My edition is actually a hardcover from the library.

This is a fun series. The core character and idea, this kid with a living dragon warrior on his back as a tattoo, is cool. The learning curve about choices, honor, etc. is interesting and worthwhile. The bad guys are heartless and interesting. The action is clever and fun. The 14-yr-old kid quickly becomes unbelievably confident and clever while outsmarting the evil adults, but that's true of like 80% of YA fiction. I am really enjoying the series and am interested in where the plot is going.