Review: The Dragon Throne

Title: The Dragon Throne (The Four Kingdoms #1)
Author: Chrys Cymri
Page Count: 214
3.5 TURTLES: A very enjoyable read, I recommend you check it out.
Amazon
*This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Description:
‘You have only one part of the Summoning Ring,’ said the dragon to Fianna. ‘And neither the knowledge nor the strength to use it even if it were complete.’ 
Fianna is the only child of King Stannard and Queen Fiona, and has always expected to become the next Keeper of the Dragon Throne. She exiles herself from the court when her father decides to take a second wife. Recalled to Secondus castle after Stannard’s death, she has to contend with the split loyalties among the royal knights. In desperation, she agrees to summon the dragons to support her claim to the throne. Their challenge sends her to meet them in their Sacred Mountains. 
In the woods of the unicorn herd, the Prancer loses his milk-brother to an attack by a dragon. He travels across the human kingdoms to seek the killer, discovering the complexities of human relationships and the delights of ale along the way. 
They meet at the Sacred Mountains. And so begins a story of love, friendship — and betrayal.

Review:
The Dragon Throne follows the intertwining stories of the princess Fianna and unicorn Prancer. They are both on a mission: Fianna to secure her throne and Prancer to find the dragon that murdered his milk brother. I particularly enjoyed Prancer’s story as he leaves the land of the unicorns and enters the kingdoms of men. His antics discovering such human things as inns and ale was hilarious, and his discovery of the intricacies of human beings was touching. I very much felt for Fianna, too, at the unfairness of her inheritance being threatened when her father gets remarried to someone who could possibly bring him a son. Yet the story is very much one of personal growth for Fianna, so at the beginning of her story she comes off as immature and a bit bratty. She grows out of this, but at the beginning I did want to shake some sense into her.

The story is full of surprises, many of which added to the intrigue of the story for me. Without giving too much away, I will say that one big reveal caught me off guard in a way I didn’t enjoy. I don’t enjoy big reveals at the end of a book that radically change how I perceive the story I’m reading, at least without some foreshadowing. If this reveal had come earlier I wouldn’t have minded, but since there was no way to guess it ahead of time and it came at the very end, it annoyed me. 

Since the story ended with such a twist, I have no idea where it will go. It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities that, while is drastically different from what I thought I would be reading, has the potential to be very exciting. It is certainly a unique take on a fairy tale setting, so fans of that setting should find The Dragon Throne enthralling as long as they keep an open mind.




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