Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles #2) by Nicole Conway
Avian is just about a perfect sequel to Fledgling. It's a DragonRiders of Pern for aimed at Young Adults. Jaevid is center stage again as he is set to start his second year of training - his Avian year. This year starts with some pretty amazing changes for him. He discovers some Gray Elf heritage the hard and painful way as his body finally develops. He also discovers some hidden gifts that are pretty scary to be honest. His gifts manifest in different ways and grow throughout the story. They play a very key role in his future and the future of the kingdom.
His friends and enemies are back, and we get to see his crush from home, Beckah, a little bit as well. This crush was the one thing that didn't sit quite right with me. It seemed to be a bit overdone and the fallout was a little awkward. It ended too many times when it could have been done with simply without the added drama. There is a new romance for Jaevid that is developing, a very good one, but with a girl that is pretty much off limits to him. I'll be very interested to see where this goes. She is about as non-traditional as he is and they are a good fit.
The land is seeing lots of unsettling changes as animals seem to be going crazy - attacking for no reason and causing a boat load of problems. Even Jaevid can't get through to them with his special animal speaking skills - their free will seems to be gone. No one knows what is causing this, but the dragons are particularly upset about it.
Jaevid's second year of training is a tough one. He is forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions and take part in some horrific training. He knows that he will have a major part to play in the upcoming events and in the war against the Gray Elves, but he's not sure what that part will be yet. This was a very exciting book two that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could to see what would happen next. I loved seeing his old friends and trainers and meeting a few new ones. I can't wait to see what book three will have in store.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
