Dragon Unleashed (The Fallen Empire, #2)

by Grace Draven

[stacey_is_sassy]

I got there in the end...

After absolutely LOVING Phoenix Unbound, I was so excited to move onto Dragon Unleashed.

Holy Shamoly, that was a wee bit of a hard slog. Instead of watching my progression dreading it coming to an end, I was rolling my eyes in frustration with how many hours I had left till the end.

After meeting Halani in Phoenix Unbound, I was looking forward to getting to know her better. It just felt that there wasn't much more than what I already knew. Sure, we got to find out why Asil (Halani's mother) is the way she is, but even that felt skimmed over. I never really felt like I understood Halani's magic either, and I wasn't excited when she used it. I wanted to know how her earth magic made her such an accomplished healer. I hated that her abilities were used for greedy reasons, and that the people in her caravan took advantage of her kindness.

While I liked Malachas, again, I felt like we didn't get to know him that well. He was even a bit self-righteous, which I found unappealing. I normally love dragon stories too.

In the first instalment of the Fallen Empire series, I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. The characters were in peril, the storyline moved in an effortless way, and I was desperate to see good overcome evil. This second instalment dragged on and I felt that we only skimmed the surface with the character development. I just expected a wee bit more.

While both stories followed a similar plot progression, I wasn't as invested to see the Dragon Unleashed or the Empire Fall. There were parts of the stories that I enjoyed, but by the halfway point, I was just pushing myself to get it finished.

I'm still a fan of Grace Draven and while this story wasn't a complete winner, I will definitely come back for more of her stories in the future.