Ragel's Brood

by A.L. Awtrey

In a world where dragons are predators and humans are prey, a greedy human king tries to destroy a family of dragons until Ragel must rise up to protect his brood.

Ragel wants to live a quiet life with his mate, Saah, and their four dragonlings in the sheltered valley he had previously claimed as his own. King Thorn believes dragons are mere animals and refuses to accept Ragel's prior claim to the valley, especially after the greedy king discovers gold there.

Thorn plots to regain the valley after Ragel destroys the mining camp, but is temporarily thwarted by weather and attacks along his kingdom’s borders by other dragons.

Meanwhile, Ragel is teaching his four dragonlings about the world and their history until his most troublesome daughter brings home a young two-leg (human) as a pet. When the pet learns the dragon language and teaches her own tongue to the dragonlings, Ragel is forced to confront his own prejudices about creatures he has viewed as nothing but prey.

When summer comes, tension between the greedy human king and the protective dragon father grows until the conflict erupts in fire and steel. Who will survive?

48 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2018

About the author

I’ve been writing novels for fun and practice since 2012. After completing eight novels and a few dozen short stories, I published my novel Letting Go. When I’m not writing, I’m the CTO for a technology consultancy and a professional singer.

Reviews

[Jennie Rosenblum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great set up to the series and introduces the reader to the main characters who are dragons. As a children's librarian, I would easily give this book to third graders through middle school. The emotions and family relationships make the reader easily have a connection with the dragon family.

[Julia Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess: I love dragons! I want one of my own, but honestly have no where to keep one. This read was a no brainer for me to pick up, but I must say I was thrilled with the contents. Awtrey has written a story about a family of dragons. Mom (Saah), Dad (Ragel), three broodlings (how cute is that!). He even provides the broodlings with a history of their parents relationship and courting rituals. The story follows the birth and early years of the broodlings . As you know, the biggest threat to a dragon is humankind, so par for the course, Ragel and Saah can not stand “two-legs”. There is even a really bad King who sits on a throne made from a dragon’s skull, which angers the dragons profoundly.

Ragel’s Brood is such a well written, interesting book that I could not wait to read the second one. I highly recommend this book for third through 8th graders or anyone that likes dragons!