CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE DRAGONS
AGRATH, a silver
AURUE, a gray
THE LODGER, an ancient red-and-black-striped recluse
VITHLEEN, a very fast green
AUSPEREX, a male elder
TARESSCON, a senior green
SHRENTINE, patroness of the dragon dancers
CUNESCIOUS, a young copper
MNASMANUS, a mighty purple
FALBERRWRATH, a veteran red
FESPANARAX THE RECKLESS, a prisoner of the Galantine Baronies
THE SERPENTINE AND ITS ACADEMY
ILETH, a novice from an orphans’ lodge in the Freesand
ANNIS HEEM STRATH, dragoneer to Agrath
SANTEEL DUN TROOT, a novice from a distinguished family
YAEL DUSKIRK, an apprentice with the feeders
CASEEN THE MASTER OF NOVICES, a veteran dragoneer disfigured by battle
JOAI, a fixer of battered flesh and empty stomachs
THE MATRON, supervisor of the female novices at the Manor
GALIA, an apprentice from the streets of Sammerdam
QUITH, a novice
GORGANTERN, an aging apprentice
KESS, the archivist
JEROTH, a cook
ROGUSS HEEM DEKLAMP, Charge of the Serpentine
RAPOTO VOR CLAYMASS, an apprentice from wealth from Jotun
PASFA SLENG, a wingman from Zland
PREECE, a wingman
GRIFF, an apprentice in the Cellars
ZANTE, a novice under Griff’s wing
GOWAN, apprentice archivist
HAEL DUN HUSS, a dragoneer of distinction
DATH AMRITS, a dragoneer often in the company of Dun Huss and the Borderlander
THE BORDERLANDER, a dragoneer from the North
AMONG THE DANCERS
OTTAVIA IMPERENE, Charge of the Dragon Dancers
PEAK, a senior dancer and muse
ZUSYA, a most talkative friend
SHATHA, the oldest dancer
VII, the daughter of a seamstress
TASSA, a senior dancer
FYTH, a new recruit
DAX, a musician of Vyenn
NOTABLES OF THE VALE REPUBLIC
FALTH, servant to the Name Dun Troot
STANTHOFF, an Auxiliary in the Cleft
LEITH, a fishing boat captain
THE DUN TROOTS, concerned parents
THE GALANTINE BARONIES
BARON HRYASMESS, a kindly lord
THE BARONESS, a busy mother
TAF, the Baron’s daughter
YOUNG AZAL OF CHAPALAINE, the Baron’s son
DANDAS, a Baronet and distant relation to Baron Hryasmess
RANYA, of the Tribals
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Novels are Frankenstein creations, dug up out of the author’s experiences and stitched together with others passing vital thread. There’s Rebecca Brewer at Penguin Random House and my agent John Silbersack, who did the work of getting it out to shelves and warehouses and digital libraries so you readers can buy it. I’d like to thank Miriam-Rose and the staff of the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, who welcomed a fifty-year-old man who wanted to learn ballet with enthusiasm and encouragement. Rachel Brice, whom I was lucky enough to get to know at various dance workshops my wife attended, first gave me the idea for dragons being calmed and hypnotized by sweaty women. I’m also indebted to barre instructor Candace, who knows what my femur is doing even with her back to me and continually tries to turn the solid matter of my body into liquid or gaseous forms. I’d also like to thank my son’s speech therapist, Jenna, who gave me some valuable insight into Ileth’s speech and ideas on how to depict it. Speaking of medical people, I give thanks to Peter Grant MD, without whom I might not even be sitting here typing out acknowledgments. I’d also like to thank the fans of the Age of Fire series who wrote asking for more stories of my dragons, and Marylou the Mother of Dragons, who was this novel’s first reader with no personal stake in me or the book and provided much-needed encouragement that I still had some game left. My brother Stefan offered his professorial (Go Mountaineers!) erudition in everything from low-frequency audio communication in elephants to the best design for the Dragon Horn. Then there are my three awesome kids, each of whom provided a piece of Ileth, and my wife, Stephanie, who puts up with my frequent trips deep in my mental submarine. Any and all errors of fact, style, or taste are on me.
About the Author
E. E. Knight was born in Wisconsin, grew up in Minnesota, and now calls Chicago home, where he abides in domestic felicity with his family and assorted pets. He is the author of the Age of Fire series and the Vampire Earth series.
Copyright
ACE
Published by Berkley
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Copyright © 2019 by Eric Frisch
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Knight, E. E., author.
Title: Novice dragoneer / E.E. Knight.
Description: First edition. | New York : Ace, 2019. | Series: A Dragoneer Academy novel ; 1
Identifiers: LCCN 2019014387| ISBN 9781984804068 (paperback) | ISBN 9781984804075 (ebook)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Fantasy / Epic. | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3611.N564 N68 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019014387
First Edition: November 2019
Cover art © Dan Burgess
Cover design by Katie Anderson
Interior map by Eric Frisch
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.