cover image Dragonbride

Dragonbride

Raani York. CreateSpace, $14.99 paper (424p) ISBN 978-1-5002-3210-8

First in the planned Dragon Chronicles trilogy, York’s fantasy has its merits but doesn’t entirely hit its mark. Raised as the only magician in the world, a 16-year-old named Shalima learns that she must fulfill an ancient prophecy and become the bride of the Golden Dragon, the king of all dragons and protector of good in the world. Shalima quickly comes to love Dragan, the Golden Dragon’s human form, but their wedded bliss is interrupted by the arrival of the Kalman, the Golden Dragon’s evil counterpart. York’s worldbuilding is rich in detail, and her cast of characters is widely diverse, but meandering writing (“As a Princess, my position definitely was higher than theirs, but this was not a matter of rank. They were close friends and very brave, but I needed space”) and a lack of character development overshadow these strengths. Unfortunately, the characters’ struggle to defeat the Kalman amounts to an exercise in being in the right place at the right time and deciphering prophecies that spell out exactly what’s going to happen. Ages 14–up. (BookLife)