Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
First in The Age of Fire series
Product Description
After escaping those who killed his siblings, Young Auron, a rare, defenseless gray dragon, fears he might be the last of his breed. Armed with nothing but his claws and a boundless determination to survive, he sets off in search of his kind. But to find other dragons-or, at least, find out who’s killing them off-Auron will have to search a world of mercenary elves, vicious humans, and dangers of all kinds. Finding allies in the strangest places-and himself along the way-Auron is on the trek of a lifetime.
Whereas many animal-hero novels have a tendency to lose focus or turn silly, Knight never loses touch with his protagonist’s struggle. Auron is a young grey dragon, the champion of his brood.
The early scenes depicting Auron’s emergence from his shell were wonderful, giving an immediate feel for the life of the dragon. Knight evokes some very strong images here, particularly Auron busting from his shell and his initial dragon education from his parents was also very well-done. Here, Knight did a great job of hooking me into the story.
Something sets Auron apart from his Dragon brethren – he is a rare gray dragon. Almost out of the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual, the dragons in Knight’s world come in a variety of colors. Grays, such as Auron, are scaleless, the rarest, the smallest, and are often perceived to be the weakest of the dragons. Lacking the scales that weigh down his siblings, Auron’s quicker in mind and body than most dragons. His wits serve him well when his parents’ lair is plundered by slave-trading dwarfs and he flees for safety with his sister. After the two are quickly seperated, Auron sets out to find answers in a hostile world that’s rapidly culling his kind.
Auron’s plight is indeed a familiar one, but this makes it no less entertaining to experience. As Auron matures and learns of the world, he is captured and eventually freed by Hazeleye, an elf who has gathered a great deal of information about dragons. Much of Hazeleye’s knowledge pertains to an almost legendary, ancient black dragon, NooMoahk, who may hold the key to the fate of Dragons.
Soon after Auron is freed, he becomes part of a wolf pack. This may sound somewhat corny and odd, put in those simplistic terms, but again, Knight manages to make this work very effectively and plausibly. As strong as Knight built the dragon society and culture in this book, his wolf society shows as much care and detail. Seemingly modeled after the Norse society, the wolves gather in what they call Thing (much like the Norse/Germanic All Thing) to induct Auron into their society. This concern and attention to the details illustrates how strong the overall feel of the book is – Knight clearly is building something more in this world and the amount of back-story to the characters and creatures is very impressive.
Dragons are a staple of fantasy novels, leading for the species to be experimented upon by writers with mixed results. Auron, as well as the other dragons in Knight’s Age of Fire series, is not a simple-minded reptile existing merely to be slain by a hero, but neither is he a glorified winged pony to be tamed and ridden upon by humans—not without a struggle. The brood champion offers a dragons-eye view of the world he travels, and the reader is treated to the thoughts and actions that are expected of an intelligent creature fighting for its survival. Auron forms alliances with humans, dwarfs and elves as he matures, but if needed, he’ll kill them without sympathy. In one instance, he stalks and kills a human child to set a human mob on a nearby male dragon who refuses to allow him in his territory. Auron rarely pauses to sort out morals during these moments, nor should he. Intelligent though he is, the thought process of a dragon should differ from a human’s.
Dragon Champion carries an intense sense of danger through the first half of the novel, when Auron is most vulnerable. Dragons are usually penned as infallible creatures, but Auron’s barely older than a hatchling and has yet to grow his wings. His winning battles and food depends on his speed and his wits. Dragon Champion’s killing scenes are more descriptive than most fantasy novels, which are content to mention a “killing stroke” and not the guts that fall out thereafter.
I can’t really recommend this for younger children due to the fairly explicit scenes of violence, (not to mention the murdered child). My thirteen year-old son and myself both thoroughly enjoyed this book, however. And when his little sister is a few years older we will share this great story with her, too. I would put this book right up there with Watership Down as a classic animal adventure story.
Celebrate Teen Read Week along with 
, HarperCollins has announced that they will release the entire series in paperback.
