Legion by Julie Kagawa (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: The Iron Warrior, Soldier
Published by Harlequin on May 1st 2017
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 304
Dragon hatchling Ember Hill was never prepared to find love at all--dragons do not suffer human emotions--let alone the love of a human and a former dragonslayer, at that. With ex-soldier Garret dying at her feet after sacrificing his freedom and his life to expose the deepest of betrayals, Ember knows only that nothing she was taught by dragon organization Talon is true. About humans, about rogue dragons, about herself and what she's capable of doing and feeling.
In the face of great loss, Ember vows to stand with rogue dragon Riley against the dragon-slaying Order of St. George and her own twin brother Dante--the heir apparent to all of Talon, and the boy who will soon unleash the greatest threat and terror dragonkind has ever known.
Talon is poised to take over the world, and the abominations they have created will soon take to the skies, darkening the world with the promise of blood and death to those who refuse to yield.
Legion by Julie Kagawa is book four in the Talon series and if you are at all interested in dragons, romance, and danger you should definitely check this series out. I had been waiting (what seemed like FOREVER) for this book since I closed the cover on book three and was so excited to jump into this world again. If you haven’t read the other books yet, you may want to hold off on reading this book. I can’t guarantee I won’t spoil something from the prior books.
Legion picks up right where Soldier left off which means they are trying to save Garret from bleeding to death. To get him to a safe place, the group ends up doing a transfusion with the only blood that is a match…Riley’s. This definitely has some downstream impacts but for now, it gives Riley and Ember enough time to get him to a place where they are not in danger from The Order but also to heal.
While that is happening, Talon still has plans and they aren’t giving up on bringing Ember back into the fold, no matter what. I’m not going to give anything away on this part of the story but we find out that Ember has a purpose and Dante, while he has a pretty big role in getting her where Talon needs her, has no clue what they are up to and planning for her. Also, Dante makes me so angry. He sees his work for Talon as something that will grant him freedom and I support his motive but the fact that he is willing to do anything to get that freedom is disturbing. That includes selling out his twin sister and leading an initiative that includes hatchlings that were bred strictly for war/fighting.
The relationship between Ember and Garret does progress in this book and I am glad that Ember finally told Riley that she chooses Garret and she doesn’t want him to wait for her. The fact that he was just hanging out on the sidelines for Garret to go away just didn’t feel right and while I’ve always liked Garret more, I also didn’t think that was fair to Riley at all. Tied into this, is Ember realizing she has been fighting both her human side and her dragon side. Ember finally comes to terms with both by realizing she is both and while she can’t fight her instinct, it doesn’t have to define her. I liked seeing this growth in her character.
As this story moves forward, we get a bit more action and background story. Not only do we learn more about Ember and Dante’s origins but we also learn more about the plans Talon has to attack and destroy The Order. They also happen to have a full list of Riley’s safe houses which puts all of the Rogues in danger. As the group learns more about the plans, they decide to take some dangerous steps to come together to fight Talon. First, Gabriel needs to warn The Order and when he does, he also makes the decision to fight with them and the Rogues decide they need to join in the fight.
There are so many things that happen in this book that I can’t talk about all of it. I also don’t want to ruin any bit of the story for you so other than telling you that this series continues to keep my interest and even surprise me at times, I can’t say much more. If you like Kagawa’s other books, definitely check the Talon series out. I am looking forward to finding out what happens next with these characters and can’t wait to get my hands on the next book!
