In this debut adult/YA crossover fantasy trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of the SUMMONER series, comes an immersive new fantasy world where humans can bond with dragons… Jai, hostage in the court of an Emperor who killed his father, finds himself caught up in a rebellion and stumbles across a dragon’s egg which could be the key to change his fate forever.

DRAGON RIDER
by Taran Matharu
HarperVoyager, July 2023
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Jai is a Captive in the Sabine Court – ever since his father Rohan, leader of the Plainsfolk, led an uprising and was put to death by the Emperor who Jai must now serve. The Sabine Empire has a powerful tool, the Gryphon Guard: elite warriors who ride gryphons. Only one thing is more powerful than them: dragons, exclusive to a rival kingdom. When the emperor’s son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom she brings with her a powerful dowry: dragons. These powerful beasts come in several forms, but secrecy surrounds them and only the Dansk Royalty can soul-bond with these magical beasts to draw on their power and strength.
There is uproar when the Emperor is found dead, and the Dansk King is accused of his murder. In the ensuing chaos, Jai has one choice: run or be killed. And when he finds a stunted dragon’s egg in the belly of Ragni’s dead dragon, he takes it with him. Soon, united with Princess Erica, also on the run from Titus, he must make a decision. Does he flee to an anonymous life or – aided by his new dragon chick – does he stand up and fight against a cruel Empire that destroyed his people?

Taran Matharu is the New York Times bestselling author of the Summoner series, which has been translated into 15 languages and has sold over two million copies in the English language. He was born in London in 1990. Taran began to write the Summoner series in November 2013 at the age of 22, taking part in ‘Nanowrimo 2013’ and sharing his work on Wattpad.com. The shared sample of the story went viral, reaching over 3 million reads in less than six months. His Contender trilogy was published in 2019. He has won the Journal de Mickey award in France and the Sakura medal in Japan, and was Book Trust’s writer in residence.