The Tainted Khan by Taran Matharu

 Jai dreams of being a dragon rider. He dreams of freedom from the Sabine Empire and a world in which he can lead his people, the Kidara, to freedom. But even though he has his dragon, Winter, she is still growing, just as he’s still growing in his own power. And the road to victory is even more fraught than he had hoped…

Because even when he finds a tribe on the Great Steppe, they are not his people. They are the outcasts, the Tainted, and he finds that he knows little of the political intricacies that take place in these vast grasslands. He is a stranger amongst his own kind, for Jai’s uncle rules, and is loath to cede power to his nephew.

But the legionaries and Gryphon Guard of the Sabine Empire are wreaking havoc against the other tribes of the Great Steppe, and Jai is forced to learn a lifetime’s worth of knowledge in a matter of months. From levelling up his magic, to becoming a true warrior, saving the woman he loves, and strengthening his bond with Winter, Jai is a dragon rider with a massive weight on his young shoulders. And his greatest hope is that the shoulders of Winter will soon be strong enough to help carry him.

The Tainted Khan is the second book in this series which follows on from Dragon Rider and I you definitely need to read these books in order you are fighting a losing battle trying to read this book as a standalone. We are reunited with Jai and he is on a mission to take his place as the high Khan of the Kidara and he will stop at nothing to achieve this. 

Compared to the previous book this one is a lot more battle led as Jai works to bring tribes together to build the ultimate force against the Sabine Empire. Taran Matharu certainly excels in his descriptive writing and world building in this book and his relationships between characters are well developed too. I enjoyed the kinship that forms between Jai and Feng particularly. I still stick by what I said in my review of Dragon Rider in that the dragon element I expected to be more central to the storyline but this isn't the case and although Winter appears more in this book I really feel the lack of communication between Jai and Winter was a real loss to this story.

This book is a beast of a book and felt never ending but there was always something going on with Jai on his journey but I did find my attention waivering at points so I did swap to audio and found this was much more engaging and exciting. 

The shock revelation really was unexpected, I didn't even have a hint of what was going to be revealed and I was in that much shock when I heard it that I reverted straight back to my kindle to read it with my own eyes!

I did enjoy this book despite its hefty size but it is certainly one you need to set time aside to read.

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu

 

Jai has spent his life forced to serve the cruel empire that killed his family and now rules his people.

To grow ever more powerful, the emperor’s young son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom. An unconquerable realm, where ancient beasts roam. The princess brings with her a priceless gift: dragons. Only Dansk Royalty can bond with these magical beasts to draw on their power and strength. Until now.

When the betrothal goes wrong, a bloody coup leads to chaos at court. Finally, Jai has a chance to escape. He flees with a fierce Dansk warrior, Frida, but not before stealing a dragon egg.

To vanquish the empire, he must do the impossible: bond with a dragon. Only then he can seize his destiny, and seek his revenge …

Dragons are storming the bookshelves more so since the hype of Fourth Wing, but my first love of Dragon novels came from the Eragon series so I have a soft spot for fantasy novels that host a dragon or two so as soon as I saw the cover for Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu a fizzle of excitement began and I wasted no time in getting started.

But I am going to start with a word of warning if you are expecting a storyline heavy on Dragons that has the modern excitement that Forth Wing gave then thick again, the best way of explaining this book is more if Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones had a book baby then this is more on the right path!

The author definitely has a skill for character building as each of the characters were so well developed and easy to distinguish between which can often be an issue in Fantasy books with such a vast number of characters with obscure names but by the end of the book our main character Jai feels like a character, we have really formed a bond with. This definitely felt like a first book in a series, it felt like it was setting the tone and building our relationship with the characters for what I am hoping to be an action filled second book with a lot more of the connection between Jai and Winter because this was something seriously lacking in this book but I am hoping this is because Winter is so young and that as she matures there becomes a dialogue between them.

This book for me was a 3.5/4 star read but had the ability to have been a 5-star read but personally for me I found the book had a strong start with an introduction to key characters and an insight into the history behind how Jai finds himself an aid to the emperor as well as the various politics between the different regions. But the middle part of the book fell short for me and incredibly drawn out with the constant repetition and focus on the core and mana, I get that this is an important part of being a Soulbound and this certainly empathised this but it got too repetitive and actually made me want to skim read a little which is not something I do in books. It just felt like the storyline had lost its way and was stuck in a dark hole with nothing much happening for 100 or so pages. Luckily it picked back up for a promising ending so my intrigue was piqued again and now I would definitely pick up the next book.

Available to Buy HERE