Dragon School: First Flight

WARNING BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK: I am a McCaffrey fan, so no surprise that I liked this book about telepathic dragons. Why did I give it only two stars? The first book, "Dragon School: First Flight," was a free download to my Kindle. The next 11 in the series cost $2.99 each to download. The books take less than an hour to read, which should tell you how short they are. Before you read this free book, decide whether you want to pay almost $33.00 to find out how the book ends. I read the second book before I understood (what I regard as) the scam. Too many authors are doing this to loyal readers. Writing a series is one thing. Making what should be one book into a serialized 12-volume set --- just so that you can charge more than you should for what is really one book --- is contemptible.

And definitely not at their current pricing. I knew that this was YA and short. I didn't realize that there would be so many "Episodes" at $2.99 each. Nope, not for me--I won't be continuing.However, I did enjoy this story. There was an interesting Heroine, a Dragon School, and telepathic dragons in an interesting World (at least what we know of it). The Dragon School, I'm afraid, had a great amount of incredibly stupid traditions. There was a 'bully" situation between the young Heroine and all of her classmates. And yet she persevered.It's probably great reading for a young reader. But be aware that unlike the Harry Potter or Dragons of Pern series, these individual books are so short that they aren't very satisfying. The parent of the young reader will have to have deep pockets before this series is finished.

Thought it would be fun, a handicapped female that rides a dragon - surely worth a read. BUT - DO NOT get into this series unless you have Kindle Unlimited!! It is a series of 20 issues (cannot call 90 pages a real book) 99 cents for first one then $3 for each other 19 issues of less then 100 pages after that, cost could be $76 if you buy each one. And sorry but the story is just not that good...it is frustratingly ENDLESS. The things that the main charecter goes thru are just too unreal even for fantasy and actually irritating that the author puts her into these situations. The tale is just too long and began to be so annoying I gave up before the last few as I was getting too irritated to go on. I love dragon books but this is no where near a Anne McCaffrey, Eragon, Ava Richardson, Jessica Drake to state a few. They write stories that are books. I have no idea how so many seem to commend these but give it a try and see if you can last a full 20 issues but do not be surprised if you too get angry along the way

This is the third series from this author for me and I am seriously hooked. This story is a great beginning of a new series and I cannot wait for the next one. It is a bit shorter than I am used to but it contains all world building and character development of a longer story. I have no idea how the author managed to accomplish that in only 100 pages but the story is intense and very interesting.The author invented yet another new fresh and original concept, I haven't encountered before. Or maybe I did but it was not this well written. In any case, reading Sarah Wilson's new book is always like a ride on a brand new roller coaster for the first time. Amazing, as is her writing style.Dragon School series features Amel, an amazing girl of the slightly weaker body but strongest will and spirit yet known. She is brave beyond comparison and she never gives up. Then there is magical dragon Raolcan and their adventures. Great beginning of the series and I highly recommend it.The series should be read in order: Dragon School: First Flight (Dragon School #1), Dragon School: Initiate (Dragon School #2), Dragon School: The Dark Prince (Dragon School #3), Dragon School: Ruby Isles (Dragon School #4), Dragon School: Sworn (Dragon School #5) and more books have been announced.

Sarah K.L. Wilson is so boss at storytelling, they'd allowed her to have two middle initials in her name. I'm currently caught up to book four in her Dragon School series, and I am having a blast reading it. And, by the way, since these volumes run at novella length, I'd been able to burn thru those four volumes just today. First Flight is the first entry and my first time reading this author's stuff, and it hooked me good, good enough that I didn't even pause when it came time to purchase the subsequent volumes.I will say that I'm glad this series is up to fourteen volumes already. There's no tearing my hair out waiting for the next installment. Also, I may have had issues with how First Flight had a sudden swerve in its plot that came off as rather abrupt and with no explanation given. More on that in a mo.Dragon School is projected to comprise twenty novellas, and I'm salivating to get thru the existing fourteen and then to not looking forward to waiting for the remaining six. Four books in, it's plenty good. Not quite up there yet with my two all-time favorite YA reads about dragons, which are Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong and its sequel Dragonsinger (the second sequel, Dragondrums, is sort of meh). But I like Wilson's worldbuilding quite a bit and the character work she invests in her MC......who happens to be 16-year-old Amel Leafbrought. Amel desperately yearns to be a dragon rider. There are two knocks against her. She's a commoner. And she's a cripple, her hip crushed and her leg mangled, lasting fallout from when she was 17 months old and accidentally dropped during her family's flight from a raiders' attack.Each year, multitudes of recruits perish in their try to gentle a wild dragon. Those who fail yet survive are pulled from the recruitment program and demoted to becoming servants of the dragon riders. And there's Amel Leafbrought, hobbling along, her crutch under one arm, not given much chance to do anything but die right away. Except Amel has colossal pluck, and is obstinate as ef, and means to achieve her lofty dream, and there's also that she didn't want anymore to be a burden on her impoverished family.Amel is so easy to root for. She's a refreshing change from the spate of asskicking fantasy/sci-fi heroines who seem to just dominate every obstacle like it was a trifling thing. Yes, Amel is resilient, and, yes, she's steadfast in her pursuit of her goal. But, damn, the sh-- she has to go thru. The author portrays the dragon riding community - or at least its fresh recruits - as mostly scornful and condescending towards those with disabilities. This series tells of a grand adventure, yes, but it's also a study in how small-minded and bullying your peers can be. As if the dragon academy weren't grueling enough. I love that Amel simply carries on despite the "stigma" others choose to associate her with, never mind that her infirmity isn't her fault.The worldbuilding fascinated me, specifically the infrastructure of the dragon school. It's interesting that the color of the dragon signifies its rider's specialty. The rider of a white dragon is slated to be a healer. A rider who chooses a gold dragon is bound for diplomacy. And purple...Amel suspects she'd be last to pick out a dragon, just as she suspects she'll be last in everything, and she's right. She ends up with a purple dragon, only to learn that purple dragons are the most prickly lot, and the most solitary. Except Raolcan is an awesome dragon, with his deep eggplant color and yellow eyes and immediate deep connection with Amel. I haven't liked a dragon this much this fast since I first ran into Ruth in McCaffrey's The White Dragon. By the way, those rare recruits who choose a purple end up as couriers.One gripe that I would've had had I not binge-read a bunch of these is that, deep into this first book, the status quo changes abruptly and the training is accelerated with no good reason given. But because I did binge-read the first four entries, that acceleration was eventually explained away. But, yes, I think I prefer binge-reading or binge-watching a series because I tend to retain things better and the overarching narrative holds together better when experienced that way.It's a short read and much of it devoted to the minutiae of rudimentary training such the care of one's dragon and mucking out its stall. But it's actually interesting stuff, partly because of how even something as elementary as those activities prove to be quite a challenge for our handicapped heroine. The plot's climax dovetails into the novella's title as Amal and her fellow recruits must complete their first dragon flight. Amel survives this, probably.

I loved this, but it's too short. I would have given five stars - the world building and character development is excellent, but it's only really a quarter of a book. Then I find there are TWENTY in the series, and some are shorter still, and all are "novellas" ( read single chapters)The author's pathetic excuse of "wanting to write easily readable bits like episodes of a tv series " doesn't wash. The books are £3 each! Just write a book and charge a normal price for it. If I want an "episode sized" read, I will stop at the end of a chapter like a sensible person.This has actually made me cross! I think I'm annoyed because it's a really good start to a story and I feel like I have to be complicit in being ripped off if I want to read the rest.

Dragon School:First Flight tells of Amel's first few days in Dragon School. She must select a dragon - or does a dragon select her? - learn to care for him, and learn how to ride him, all while navigating her way around a school that is perched on a mountain top.I thoroughly enjoyed Dragon School:First Flight. It was pure escapism and I loved it! My only complaint (and the reason I've given 4 stars instead of 5) is that the story doesn't really go anywhere. I now understand that the story is told over 20 books, each one forming only a part of the whole. I have no problem with that as a concept but it's going to make for an expensive buy if I decide to read on. You can buy the story in box sets, with each box set having 5 books in it, but each set is £7-8 making the whole thing around about £30.

I bought the first book (episode) and then bought the next 5 (out of 20) books (episodes) in the series as I quite liked the main character and the writing. I have decided not to buy or read any more of this authors books purely because the length of each 'episode' and the price, make the overall series cost way more then I feel it is worth for me. Id hate to see other authors go down this route, chopping their novels up and selling them off a few chapters at a time. I think if you are a good author people will buy your books and in great quantities, I sure do with authors I love. No need for scammy sales techniques. This is purely my opinion however, if budget isn't a consideration for you than work away, its a nice story.

A brilliant book that was just too short! I ummed and Arred about whether to drop this to 3 stars due to the length of the book.... but i decided against because it really was well written.I felt like as soon as i was getting to know the characters, the books was over, and book one and two in this series should perhaps then have been one book? But i will know once i continue.That being said, i WILL be continuing with this series for definite, and will be looking into getting them all as paperbacks! I’m hoping the series will just keep getting better, as it truly was well written.I love Books about dragons, and this brought me back to when i read Temeraire and Eragon, and rekindled my love of Dragon stories.The main character is well written and easily likeable from the start. I also LIVE the fact that the main character has a disability, which is mentioned from the start. There aren’t many books in which they do!! But this brilliant story is perfect for any Teen with a disability, because it shows that we can still chase and reach our dreams.I can’t wait to see what this character will bring us!!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The heroine was determined to ride a dragon against all odds and conquered her fears to do so. The fact that the dragons were still fierce and dangerous to the dragon riders was different to most dragon books. I would love to read the follow-up books but at around a third of the length of many Kindle books sold at a similar price (and with 20 books in the series) I doubt I will do so unless at some point I purchase Kindle Unlimited.