Thoughts from my son

He enjoyed it and thought it was very good. Thank you to the author for sharing their gift of imagination and writing

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LOVED IT

I enjoy the dispute between brother and sister and enjoy the full extent of the story, especially the dragon

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An interesting listen for both adults and kids

This is a great book to listen to with your kids. The dialogue and plot line are sophisticated enough to entertain adults, while the content is still suitable and enjoyable for kids under 10.

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Amazing!!

my 9 year old has read this 3 times now!
she loves the story, has read (listened to all 5) & can't wait for more !!

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Great beginning

A great dragon rider book with enough unique elements to have it stand out. Slade gives enough info of the world to allow rooms and rooms of development. The brother-sister relationship is credible. Claire Corbett does her usual wonderful job as narrator.

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Assassins and dragons <3

Loved it. Great read, great story and the narrator brought it to life. Would recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

I really liked the story it was amazing it really came together

I like how she found the dragon and that I wish that Carmen kept her brother so that still Off training but still together but not an assassin

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Entertaining listen

Loved this book- great characters.
Siblings- very different from each other. Good friends. Loved the dragon

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Know Your Audience, I Guess

There is really nothing original or unique in this story: a young teen befriends a grumpy, overwhelmingly wise Dragon and teams up with him to fight injustice. That's pretty much it.
Oh, yeah. 'Carmen' is a misfit/misunderstood/mistreated unusually powerful teenager with a heart-of-gold and impeccable morals/ethics - in other words, an archetypal YA Fantasy protagonist.
Author Arthur Slade takes that trope-heavy matrix and fills it in with Sophomoric plot devices, relatively clichéd characters, and often eyerolling dialogue..
On the other hand, I'm admittedly a 51-year-old fan of more "mature" Fantasy-SciFi - although I enjoy this genre, too (I'm not exactly the target demographic). Once I set my reservations aside and imagined that I was back in Junior High School, however, I found myself enjoying 'Dragon Assassin' - for it's intriguing sociopolitical worldbuilding, creditable camaraderie among the heroes (Carmen, the dragon 'Brax', and fellow escaped assassins 'Megan' and 'Thord'), and rollercoaster-ride fun exploring Slade's world, seeking out allies, and exacting revenge on a murderous emperor.

Unfortunately, Clare Corbett contributes to the "Juvenile" impression that I got from the book by reading with a strikingly child-like timbre, a whimsical/confused tone, and cartoonish voice-acting.
Don't get me wrong - the technical support & sound quality courtesy of Podium Publishing are excellent.. and Corbett is undeniably professional with regards to diction, cadence, and pacing - but there is nothing particularly spectacular about the narration here.

If you are listening to this recording with imaginative 11-14 year-olds, it's a reasonable download (especially if you can get it as a 'Plus' selection). If you're not in that age group (or they ask for a Credit), though, spend your time on something other than this 6/10 star offering.

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2 people found this helpful