This one really deserves 3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't a book I was in love with. If you're like me and you like to listen to non-distracting music while you read, I definitely recommend the music of Jeremy Soule for the Skyrim and other Elder Scrolls games' soundtracks. The characters, while distinct, were all very set in their ways from the beginning of the story and, despite the trials and tribulations, only one character, Gareth, showed any signs of character growth. Personally, I found that the world needed more explanation than what was given. However, being that this is the first in a series, clearly the author intended more to be said of the world and the creatures within it. While I appreciate the way in which the dragons were described, I feel that this concept of the dragons being evil for eating people is still a bit unfair. After all, you don't call a fox evil for eating a rabbit - it's in its nature. It was actually very nice to have a main female character who isn't the picture perfect 20 year old. However, considering there were only four named female characters in the book (among dozens of male characters) and one of them was the main villain, I felt as though Jenny was a kind of weak character. Aside from her magical abilities, she doesn't seem to have a great many personal qualities to make you love and adore her as a main character. The villain, Zyerne, was also way too stereotypical as a female villain. All in all, this book depends on the clichés of the genre to tell the story, but I believe that it's still a good book. It's just not one I'll be rereading any time in the near future. I would recommend this to those who like fantasy novels regarding dragons, but it would not be high on my recommendation list.