Firestone by Damien Nash

Title - Firestone (Talgard Series, Book 1)
Author - Damien J. Nash
Genre - Children Fiction/YA, Action, Fantasy, Mystery,   Dragons!
Source - Kindle eBook - free copy for review
Synopsis - Toegan and his dragon symbiant, Calia want nothing more than to win the Dragon Master Championship. But when the Firestone, an artefact of great power is stolen from the stadium, they are eager to help get it back. With the help of the King’s closest allies they begin a journey fraught with danger that will change their lives forever. Two countries are heading for war. Can they recover the Firestone and restore peace before it’s too late?

Firestone is an epic fantasy adventure for Young Adults. Discover a world full of prophecies, magic and dragons that are very much part of the lives of the people who inhabit the world of Talgard.

I'd just like to start off by stating that I received copy of this book from the author for an honest review. And honest it will be.

Firestone is a fantasy book. It's a completely different world to the one we are used to. For starters there's Dragons. So when an author creates a new world I normally expect a map of some sort at the beginning of the book. It lets me study the new lands and names before I start so I don't get exceptionally confused.

Saying that though Damien Nash really knows how to start and end a book. The first chapter left me gasping in outrage. I don't want to give any spoilers away but that first chapter really drew me into the book.

The ending, I'm not sure about. It was awesome but it was a kind of blink and that's the end moment. 

Now for the rest inbetween, Mr Nash really knows how to write the scenery, his battle scenes were incredibly written, I had no trouble keeping up with what was happening.
Unfortunately, I felt he's not as great when it comes to dialogue and character traits.

I couldn't help but find Toegan confusing. In the crowd of Dragon Master Championship, he acted like a child but then after the Firestone was stolen he acted a lot older. It was confusing, and incredibly annoying at the same time.

The same could be said when Toegan and Calia first met Merrick. I understand how Merrick upset Calia by ignoring her. But to be constantly reminded was just plain maddening. It was around that time in the book that I put it down and didn't pick it back up again until a long time. But I'm glad I did, (thank you Alex) because the world Mr Nash wrote about was amazing.

Uprising is the 2nd book in the Talgard Series and is available on Kindle.

3.75 - Whilst I only midly liked Toegan, the world Mr Nash created I loved immensely.

I'd just like to send a quick thank you to the author for sending me this book. I do love Dragons. And whilst this isn't the normal type of Dragon book I love to read, shapeshifting, it was still really good.

Image and Synopsis via Goodreads.