Dragon Called by Ava Richardson

In Ava Richardson’s novel Dragon Called, a young woman who was once an orphan and is now a slave discovers that these two adjectives do not accurately describe who she is. This book may contain a number of tropes that will make some people cringe in advance, but it is still worth reading thoroughly.

Richardson uses just the perfect amount of description to draw us into her world and let us fill in the blanks with our own imaginations rather than plunging the reader into some freshly created, completely alien universe. Although it may not be wholly original to the dragon fantasy subgenre, it does give a fresh viewpoint and a distinctive antagonist.

Dayie is a girl, no more than seventeen, who has no past and a downtrodden present, but when afforded the chance of a future, she takes it. That has a few drawbacks, though. She is battling to escape the wandering, dragon-stealing gipsies who acquired her and mistreated her in the first several chapters.

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Even while readers will urge her to run the other way, she frequently finds herself returning to their side. This reflects the years of neglect she has experienced, which—intentionally or not—is a daring and blunt illustration of the damage that chronic abuse can cause and how challenging it is to emerge from under its shadow.

Dayie discovers herself with the aid of a dragon, accepting her odd behaviour while realising that she possesses a powerful ability that she ought to be using for the greater good. This young adult dragon epic, which makes friends along the way and has the merest suggestion of a potential romance, is a fantastical, thrilling book that demonstrates the value of standing up for who you are and what makes you distinct.

About The Book

From the moment Dayie washed ashore as an infant, everyone in her tiny village treated her as… different. She didn’t belong, no matter how hard she tried. So when a vicious, invasive plant called Deadweed overruns her village, she’s blamed and sold to the Dragon Traders for fear of her powers and the mystery surrounding her origin.

After years of service to the ruthless Dragon Traders, Dayie wants her freedom. To repay her debt, Dayie steals a dragon egg. But she winds up with far more than she bargained for when her egg hatches before she can get it to them. Now she must hide her hotheaded young dragon Zarr or risk losing him: either to the Dragon Traders or the Deadweed that’s creeping ever southward.

When the Dragon Traders travel further south to evade capture and Deadweed attacks, Dayie meets a mysterious Dragon Rider named Akeem, who tells her magic is behind the spread of the Deadweed, and that she’s been bonded with Zarr—for life. Now Dayie faces a choice: give up her dragon for her freedom or take her place with Zarr in the Training Hall of Dagban. There, she may have the chance to avenge her parents’ deaths and solve the mystery of ever-spreading Deadweed.

Dayie’s destiny awaits, if she’s brave enough to follow it…