons that nest in the nearby mountains. Raine would volunteer for the Dragon Duels if it wouldn’t mean leaving her sister alone if she failed to make it through. If she won she would be able to join the Dragon Defenders and move them to White Towers where Mila would be safer, but if she lost Mila could end up at the Marriage Market and that would be really bad.
Unfortunately, it seems someone where she worked “volunteered” Raine for the Dragon Duels. Now she is competing whether she wants to or not. Is there any way she can hope to survive the ten days and the other two hundred participants? Oh yeah, then there’s the dragons.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Life is hard, bleak at times for the people who live in the towns outside of the White Towers. Under attack by dragons, always surrounded by the ash of their fires. There is little hope unless you can find a way to get in. There’s the marriage markets or the dragon duels. A contest which puts 250 people volunteers and compelled alike into an arena with dragons. 1 in 15 survive and become protectors. Raine lives with her sister Mila. Both do all they can to survive. One day at work Raine is pulled aside and told she’s been accepted into the duels. Only she never applied. Her job put her up to get a payment. Now she must do whatever she can to survive.
It’s got a definite Hunger Games vibe. I love the dragons. A bit dark due to the premise but all in all a great read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this book. Though its shirt it still manages to build a great world and a thrilling but rather brutal storyline. I’m really looking forward to where the story goes in the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is book one in the Dragon Duels. Raine Mason was signed up to enter the Dragon Duels without her consent. She now finds herself having to join the Dragon Duels. Raine is worried she will never see her sister again. Raine meets Cobalt during the Dragon Duels. They form an alliance to help each other win. Will they survive until the end? Will they actually win the game? The story starts out slow but it gets better. They must defeat dragons and other contestants who want to kill them. I will read book two to see what happens after the game ends. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Raina does what she must to survive and protect her sweet, gentle sister – even when that means using illegal Arts (magic). Unfortunately, she is not the only one doing whatever it takes to survive and soon she finds herself volunteered into what is known to be a death sentence for someone of her social status. Are good instincts and fragile new alliances enough to get her through? And even if she survives, what next? Exciting, fast paced read full of action, adventure, mystery and just a touch of romance.
There were obvious parallels to Hunger Games with the “volunteers” being thrown into an arena for the rich’s entertainment with the goal to survive 10 days against each other and dragons without really knowing the rules, but more differences I think. The society reminded me a bit more of revolutionary France with the massive difference between the haves and have nots, but also the precarious position those who made it inside Versailles were in and the gilding that hid oh so many dark secrets. Raina was a far more likeable heroine to me as well – when faced with a difficult decision she is willing to take the risk and stand by her beliefs.
Book 1 in a new series, the prequel gives you some historic background but is not necessary to enjoy and understand this book. This is a full story arc – but lots of hints about what is coming next with the society, the marriage market, the dragons – oh so many questions to be answered!
Raine and her sister, Mila, live in the slums of the city barely surviving after their parents died. When she is volunteered for the Dragon Duels, Raine is not even allowed to say goodbye to her sister. This story contains different types of action. Highly recommended.
Stoking The Embers is book one in The Dragon Duels and so far I am loving the amazing world this author has created. When Raine gets caught using the forbidden Arts her punishment is she gets three choices, death, marriage market, or entering the Dragon Duels. Raine chooses the Dragon Duels. This is an intense, action packed story with dragons, danger, betrayal, interesting characters, and a captivating story that had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. After that ending I can’t wait to read the next book in The Dragon Duels series.
Enjoyable start to a new series by Laura Greenwood. Raine is a great character and her adventure keeps you reading from beginning to end.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Stoking The Embers (The Dragon Duels #1) by Laura Greenwood is a wonderful story that I have fallen in love with. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new surgery that I can not get enough of. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about fantasy and fantasy romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is Book 1 in the series and I was caught up from the first few pages. The female lead was engaging, and took me on a roller coaster ride of drama, suspense and action. She was brave and had her wits about her, which made her intriguing for me. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series will play out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is book one of The Dragon Duels series and tells the story of a young woman called Raine Mason who finds herself part of the Dragon Duels, against her will. There is a prequel to the series, which described the first ever Dragon Duels and this story takes place some hundreds of years later, where the duels now take place every three months. About two hundred and fifty people are forced to take part in the duels, many are prisoners, violent or not, or taken from the streets or their work places, without their actual permission, only about one in fifteen survive to go onto becoming part of the Dragon Guard for the city. Her older sister had made her swear to never volunteer for the duels, even if it might have helped them out financially, as her sister tried to avoid having to go to the marriage market, which could have been an even worse fate than the duels, as women are not well treated. Raine has to accept she cannot refuse to take part, to do so would mean her immediate death!
All the ‘volunteers’ are housed in a barrack area, allowing them to be fed and watered much better than they have been used to, apart from a large group of well-dressed citizens of the White Towers, who have actually volunteered for this deadly challenge. One catches her eye as they pass and she later ends up teaming up with him once they are in the arena together. He is called Cobalt and was made to volunteer by his father, but he has a lot more knowledge about the arena, the duels and how to survive with the minimal of items available. The participants were allowed to take one item with them, they could choose a weapon, food, water, a first aid kit, but only one item from the vast array in the room. The duels last for some ten days and they have to survive dragons who want to burn them to death or eat them, as well as all the other participants who have been given free rein to kill others, to make their chances of survival so much better than the rest.
Unfortunately, not just surviving to the end is a recipe for surviving after the duels, as she finds out from Cobalt. He knows so much more about how the survivors are graded during their time in the arena and what will ensure their actual existence afterwards. No one from the city has ever survived the duels during recent history, as far as Raine or anyone she knows can remember and nothing is ever said what happens to those might survive, but never end up in the Dragon Guards, a position that seems to be for those from the White Towers, the elite! Nothing is fair in the arena and the people coerced into there, are at a disadvantage compared to those from the towers. She needs to escape the dragons and steer clear of any more dangerous foes, who are willing to kill their fellow participants, to save their own lives. Friendship or being part of a team, may not save her from death. She will have to learn if she has enough within herself, to survive everything the dragon duels can throw at her. Luckily she has her basic skills at the ‘Arts’, the use of basic elemental magical powers, something forbidden in the city, on pain of death. I look forward to finding out more about what happens to those who do survive and what their new roles will involve. I hope we get to follow some of the characters already shown in the story, in future books of the series. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
This is book 1 in Greenwood’s Dragon Duels…what a great read where humans are divided by class – rich or poor, the rich protected, the poor harassed. Protectors are chosen thru the Dragon Duels and the only way to escape the poor is thru marriage or the duels. For Raine, there is no choice, she’s forced to participate and the this read provides us with her exciting tale of danger, adventure and so much more!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Two options. Win the dragon duels or die.
behind her back her employer signed Raine up for the dragon duels just to get a payback. Now she has to win or die. But how do you win against a fire breathing dragon, and other contestants willing to take you out for the points? Team up with someone. After unexpectedly killing a dragon a man from the affluent part of the city asks to team up with her. His name is Cobalt and she’s not sure she can trust him, but he has food and other things that could help them survive the next few days. He says he can help her with her magic. Raine has always been forbidden to use it so she doesn’t really know how to fully take advantage of it. Is he being truthful? If not her life is on the line. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a very interesting first story in this series. I enjoyed Raine and her fight and perseverance throughout her tough situation. This was the first story I’ve read from Laura Greenwood about Dragons and I actually quite enjoyed it. It had brutality, strength, and a little bit of love. It left me eagerly anticipating the next story in the series and I can’t wait to read that one as well.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The prequel story did a good job of introducing this world of dragons and humans and now the first book in the series is out. And what a good story it was. I liked that it was a quick read that I finished in one sitting just to see what would happen, how Raine would survive and if she would have to face a dragon. I liked the 2 main characters and loved the glimpse of the Arts and cannot wait to see what might happen next and what might me revealed. The Duels are so rigged and this time around got to learn a bit more. An entertaining, quick clean read with some danger and some blood.
a great start to a new series !!! loved it !!! love Raine and Cobalt…this was a fast paced quick read after a slow beginning…a lot of action…
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Raine was caught using the Arts (magic) which is forbidden. As punishment, she has three options: death, the Marriage Market, or the Dragon Duels, where only a very small number of people survive. Her odds of survival are slight. But if she somehow makes it through the duels, she will be pardoned and become a Dragon Defender.
To increase her chances of survival, Raine partners with Cobalt who has inside information to win the duels. She needs every bit of luck she can find because this will not be at all easy. Will she survive? Will she ever see her sister, Mila, again?
This is an exciting story line with edge-of-the-seat action that will pull the reader in. Dragon lovers will be pleased to get to watch them in action! It’s kind of tough at times, though, when we’re supposed to be cheering for Raine, and she is a worthy character. But dragons do have my heart. Ah, so fickle.