Dragonspeaker

by Michael DeAngelo

Kaiyonani knows what it's like to be a cat of the Kehara desert. The harsh sands around her tribe's oasis are hot and savage, and there are enemies abound throughout the region. The one thing her people had to rely on was their fierce dragon ally, Iraneth. But now, the dragon is dead. Kaiyonani's grandfather fulfilled the role of dragonspeaker. It is a title that is passed down from one kaja to the next, though it usually changes hands because a mortal has died—not one of the majestic winged creatures they call friend. The next dragonspeaker has been named, and to everyone's surprise, it is Kaiyonani who is destined to take up the mantle. She must venture across the desert, to lands unknown in order to make the bond with her own dragon companion. But can she survive the cruel wilderness and dangerous creatures that call Saveon and the Kehara Desert home?

85 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2017

Reviews

[Eric Barnum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun YA story about a cat-humanoid looking for a dragon she is destined to be with. Her quest is interesting with clear scenes and gnolls that actually act and fight like gnolls. The dragon's personality really made this story work for me. I don't normally read YA but my daughters enjoy it. This is the 2nd Tellest book I've gotten for them. My 15 year old loved it. The 5 stars is from her. My 12 year old is reading it now too.

I don't know if the author intended it to be amusing, but I found parts of it quite amusing, in a Shrek kind of way. The only other story I can think of that has dragons hatching is Eragon and GOT, where in both, the dragon matures very quickly. I found DeAgngelo's take on dragon hatchlings interesting in a good way.

If you like YA fantasy or just want to immerse yourself in a several hour read about dragons and non-humans, I recommend this book.

[Thistle · Rating 1 out of 5]

While reading this, it felt just like a story set in some gaming system, like all the worldbuilding a reader would need was missing since they would have gotten it from the game.

Turns out that was partially right. I'm not even sure how to explain what this book "series" even is. "Tellest is an expanding fantasy world where your favorite fantasy characters connect across different books." Each author seems to be able to add a race to the world? I don't even know, but whatever it is, it didn't work.

DNF

[Noah White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, breathtaking story about the journey of our new dragonspeaker as she finds her companion. It had many heartwarming scenes and was packed with action, which made me not put it down until it was sadly over.
Fair warning though; this is not the end of their story, and we don't know whether we'll see it continue or not. I can only hope we do, because I've enjoyed this quite a lot. I'll be reading the rest of the Tellest books now, and hopefully will fall in love with them as well.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fifth read from author Michael DeAngelo was every bit as good as the first four.