Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Talon: Drachenzeit (Talon, #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Talon: Drachenzeit

(Talon #1)

Julie Kagawa (Goodreads Author),

Charlotte Lungstraß-Kapfer (Translator)

3.75 · Rating details · 23,452 ratings · 3,358 reviews

Drachen: gefährlich, magisch, unwiderstehlich!

Strand, Meer, Partys – einen herrlichen Sommer lang darf Ember Hill das Leben eines ganz gewöhnlichen kalifornischen
Mädchens leben! Danach muss sie in die strenge Welt des Talon-Ordens zurückkehren – und kämpfen. Denn Ember verbirgt ein unglaubliches Geheimnis: Sie ist ein Drache in Menschengestalt, auserwählt, um gegen die ...more

Get A Copy

Hardcover, 520 pages

Published October 5th 2015 by Heyne fliegt (first published October 28th 2014)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Talon, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.75 ·

Rating details

· 23,452 ratings · 3,358 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Talon: Drachenzeit (Talon, #1)

Nov 04, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was ok · review of another edition

DNF at 25%. I have theories about what happens throughout the rest of the book. Read my theories at the end, those who have read this series, and tell me if I'm wrong.

I fully expected to enjoy this book, or at least find plenty of entertainment value, given that it was written by Julie Kagawa.

I was wrong.

Last week I read the fantastically craptastic Firelight which was essentially Twilight with dragons. So my standards weren't high to begin with. This book was only marginally better, and only so DNF at 25%. I have theories about what happens throughout the rest of the book. Read my theories at the end, those who have read this series, and tell me if I'm wrong.

I fully expected to enjoy this book, or at least find plenty of entertainment value, given that it was written by Julie Kagawa.

I was wrong.

Last week I read the fantastically craptastic Firelight which was essentially Twilight with dragons. So my standards weren't high to begin with. This book was only marginally better, and only so due to Kagawa's writing.

Kagawa is a writer whose works I enjoy. Fuck, I liked the much-reviled and oftentimes stupid Meghan in the Iron Fey series, I overlooked the tragic love triangle, because those books were fun. Not so with this one.

I could tell from the first few chapters that this wouldn't be a book I enjoyed, and the fact is reinforced throughout the story. Dragons are cool. Dragons are deadly. They breathe fire, they kill people, they're awesome! I wanted a main character like that. Instead, I got a main character who's a dragon but really just wanted to fit in with the humans. There is literally no distinguishing her from every other rebellious teenager ever besides for the fact that she can turn into a dragon. She's rebellious! She wants freedom! She wants to go to the beach and chill and have friends, yo. So badass. Not.

I was tired of rules and isolation, of watching the world go by without me. I was tired of Talon and their endless string of policies, laws and restrictions. No more of that. The summer was mine, and I had big plans, things I wanted to do, before it ended and we’d be forced back into the system. This summer, I was going to live.

There is nothing original about the main character that would make her different from every other Mary Sue in existence. For example, she is one of a super super rare couple of dragon twins, and besides, she's designed to be physically stunning.

When choosing the form that would be ours for the rest of our life, everyone in Talon was groomed to the highest standards of human beauty.

Fuck that shit. I don't want a stunning human girl, I want a bad-ass fire-breathing, ass-kicking, princess-eating dragon.

And then, for fuck's sakes, there's the whole OH MY GOD THIS CRAZY MYSTERIOUS AND HANDSOME BOY HAS NEVER LOOKED AT ANYONE BEFORE BUT THAT'S BECAUSE HE'S ONLY BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.

“Gorgeous Biker Boy,” Lexi replied as the strange dragon continued to stare at me, almost challenging. “No one knows who he is. He showed up a few weeks ago, and has been coming around all the popular hangouts. He never talks to anyone, just checks the place out, like he’s looking for somebody, and leaves.” Her knee bumped mine under the table, making me jump, and she grinned wickedly. “But it seems like he’s found what he was looking for.”

“Gorgeous Biker Boy,” Lexi replied as the strange dragon continued to stare at me, almost challenging. “No one knows who he is. He showed up a few weeks ago, and has been coming around all the popular hangouts. He never talks to anyone, just checks the place out, like he’s looking for somebody, and leaves.” Her knee bumped mine under the table, making me jump, and she grinned wickedly. “But it seems like he’s found what he was looking for.”And then there's the insta-love. Come on, now!

But I remembered the strange dragon’s eyes, the look on his face as he’d stared at me, the way my blood had warmed at the sight of him. I remembered the heat of his gaze, the instant awakening of something fierce and primal inside me when our eyes met.
The rogue dragon was trouble. Plain and simple.
And I was intrigued.

All of that idiocy is uncovered within the first few chapters. And I have a clear idea of how things are going to go.

From her rebellious and not-so-charming-free-spiritedness, I'm going to guess that Ember constantly does stupid shit to put herself in danger. Like changing into human and back into dragon form because it's so important that the dragons keep their existence a secret.

The art of Shifting—changing into human form—was so widespread it was common dragon knowledge now. All our kind knew how to do it. And those that couldn’t were either taught very quickly, or they were hunted down by the Order of St. George, the terrible cult of dragonslayers whose only purpose was our destruction. Shifting into human form was our best defense against genocidal dragon killers and a world of unsuspecting mortals; one did not just wander about in full reptile form unless one had a death wish.

I'm going to guess that she flouts the rules every chance she gets. I'm going to guess that there's a love triangle, involving that gorgeous forbidden dragon from the quote above, and someone else. That other someone will either be her long-lost friend or an enemy whose purpose is to kill her, à la Firelight. Am I wrong? ...more

flag 407 likes · Like · see review

Oct 11, 2014 Lola rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: love-triangle, boring, dragons, predictable, urban-fantasy

Could this really be the same author who wrote The Iron King?

Never have I heard of dragons being boring. Until this.

Where is the incredible world-building? The originality in characters? The exciting romance?

description

I would like to know. Have you read the blurb? The blurb which promises us so much…yet the story does not deliver. And it is disappointing! To tell you everything, the only reason I have not DNFed this is because I just DNFed These Broken Stars yesterday and would have felt…cheap to do so ...more

flag 221 likes · Like · see review

Apr 12, 2013 Jordan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

April 2013:
Lets be honest, I'd read this woman's grocery list if she published it.

flag 196 likes · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2014 Iris rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: popsugar-reading-challenge

Challenge #7 A book with non-human character (popsugar 2015 reading challenge: http://tinyurl.com/mmbkthd)

***Two stars only because 1 star is for DNF's***

Today! On our segment of "REALLY?!?!"

1. Dialogue so cheesy you could grate it...

2. Heroine too trusting of the wrong people in very bad situations...

3. Frustrating amounts of NO ACTION...

4. Love triangle introduced in the last 20% of the book...

5.One guy has rape-y vibes and one guy wants to shoot her in her head...

6. Cliff hanger ...more

flag 161 likes · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2013 Emily May marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-uf, arc, coverly-love, 2014, young-adult

I just... can't... finish it.

I tried, really I did. I'm a big fan of Kagawa's work and I've enjoyed both her Fae books and her vampire trilogy; it was only natural that I was dying to get my hands on her brand new series about dragons who take human form.

But there was a missing spark for me that I managed to find in her other two series. Plus, throw in a bunch of regular YA paranormal cliches like a love triangle and this book, despite the original-sounding premise, was nothing special. You can ...more

flag 137 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2013 Steysha Kravits rated it liked it · review of another edition

What I expected:

What I got:

I love Julie Kagawa. I’ve read her Iron Fey series and I liked it. So I had great expectations upon this book. I mean… it’s about dragons! But I’m actually disappointed.

Ember and her twin Dante are exceptional. Dragons usually lay only one egg a time, so they don’t have siblings. They live in a Talon – organization that helps them to survive in a world, where dragons are killed by St. George – military forces, created to drive dragons to extinct.
Ember and Dante are ...more

flag 117 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2013 Angelica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: release-2014, authors-i-love, meh, boring-me-to-death, two-star, read-2019, dragons

well that was painfully average.

I love Julie Kagawa. Truly, I do. Her Iron Fey series was once my favorite YA series. She’s awesome. This book… not so much.

This book is an average YA novel, at best. It has average, unimpressive characters. An average plot. Average writing. And of course, average inta-love with an average love triangle.

This is the kind of book I feel that I’ve read before if only because of how uninspiring it was. There was nothing too original or intriguing about it. There was ...more

flag 90 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2015 Ben Alderson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Hear goes another review!

So I will start by letting you know I read this whole beast of a book in 5, 30 min reading sprints. Yes it was that good!

I loved the fact it was a fantasy based in modern time all about kick ass dragons that roam around as humans. Almost like the fantastical version of Hannah Montana!

I can not wait for the second book! I currently have a headache from reading so much but just believe that this book is amazing! you all must read it!

Ben ox

flag 85 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2013 Danica marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: maybe

Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight. Please don't be a Firelight.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

flag 77 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2013 shady boots | #WatchPOSE rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: hot-mess, unoriginal, boooooring

2.5 stars, as much as it pains me to do this.

Julie, oh Julie. Why you gotta do me like that? u_u

Prior to reading this book, I was like:

Because it's Julie! I adore her to pieces. The Iron Fey series to date is one of my favorite series' of all time, and so is Blood of Eden. She put out constant masterpieces that, naturally, I put her on a pedestal.

After reading this book, I'm starting to think that was not a very wise idea. ._.

This book suffered a massive case of blandness. It was extremely ...more

flag 73 likes · Like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Arooj rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, favorites, books-i-fell-hard-for, covers-to-die-for, have-re-read

Review:

I FINISHED IT. FINALLY. YESSSSSSS!

And if you're wondering, then yes, it was definitely worth the wait.

First off - this book was different than Julie Kagawa's usual adventure type of books. If you've read her Iron Fey series, or her Immortal Rules series, you'd know that adventure is a big part of the story. It's one of my favourite things about her books. But Talon didn't really have any of that - and I actually didn't mind. I still enjoyed reading this. And I have a feeling that there ...more

flag 73 likes · Like · see review

Apr 27, 2015 Kristina Horner rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, romance

Okay. I have seriously been looking forward to writing this review. Because I HATED Talon with every fiber of my being and can't even think of ONE redeeming quality, aside from perhaps the fact that my roommate and I had a joyous time bonding over our simultaneous hate-reads of this audiobook. Sometimes reading a bad book can be fun, I'll admit it. But other times, it can make you want to drive your car off a cliff as you BEAT YOUR HEAD AGAINST THE STEERING WHEEL BECAUSE EVERYONE IN THE BOOK IS ...more

flag 72 likes · Like · see review

Oct 10, 2014 Tomoe Hotaru rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, zzzzzzz, romance, did-not-finish, advanced-reader-copy, fantasy-lite

Disclaimer: This is a review of an uncorrected Advanced Reader Copy.

Know how to ruin a potentially great fantasy novel?
Cram it up to the brim with Young-Adulterism. That's what I'm coining this phenomena.
When, at around 60 pages I'm already smacked in the face with:

- beautiful main characters
- beautiful love interests
- a third party making unwanted sexual advances to female MC just so male LI can step in and rescue her
- a beautiful bad-boy to possibly serve as a future love-triangle
- said ...more

flag 56 likes · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2013 Taschima rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: bea-2014

I am a huge, huge, HUGE Julie Kagawa, fan. Her Iron Fey series as well as Blood of Eden are on my list of favorites, which is why it pains me so much to say that Talon did not deliver as I thought it was going to. It did not hook me until the very very end and by then I was looking at the Epilogue. I thought Talon focused too much of its efforts on the wrong stuff, mainly the romance and the painfully obvious love triangle. It should have focused more on world building and a more epic plot… this ...more

flag 55 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2015 Twila rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, booooring, when-will-it-end, what-did-i-just-read, not-my-cuppa, annoying-characters, slow-in-places, series-dnf, underdeveloped, waste-of-time

What I THOUGHT Talon would have:
• Epic dragon battles and wars
• FIREBREATHING!
• Dragon lore
• Dragon politics
• Awesome dragon heroine
• Epic romance

What Talon ACTUALLY had:
• Beaches, parties, the mall, boys, surfing
• Very little action, with a super slow pace
• Practically NO world building
• Girl kicks guy where 'the sun don't shine'
• Insta-love... TWICE!
• The LAMEST dragon ever!

This is a book about dragons right?!

description

I could count the number of times in ONE HAND that Ember shifted into a dragon.
All I ...more

flag 55 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2014 Chelsea ❤Peril Please❤ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, serious-cliffhanger, unforgettable-male-leads, alternating-pov, my-favorite-covers, awesome-heroines, could-read-over-and-over-again, favorites, love-triangles

A ruse. That's all it was. Pretend to like this girl. Pretend to have feelings, to pursue some kind of relationship. Earn her friendship and trust, knowing I might have to destroy it, and her, in the end.

Ruthless. Julie Kagawa is ruthless. Mad. Intoxicating...Brilliant. I just....I don't get why people aren't loving this one. Is it the content? Is it because it's about dragons and you just can't get past it? Is it the non-existent love triangle? The not-so-insta-love? Is it because it isn't ...more

flag 54 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2013 Natalie Monroe rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: awesome-author, good-but-not-great, i-spy-something-pointy, kick-ass-heroines, not-as-good-as-i-expected, great-concept-poor-execution, loved-while-reading-but-forgettable, could-have-been-better

3.5 stars (0.5 stars for sentimental value)

"We were taught their entire blood-filled history, from the dragonslayers, to the fanatical Templar Knights, all the way up to the militaristic order they were now... St. George was ruthless and cunning and unmerciful, the enemy of all of our kind."

Look at that passage. Just look at it. Does it not reek of potential? Does it not guarantee High Fantasy epicness in the form of dragon vs human smackdowns? Does it not promise you incredible things??

Now ...more

flag 51 likes · Like · see review

Dec 16, 2015 Dannii Elle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantastic-fabrications, romantic-recollections

"The human race is weak and self-destructive, and the only thing they know how to do is destroy."

I was genuinely excited to begin this book and, judging by the synopsis, I felt it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed for a large portion of the book. The premise of a book about a teenage dragon assimilating to life amongst the human race, whilst in her human form, was intriguing, but whilst reading, this felt like more of a straight-forward romance for the most part. "The human race is weak and self-destructive, and the only thing they know how to do is destroy."

I was genuinely excited to begin this book and, judging by the synopsis, I felt it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed for a large portion of the book. The premise of a book about a teenage dragon assimilating to life amongst the human race, whilst in her human form, was intriguing, but whilst reading, this felt like more of a straight-forward romance for the most part. Romance, as a main theme in novels, is ordinarily not my thing and I felt myself getting bored of all the coyness, teen angst and love at first sight. It felt like the fantastical element were almost surplus to the romantic overdose on times.

I felt like the central portion of the novel was almost solely dedicated to an endless sea of love scenes and any forward movement in the plot was halted. The last 30% of the novel really picked up, for me, and I felt myself once more invested in the outcome of the novel. I still can't ignore that I felt like this novel could really have been halved in size and made much more impactful.

I also disliked that the human female characters were displayed as vapid and shallow with an interest only in clothes and cute boys, and it annoyed me that there wasn't a more meaningful representative for the female human race. It seemed like all the humans, in fact, were displayed as fun-loving, talkative and easy-going. Not a bad thing, in itself, but there was a lack of deep conversation and real bonds being made beyond their love of the beach and the junk food served there. If our main character was on such an advanced level to this then why did she continue to form bonds with these air-headed individuals? I would have liked to form more of an emotional investment with the characters, but I felt it difficult when I was only given this side to them.

I will continue with the series as I am interested to see where the novel goes but I am hesitant that it will only have more of the same superfluous love scenes and little actual plot development. This is probably due to my own personal tastes, in relation to romance novels, so please don't take this review as a verbatim portrayal of the novel. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in romance with a light speckling of fantasy. ...more

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2014 Caz (littlebookowl) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

I received this book for free from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An exciting start to what should be a promising series. It is an intriguing concept, with dragons hidden amidst a modern setting, and I really loved progressively learning more about Talon and St George.

It took me a little while to get really invested in the story. The beginning is slower in pace and I didn't find myself connecting with the characters until later on. However ...more

flag 49 likes · Like · see review

Nov 10, 2014 Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: knots-in-my-stomach, unexpected-but-awesome, alternative-pov, fantasy, buddy-read, this-cliffhanger-killed-me, young-adult, likeable-mc, made-me-laugh, in-a-minority-here

Book 2 : Rogue (2.5)

Actual rating : 3.5 stars

Deciding to read Talon was an instant-jerk reaction for me. After reading a bunch of mixed reviews, I reached the decision to never, ever read it. Guess I was fucking wrong. Because what happened next is kind of a blur : reading Chelsea's review - downloading it - eating it - loving it.

I ended to disagree with almost all the warnings I read before. Go figure. Maybe I'm a weirdo. *shrug*

About what have I been warned?

Be careful, the main character ...more

flag 45 likes · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2013 Hermione rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: wantwantwant, blargh, paranormal-or-fantasy-or-magic, because-of-the-author, dying-dyinggggg-for-you, disappointments, punch-punch-punch-the-protagnists, high-expectations, eh-it-was-all-right

2 stars. I read this book a while back, and tried re-reading it this past month before I realized I had already read it. I'm not too sure how I got through it the first time. Talon read like a cookie-cutter YA novel. I am extremely disappointed in it, especially since this is Julie Kagawa. I don't think I have it in me to read the sequel for such a lackluster start to this series.
________________________________________________
update: Oh my God. This is so badass. OMG.

She could be writing a ...more

flag 39 likes · Like · see review

Sep 21, 2018 Penny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: y-read-young-adults-fantasy, reviewed

Actual rating 2.5 stars
Weak and Undeveloped, but entertaining enough.

It is fine, interesting. But there is something missing here.
The story is not all there, and the romance is too superficial. More development and connexions between the characters are needed, more deepness.
The characters and fantasy are feeble. The dragon part is too weak. To me, it needed to be more prevalent and powerful in the story. More fantasy. The dragon characters are puny and too human. Ember is too high-school to be ...more

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2015 Brigid ✩ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, romance, young-adult, dragons

Damn, this sounds really cool. And I really liked Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series.

However, I see a lot of people are saying it's disappointing so I'm a bit hesitant.

But I will probably still read it at some point, because ........ DRAGONSSSSS

flag 31 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2016 Fables&Wren rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 02-stars, not-shelved

WrensReads Review:

I'm not going to spend too much time writing a review on this book.

I did like it, don't get me wrong, but it was just so predictable to the point that I was skimming some of the pages.

You have a Romeo and Juliet thing going on in two different corners.
St. George: Killing dragons
Talon: A big organization of dragons
Rogue: Dragons not in Talon.

Girl: Talon
Boy 01: St. George
Boy 02: Rogue

It's very youngly written, so it's towards the younger age of young adult, which as a early ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2014 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy-all

www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com

I thought this book was really good! I love dragons and the thought of dragon shapeshifters, so to speak, really got me stoked for this series.

I wasn't impressed with Ember's brother Dante, I really wished he could have been more like Ember, although she was a bit careless at times. I think you have to have the good cop / bad cop thing going on to create this particular story though. And it's not that Dante was bad, he just wanted to believe Talon and what ...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Apr 19, 2013 Blythe marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: wishlist

"[...] as is the case with YA books, a love triangle."

GOD DAMMIT KAGAWA

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2018 Krystal rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: light-fantasy, action-adventure, loved-up, owned, ya

I came here for dragons. Was not disappointed.

Summary: Ember and Dante are dragons disguised as humans. They are learning to act human by making friends with humans and doing fun human things, while doing secret dragon training on the side. Garret is a dragon-hunting human, whose latest mission involves pretending to be a normal human. He does this by making friends with humans and doing fun human things.

I liked these characters. Ember is so feisty and I loved that inner fire (haha) that made ...more

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2017 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and the characters were likeable. It was predictable but still enjoyable. I will continue on in the series for sure.

Fun and easy read that was amusing and lighthearted.

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2014 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, books-won, arcs-and-galleys, romance, urban, paranormal, shapeshifters, dragons

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/12/06/y...

I was a bit taken aback by the tepid to cool reviews I’ve been seeing for this one. Not that my own review is all that glowing, I realize, but while Talon probably won’t rank among my favorite Young Adult novels read this year, I had a lot of fun with it. By all means not a bad book. Surprisingly, most of the disappointment appears to be from fans of Julie Kagawa’s other series. I’ve never read anything else by her 3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/12/06/y...

I was a bit taken aback by the tepid to cool reviews I’ve been seeing for this one. Not that my own review is all that glowing, I realize, but while Talon probably won’t rank among my favorite Young Adult novels read this year, I had a lot of fun with it. By all means not a bad book. Surprisingly, most of the disappointment appears to be from fans of Julie Kagawa’s other series. I’ve never read anything else by her though, so there’s really nothing for me to compare this to.

But let’s move on to what the book is about. Talon is about dragons…but also not really. If you’re looking for a novel featuring these magnificent creatures in all their winged and scaly fire-breathing glory, you’re not going to find much of that here. What you have instead is a small group of dragonkind who spend most of their time in human form, hoping to infiltrate our society and one day take over the world again. A secret faction of dragon slayers called the Order of St. George is determined not to let that happen, and their members continue to hunt dragons like they have for time immemorial.

The book begins as two young dragon siblings, Ember and Dante Hill travel to California in their human forms to begin training for their future positions to serve their home base of Talon. Ember is fascinated with humankind, and wants nothing more than to enjoy the summer living out the full teenager experience – beaches, arcades, ice cream parlors, the whole shebang. Her brother Dante on the other hand is a lot more disciplined, and does not like it one bit when a rogue dragon shows up in their territory, distracting Ember from her training. Meanwhile, St. George has received the rumors of new dragon recruits in the area, and the young soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian and his partner are tasked to hunt these Talon agents down and kill them.

Encouraged to mingle and blend in with other teenagers, Ember and Dante spend most of this book as humans. But unlike other books with shape-shifting dragons (like Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina for example, which I thought did a really good job developing the culture and world of the draconic characters), it’s difficult to think of the dragons here as anything but human. This is what I meant when I cautioned not to think of Talon too much as a “dragon” book. Despite a few scenes of Ember thinking as a dragon and being a dragon – and they are quite few and far between – the author often seems to put her human persona before her draconic one. Plus, the setting is modern and urban. Ember’s life revolves around surfing, parties, friends and boys. Very little is known about the dragon home of Talon and Kagawa doesn’t really get into it. For those craving a bit more fantasy and world building, I can see how that could cause some frustration.

As such, this ends up being your rather typical contemporary young adult novel with a light fantasy twist, complete with love triangle and just a dash of forbidden love. Despite being exactly what I expected, it was undeniably entertaining.

After reading this, however, I admit to being skeptical of Kagawa’s writing. It’s obvious that she can spin a good yarn, but there were some plot elements that were so illogical and downright silly, it can be difficult to take these characters seriously. First of all, if you can take any form and you’re trying to covertly infiltrate and gain influence in human society, I would not do it as a teenager. Good luck gathering any useful information to bring back to your overlords, unless they’re interested in how your airheaded friend thinks so-and-so is so totally gorgeous and has nice abs. Talon is also so bad at this undercover secret agent stuff, I’m not surprised St. George managed to narrow their search down to Ember and Dante and their group of beach bum friends in like all of two seconds. You’re a dragon spy, and you’re seriously going to stick with Ember for your name? You might as well paint a target on your back and wear a big sign that says “I’M THE DRAGON!” and hang it around your neck. The Order of St. George doesn’t seem that much more competent either. At one point, Garret admits to his partner that he is getting too close to Ember and recommends stepping back from the mission. Instead of allowing Garret to do so, what does his partner do but tell him to take advantage of this new development to go even deeper into the case. Um, no! As soon as one of your soldiers gets emotionally involved and becomes compromised like that, you pull them the hell out. A lot of the problems that St. George experience near the end, they brought most of them on themselves.

These little moments aside, not much else detracted from the experience. Yes, the story is pretty standard but ended up being more interesting than the description made it sound, and it held my attention to the end, which isn’t something I can say for a lot of YA. The next book, predictably called Rogue, looks like it will delve deeper into the both the secret Order of St. George and the dragon organization Talon, so hopefully readers get the world building we want there. ...more

flag 21 likes · Like · see review

Jun 29, 2014 C.G. Drews rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, dragons, 4-star, read-2015

That was SOOOOOO GOOD! I really wasn't expecting to like this book because I'd heard so many mediocre reports. But I do so love dragons. I LURVE DRAGONS. And while this book isn't 100% focused on their dragonish-ness (totally a word) it has characters I love and sparky humour and a ship I plan to sail until dawn.

Where do I even begin?! GAH! Let's talk about the characters. There are 3 POVs, Ember (dragon), Garrett (dragon killer) and eventually Riley (rogue dragon).

Ember: is really spunky and ...more

flag 21 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
YA Buddy Readers'...: Talon (Talon #1) by Julie Kagawa - Restarting November 25th 2019	134	274	Dec 06, 2019 10:49AM
Fallen Into Tijan...: Talon (Talon #1) by Julie Kagawa [December] - (UTM™: Maraya)	3	9	Nov 27, 2018 01:55AM
Cobalt or Garret!?	7	93	Jun 06, 2017 03:48PM
Bookish Nerds :D: February '17 SOTM: Talon by Julie Kagawa Discussion	2	3	Feb 25, 2017 09:53AM
Readalongs - Germany: Talon von Julie Kagawa	33	64	Sep 05, 2016 07:12AM