Review: Unbound by Michael R. Miller
Blurb:
Sometimes, the world needs a little chaos.
Holt and Ash saved the kingdom of Feorlen against all odds. Now, they are outcasts, alone on an impossible quest to unite the Elder Dragons. But, they are children playing in a game of Dragon Lords. Trapped between the riders, servants of Sovereign, and the scourge, even their luck cannot last forever. Their only hope is to advance their bond by any means necessary.
In Feorlen, Talia faces a world unaccepting of a rider queen. Her councilors will not heed her warnings of Sovereign. Foreign powers threaten war and bloodshed. Pleas sent to rider headquarters fall on deaf ears. All the while, Sovereign regathers his strength in an ancient fortress. Enthralled cultists swell his ranks. Disillusioned riders flock to his cause.
And, his unwilling servant Osric Agravain scours the land for dragon eggs. There are new types of magic to be discovered, and Sovereign intends to control them all.
Only the mysterious half-dragon Rake has a plan to stop Sovereign. To pull it off, he's going to need a team.
Unbound continues the bestselling modern dragon rider epic, Songs of Chaos!
Review:
"You must start from scratch and rebuild yourself and how you view the world. That's so hard to do. To voluntarily reduce oneself to ashes and then rise again. It's so hard that most choose to stand in the flames and burn."
The Songs of Chaos series began as a fun, heartwarming story that drew me into its world in a beautiful way. Unbound takes that small world and expands upon it, adding layers of political intrigue, additional POVs, character depth, and of course: more dragons!
Holt and Ash have been sent into the world to meet with and attempt to recruit the other Elder dragons in their fight against Sovereign. Talia is attempting to establish herself as Queen of Feorlen while dealing with the consequences of maintaining her bond with her dragon, Pyra. One of the highlights of this book for me is the addition of Osric’s POV. Even within Unbound, Osric has an amazing character arc as we learn more about his background, his motivations for his actions during Ascendant, and his hatred for his Master. His creation of Spite and Vengeance was epic and emotional. The burgeoning bond he begins to develop with his shadow dragon has a timid rawness that made me excited to see where their relationship moves in the future. For me, Osric’s chapters stood out as highlights in an otherwise fantastic book.
Unbound firmly cements the Songs of Chaos series as a progression fantasy. This is my first progression fantasy series and I’m really enjoying watching each of the dragon rider pairs develop and grow as they progress along their path together.
Rake continues to be a great replacement mentor once Brode was killed. We are beginning to delve deeper into his heartbreaking backstory and how that will play into Holt and Ash’s overall development has me intrigued.
Unbound accomplishes exactly what it needed to elevate Songs of Chaos to an epic, dragon rider fantasy that is a must read for all fans of dragons. It cut away the baby fat of Ascendant (which I loved, don’t get me wrong), leaving us with a lean, hard chunk of dragon jerky which is powering this series to Paragon status and beyond. It’s bigger and better; I can’t wait to see what the rest of this series has in store for us.
