Review: Dragons, Drakyns, Dragon Soul-Mates,  A Unique Universe
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2012
I am a big fan of fantasy.  I love a well created universe.  This is a unique slightly flawed brand new universe.Marcus is a young boy on the cusp of manhood, who has been raised by the typical evil stepmother, tortured by his sadistic step brother, ignored by his alcoholic father who misses Marcus' mother.  However, that less than idyllic childhood comes to an end when Marcus accidentally triggers the amulet his mother left him for his 14th birthday, which causes Mor'Drak, an evil trapped once great dragon King, to send his drakyn to search for the last heir of Mas'Ara.  That is just the beginning.The mythology in the story gets a bit convoluted, in fact, several times I had to go back and reread sections so that I knew which creature was doing what.  But this is a minor issue and should not keep anyone from reading. (a glossary of terms and people might be of help)If I understand the mythology correct dragons take human dragon-mates (this is a platonic relationship).  All dragon souls belong to a golden sword (which Mor'Drak is desperately looking for) and so the dragons take a dragon-mate who will share his/her soul with the dragon.  Should the dragon be killed the human will usually die within a few months.  Now here is where my confusion comes in .According to the prologue"The life of a dragon-mate is intertwined with the life of their dragon.  Death for one means death for the other.  Dragons die in a ball flame that consumes everything but bone and scales the moment their human soul-mate's life ends."Yet later on in the story we find out that Chelene inherited her dragon mate when her grandmother died.  This contradiction irritated even though a ritual was offered as an almost explanation of how dragons can live thousands of years while their human mates only normal life spans."Xan'Drake and Grandmamma's thoughts funneled into Chelene.  Light is life.  Life grows from the soul.  The soul bleeds light.  Chelene will you freely give light from your soul to continue a dragon's life? I will."From what I can tell a Drakyn-Lord is created when a dragon no longer wishes to have a human mate.  So a ritual is performed and the dragon's human mate's heart is joined with the dragon heart which will allow the dragon to become immortal, but kills the mate and forces the dragon to consume souls. The normal drakyn are offspring of the Drakyn-Lord.In this universe you will find silent spirit communication, spirit realm, and magic based on the four elements earth, wind, fire and water. You will also find description of gory battles not to mention gory feeding habits of the drakyn.  The descriptions are so well done that I could clearly visualize the scenes being described.  Not always the most comfortable pictures but excellent writing doesn't always mean pretty pictures.So while there are a couple of minor issues with the universe, the action is fast paced and the universe populated with characters you can like, love and hate.While this is the first book of a series, most story arcs are finished and it does not end in any major cliff hangers.  I would also like to state that although many of the main characters are in their teens this does not read like a YA fantasy a la Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.  There are very dark and adult themes strewn throughout the story.I highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoys fantasy.ETA because I typed the wrong nameLITTLE, LEONARD (2012-06-19). RISE OF THE DRAKYN (Sword of Souls) (pp. 193-194). Leonard Little. Kindle Edition.LITTLE, LEONARD (2012-06-19). RISE OF THE DRAKYN (Sword of Souls) (p. 6). Leonard Little. Kindle Edition.