Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by M.L. Spencer

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, Torture that doesn't go into too much detail.

Aram Raythe has the power to challenge the gods. He just doesn't know it yet.

Aram thinks he's nothing but a misfit from a small fishing village in a dark corner of the world. As far as Aram knows, he has nothing, with hardly a possession to his name other than a desire to make friends and be accepted by those around him, which is something he’s never known.

But Aram is more. Much, much more.

Unknown to him, Aram bears within him a gift so old and rare that many people would kill him for it, and there are others who would twist him to use for their own sinister purposes. These magics are so potent that Aram earns a place at an academy for warrior mages training to earn for themselves the greatest place of honor among the armies of men: dragon riders.

Aram will have to fight for respect by becoming not just a dragon rider, but a Champion, the caliber of mage that hasn’t existed in the world for hundreds of years. And the land needs a Champion. Because when a dark god out of ancient myth arises to threaten the world of magic, it is Aram the world will turn to in its hour of need.

I had never heard of this author before I picked up this book, and I didn't know what to expect, especially since after finding this book I heard that this author mostly writes grimdark fantasy, which isn't my thing. I was hoping this one wouldn't be too dark for me. While there were some dark, heartbreaking things that happened, I'm happy to say it turned out not to be too dark. I really enjoyed the story and the world, and the characters were easy to love. The friendship between Aram and Markus was heartwarming, and I loved the development of both their characters. The parallel worlds were also interesting and I would like to see more development of that in the next book. 

This is a book that kind of straddles the adult and young adult categories. It's a coming of age story, but also still written for adults. It was originally supposed to be a standalone, and it reads fine as one, but the author has decided to write more and I'm looking forward to reading more. Overall this had all the elements I love in a traditional epic fantasy and I recommend it to fantasy lovers.