Rogue (Talon Saga, #2)

by Julie Kagawa

[Kelly]

Dragon, wherefore art thou dragon. Unlike it's predecessor, Rogue was an entertaining adventure, rather than a mundane teen drama and finally, finally, the premise finally delivers what readers have been pleading for. Dragons. But in small, sporadic bursts. Now told in several points of view, Ember and Riley are both on the run from both Talon and The Order, both classed as Rogue dragons who are dangerous both to themselves and society. But Ember knows that Garret has been captured for aiding her escape and there is only one punishment for those deemed guilty of treason. Death.

It's a suicide mission, but Riley refuses to let Ember infiltrate The Order compound and free the soldier alone. Riley, who is portrayed as once a fierce hunter, now a revolutionary freedom fighter amongst his kind, is reduced to following a teen girl just hoping for a shred of returned affection. And Ember isn't all that remarkable, never mind being in love with someone else. Comparing the two love interests is akin to being offered chocolate... Or bread and water. Garret's only attraction is that he is classed as the forbidden choice being a former soldier who hunted dragons. He may be seeking redemption, but his character is as exciting as watching paint dry. Riley is clearly the winner here, and fingers crossed that common sense prevails.

But as entertaining and well written as I find the Talon series, there is something lacking that sets it apart from other young adult titles. Although there is a few instances of dragon warfare, sadly not enough to keep me interested. I did enjoy the banter from Riley, but with Garret possibly being made from cardboard, it was mostly one sided.

It's actually an entertaining and quick read that builds nicely on Talon. With her dragon obsessed Twitter feed I had thought, who better than to create a fantasy dragon based series than Julie Kagawa. But sadly it doesn't have the same heart and grunt as her previous releases, namely the Blood of Eden series and it appears to be one that has failed to live up to the hype for me.