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Saffron’s resolve will be tested as the fate of a kingdom hangs in the balance.Young Dragon Rider Saffron and her faithful comrade, the rightful king Bower, have survived their first battle, but the war for Torvald is far from over. She warns the scholarly prince they must take action and adapt for the sake of their people, while their enemy—and her relative—King Enric waits in the wings. The powerful mage knows orphaned Saffron wishes for a family above all, and his offer to make her his heir may be too tempting to refuse.As both dragons and Riders struggle to return to the ways of old, from before the land fell into darkness, the evil king undermines their every move with spies and sabotage. Bower knows their efforts are doomed without a final assault against the palace, but Saffron has doubts. Risking everything in a single attack isn’t what concerns her—it’s what victory may mean.She knows she must overcome her Maddox nature to save her people. Toppling the ruthless Enric means an end to one deadly threat, but will she be able to resist the temptation to use her wild magic to seize power for herself?

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2017

253 people are currently reading
201 people want to read

About the author

Ava Richardson

153 books429 followers
Ava Richardson writes epic page-turning Young Adult Fantasy books. She creates lovable characters and drops them into intricate worlds that are barely contained within your eReader. Ava has written 21 YA dragon fantasy series, including her bestselling series Return of the Darkening and her recent series, Destia's Dragon Shifter War.

She grew up on a steady diet of fantasy and science fiction books handed down from her two big brothers – and despite being dog-eared and missing pages, she loved escaping into the magical worlds that those authors created. Her favorites were the ones about dragons; where they’d swoop, dive and soar through the skies of these enchanted lands.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
Profile Image for Sheila G.
520 reviews95 followers
March 26, 2018
1) Dragons of Wild: ★★★½
2) Dragons of Kings: ★★★

See my FULL review of this book on my blog along with others at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com

description

All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.

description
”This isn’t a rebellion,” Bower was suddenly passionate. “We are ousting a dictator. Not overthrowing a rightful king.”

This is one of those times when writing a review is truly difficult. While I didn’t necessarily dislike this book, I didn’t fall in love with it either. I felt throughout the entire Upon Dragon’s Breath that I was searching more depth overall---but never really got it. Character development still occurs, but it is accompanied by a feeling of vagueness and without much drive.

Dragons of Dark adds some new elements throughout which helps to spice up the read. Steampunk vibes, along with numerous action/battle scenes pepper the pages which makes the reading engaging.

World Building

Set mainly in the surrounding lands of Torvald, Dragons of Dark has a little more variety in scenery. The group travels into treacherous areas in order to reach the Stone Tooth clan. However, the land itself still lacked much description, making it difficult to get a sense of where the characters were at and giving scene changes a confusing and “rushed” sensation.

Pacing & Readability

The pacing is consistently faster than that in the previous two installments. There is a lot more happening on all fronts, making the plot flow from one scene to the next without much contemplation or hesitation in between.

Point-Of-View & Characters

The point-of-view follows suite with the previous two books and continues to change from Saffron to Bower’s perspective. I liked how this remained the same because it helped me continue to see the character growth with both of the main characters.

While there isn’t a large shift in her character overall, Saffron does encounter the majority of the challenges throughout this book. Coping with the evil Maddox magic, Saffron drinks a medicinal remedy to dull her ability to call upon the magic. The side effects, however, cause her to lose her ability to communicate with the dragons. Not only does she need to deal with that, but she must also face the reality of her origins, relations, and role.
”No, Saffron. I am not your mother. I am Queen Zenema, and you are the one who will unite the old and the young, the dragons and the humans again. You will rule them from the air above and the land below. There is no shame in it. You are not King Enric, and he is not you. You are your own.”

Saffron discovers that her anger fuels the magic within her, making it uncontrollable at times. Luckily, the ties she had to her dragon hoard and to Bower were strong enough to help her through the toughest of challenges. Their guidance helped her face King Enric, but to also face the threat within herself.

Bower serves as the secondary protagonist throughout this series. I felt that his character made some progression throughout Dragons of Kings but plateaued in Dragons of Dark. In fact, I remained rather indifferent towards him. Still gaining the trust of the dragons and the clans he leads into battle, he constantly plays (a rather easy game of) “tug-of-war” with his self-confidence and ability to lead as the future king. Despite his efforts, I found everything too easy for him and didn’t feel that he really encountered adversity along the way. It made his main issue too simple, solvable and not really an issue. His main opposition was himself, as he doubted himself more than anyone else.
”These people put their faith in me, and I failed.”
“It was you who figured out a way to escape the trap, Bower. It was you who managed to destroy those Iron Guard. Why are you doing this to yourself? Why are you so convinced that you are going to fail?”

King Enric Maddox, the elusive antagonist, and dictator-king of Torvald remains rather underdeveloped. I was really hoping to see more of him in this installment, seeing how he is so utterly terrible, but he sits on the back-burner most of the book until the culmination in the end.

Jaydra, Zenema, and Ysix all played important roles particularly in this installment as mentors to both Saffron and Bower. Without their guidance (and random knowledge at times) Saffron and Bower never would have made it as far as they did. While they weren't the main characters of this series, they remain to be my favorites, as their personalities are well-developed and interesting (I mean, they're dragons!)

Major Themes

⇒ Good vs. Evil

The battle between good vs. evil is always at the forefront of this series. King Enric, the dictator king who stole the throne, uses his evil magic to do as he pleases. Saffron and Bower must gain the trust of two different races in order to dethrone him, and place the rightful king on the throne.

⇒ Emotions

Anger was a key emotion focused on throughout this series. While it wasn’t realized at first, anger was the fuel to the fire that made Saffron’s magic uncontrollable.
”This anger seemed to come with the power, and the more I used magic, the worse I felt. My anger always there, under the surface, and I was terrified that once I let it spill out, it would wash away the person that I had been, and I would become just like Enric.”

Saffron had to learn how to address and control her anger in order to harness the magic in her blood.

⇒ Friendship

”They’ve rallied to you because of what happened to Kingswood. Life can’t get worse for them, the evil king has already burned down their homes, and they have already lost loved ones. They’ve come to you to try and start again. To find some hope after the horror that has been visited upon them.”

Time after time, friendship shows up between these characters. Without help and support from one another, they never would have made it very far.

Overall Feelings

Things that I liked:

⇒ The main characters, Saffron and Bower, also Jaydra, are easy to like and relate to.
⇒ The theme of friendship and how it’s demonstrated. That’s right---Bower and Saffron remain friends only. This is a romance-free series!
⇒ It’s a relatively clean read.

Things that I didn’t like:

⇒ World building and sense-of-location still lacked greatly.
⇒ The climax of this book, along with the climax of the entire series just wasn’t enough.
⇒ The “major” plot twists were too predictable.
⇒ I found the prologue told from King Enric’s perspective to be confusing. Perhaps this was because I may have forgotten some details from Dragons of Wild.
⇒ Bower's character and his insistence on how he wasn't "good enough" to rule.

While I really did enjoy this series, I felt that it lacked personable traits to pull me in. Instead of being fully immersed in this world, I always felt like I was reading this story. I want to experience it, too. It’s a bummer because I think that this series has some great potential, but I had difficulty with really connecting to it in the end. The plot is creative in its own way but is also similar in several ways to other books in the same genre. To put my feelings into one world, this book felt "familiar" on many fronts, and needed more specification to stand out from the rest.

Vulgarity: Minimal - 4 words total.
Sexual content: None!
Violence: Moderate - there are several battle scenes throughout that include some gore.

My Rating: ★★★

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Profile Image for Akahayla.
340 reviews45 followers
June 8, 2017
[2.5]

I'm a little disappointed with this book... While I absolutely adored the first two books, this one was drastically slower paced than the others. It was almost frustrating to see how slow things were moving.

And I also found a few typos here and there. It didn't necessarily stop me from enjoying the book but it'd definitely have been better without it.

Besides the pace and the typos, I really have nothing to complain. I really liked how the book ended and my love for the characters keeps increasing. This is one of those series where you stick to the end of it for the characters.

I found out recently that this is a sequel trilogy, so to the original trilogy, "Here I come!"
Profile Image for Raven and Beez.
172 reviews53 followers
June 18, 2017
[2.5]

The final conclusion to the Upon the dragon’s breath series.

Bower has found allies but an army cannot be raised without the threat of betrayal.

Saffron’s magic is turning against her, and her sacred bond with Jaydra is threatened in an attempt to fix it.


The Bloggo

Things I liked: I liked how the book ended. Bower stayed true to his character and his friendship with Saffron was finally so much stronger.

And I loved the scene where the dragons chose the humans. It gave me chills.

Things I disliked: I’m so disappointed with this conclusion. The entire book just seemed to wander aimlessly. Imagine me looking for water in a desert without my glasses, that’s what this book was.

It had SO much potential but it hardly met the mark for me. This book was 2.5 when the previous two were a good 4.

Bower constantly took his army and just fought random ass battles for no reason?? It felt so pointless! And there was so LITTLE of Jaydra or ANY other dragon for that matter. I had such high hopes for this one and I was axed down by this e-book.

Lots of love,
Raven
334 reviews2 followers
February 15, 2018
The best read ever!

This was the last book of interesting and fast movlng series and I loved them al. The characters were special and likeable.This was the most enjoyable story. What a wonderful author to be able to write such a thrilling,interesting,fast moving book. You will not want to put it down. I look forward to more of Ava Richardson books.
Profile Image for Yvonne Bach.
32 reviews
January 19, 2018
Love!!!

How can I put into words the enjoyment this trilogy brought to me???? I can’t. I did not want this story to end. If you love dragons and magic, you will love this series!!!
Profile Image for Ski Croghan.
609 reviews5 followers
May 13, 2017
Outstanding finish to an amazing series!!!!

Such an outstanding end to one of the best series I have ever read. These books were amazing. Right from the beginning they flowed seamlessly from one to the next as if they were all chapters of one long novel. Never did you feel like you lost time from one book to the next or that you had lost some part of of the story. As all good thrillers do they had many twists and turns,but you could follow them after you caught your breath from having realized that the answer you thought you had figured out was not right but almost exactly the opposite of what thought it was. There was a HEA at the end. But it took it's toll on every character, good or evil, but they all got what they deserved, or better than they deserved in some cases. Extremely well written, great fully developed characters and a storyline that never slowed down, this series had it all. If you luv dragons, fantasy or just a great story don't miss this one. Highly recommended. Bravo author bravo!
Profile Image for Stephen Levesque.
2,845 reviews
March 15, 2017
This conclusion of the series was better than I hoped. Ava Richardson really out does herself with this book, wrapping up everything that you had questions about from the first 2 books of the series. It was a story that is well told and keeps you engaged throughout. You will not be disappointed in this series. Great Reading Everyone!!!!
Profile Image for rusty r.ridenour.
90 reviews
March 4, 2017
Good book great series

This was a good series to read all three books kept me interested in the characters were really good the only thing bad about this book is that it ended
44 reviews
October 27, 2017
Great book

Wonderful book I really enjoyed it could not put it down. The whole series was most gripping. I would recommend it
8 reviews
November 30, 2017
It didn't end the way I'd expected.

It was an easy read and pretty exciting . I wish that the author would have ended it with saffron being queen but it still was a good ending .
Profile Image for Alan Behan.
737 reviews18 followers
March 1, 2024
That was a tantalising and fantastic conclusion to this wonderfully written trilogy. The characters were very entertaining, lots of dragons, magic, and the desire and hope that good will triumph evil once and for all.

Dragons of Dark is the third and final book in Upon Dragon's Breath. If you love dragons with strong personalities and strong magical bonds between them and their dragon riders, then you will absolutely love this.

Ava Richardson has created a brilliant fantasy realm for all ages to read and get lost in her world with their favourite beasts, Dragons. It's an easy read with an imaginative evil wizard, innocent good guys turned heroes, war and lots of action scenes but not overly done with violence, I really enjoyed the trilogy and look forward to reading more from this author.

Our two main protagonists have come a long way in this story, as they develop into their roles, they were born into. But first, they must rid the world of the evil king and wizard Hacon Maddox.

War is coming to Torvold, and Saffron must learn to control her magical powers before she hurts those close to her. She is a powerful sorceress, and she alone holds the key to defeat King Hacon.

Bower has taken to his role as the dragon king, uniting humans and dragons again. With an army now in his command, there is only one destination, Torvold. To win back his Kingdom, they must topple evil and break the spell that's darkened it for years.

To all you dragons lovers out there, I very highly recommend this wonderful trilogy...🐲🐲🐲
Profile Image for Susan May.
728 reviews14 followers
September 22, 2024
Another great ending to a fabulous trilogy. The dragons are awesome and this one features a fight between brood mothers which you don't see often. Such an exciting ending.
Saffron's magic is now more dangerous than ever and she must find someone to help her learn to use it. Now they are looking for another tribe an enemy of the Three Rivers Tribe and they are The Stone Tooth Tribe. When they find them Saffron is relieved to learn they have old scrolls from times long ago and she hopes to find answers about her magic. The best part is they have a healer who can help her. While they search, Enric grows stronger and he is determined to get Saffron. Now he is using dream magic to try to rip her away. Bower is frustrated because it seems that Enric is one step ahead of them with every move they make. When Enric sends One Eye the brood mother for the wild dragons before she was relieved by Zanemia Saffrons dragon mother. She is under Enrics control and reeking havoc. Zanemia comes to battle to save the newly recruited dark dragons and her daughters Jaydra & Saffron. That is when Bower discovers a spy in their midst. Now they will set a trap to catch the spy and then hopefully have 1 final battle with Enric.
A reat story with plenty of action.
154 reviews
April 14, 2023
Können Saffron und Bower den bösen König Enric stürzen?
Der Sprecher ist der selbe wie in den ersten beiden Teilen und die Geschichte geht auch direkt dort weiter, wo der zweite Band aufgehört hat.
In diesem Teil stand Saffron nicht so sehr im Hintergrund wie im zweiten Band und sie ist für mich einfach der interessantere Charakter. Bower kommt allerdings auch nicht zu kurz.
Die Uneinigkeiten, die entstehen, wenn viele unterschiedliche Parteien versuchen zusammenzuarbeiten, werden sehr gut und sehr ausführlich dargestellt. Da hat König Enric es natürlich leichter - er braucht sich mit niemandem abstimmen.
Ein schöner Abschluss der Reihe, insgesamt wird es wahrscheinlich auch etwas zum inmer mal wieder hören, wenn man zb krank ist.
217 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2018
With Death Comes Life

Saffron and Bowers must come to terms with their abilities, and face death at the hands of the king. Or possible one another. With the Iron Guard storming down on them and their defeat hanging in the balance can they find a way to victory before the king sucks the life out of them. Only through the superb writing will the author show you. You must read to find out.
177 reviews1 follower
April 16, 2020
Exceptional!!!😃

I was literally on the edge of my seat at the end. That darned Enric was so powerful but not as smart as Bower, Saffron or even Jaydra..lol
Thankfully he was stopped to bring forth the New World with Dragons in it!. We're there dragons in King Arthur's day? Huh. Would have been cool to have continued to still have them. Maybe humans could have learned Good things
I have read the Dragon Trials already...SUPERB!!
Profile Image for Betty Z.
127 reviews2 followers
March 28, 2018
Awesome

Ava Richardson is a great writer of Dragon Lore. First, I read the three books starting with Dragon Trials and then this last trio of Dragons Breath. Which although is a stand alone trilogy, it is also a continuation of the original three.
Splendid writing that keeps you turning page after page well into the night and early morn.
Profile Image for Kayla Burge.
Author 1 book
November 28, 2020
Great story!

I thought the story was great and really well defined. Some of the sentences don’t flow as well as I would have liked but this is my second time reading this series so you can tell I love it! The author is amazing and I deffinitely recommend you check out her books! Make sure if they’re on kindle unlimited though you read them til the very end and support her!!!
46 reviews
October 31, 2021
War over

Well worth reading, it is a good start to the overall story. I started from the next book reading forward. Then I found this part, so now I have read the whole story.
From the war of the mad king, to the future wars to come, with a full Dragon Academy and Dragon riders. Keep reading ridetrs
574 reviews6 followers
April 20, 2019
Good verses evil in an epic scale

Dragons embody everything good and are Saffron 's anchor in her times of need. Bower grows and grows closer to Saffron. Hero's to cheer for fighting an unstoppable enemy. Amazingly written to draw you in and not let go.
69 reviews
January 11, 2022
Great ya series for all ages

This is another awesome book by Ava Richardson. A strong heroine and hero with weaknesses and fears with lots to learn to beat an evil king with dark magic.
3 reviews
October 28, 2023
Imaginative and engaging read.

It's an easy read. Imaginative evil guys, innocent good guys, not overly expounded violence.
I enjoyed the trilogy and look forward to reading more from this author.
21 reviews
March 30, 2018
Fantastic books,

Drew me in and didn't let go. Love all 3 books! They ended way too soon. Will definitely buy more of her books!
11 reviews
May 2, 2019
Best Trilogy I’ve read!!

This trilogy was truly amazing and I could not put it down. Ava Richardson has great depth into the minds of dragons and magic.
76 reviews
August 14, 2019
Great ending for those two

After a very long hard struggle out hero's have had the final battle against the evil false king end what a great victory.
16 reviews
March 4, 2020
I loved this series and can't wait to start the next series by Ava Richardson.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Choi.
404 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2020
Great

Well written, and of the story.The story carries you away to fantastic scenes,epic battles and smiles and a few tears! Great series!
682 reviews
January 6, 2022
Very nice ending to the trilogy. I really appreciated this clean, well written story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews

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