Age of Fire is a series of fantasy/adventure novels written by E. E. Knight, who is also known for writing the Vampire Earth series of novels. Age of Fire is eventually succeeded by the Dragoneer Academy Series which is a Spin-Off of the Age of Fire Series.
Plot
The series follows the adventures of three dragon siblings. All having hatched from a clutch of five eggs carefully protected by the female dragon Irelia and her mate, bronze AuRel, the young dragons quickly establish themselves into distinct roles. Upon hatching, the males of the clutch are instinctively driven to fight each other to the death, which leads to the death of a Red hatchling, while the Copper suffers a crippled leg and must live as an outcast, leaving grey Auron to dwell with his two sisters under the protection of their parents. All four hatchlings survive their first seasons in the cavern, until an attack on their home cave results in the deaths of their mother and the female hatchling Jizara. Auron and Wistala escape into the Upper World, while the crippled Copper eventually makes his way deeper below ground. In the fantasy setting of the novels, dragon population has been dwindling as relations among the many races worsen. Humans especially are becoming the dominant species, but there are still powerful factions of dwarves, elves and other sentient species.
The first three books are written from a different sibling's point of view and occur simultaneously. They are stand-alone novels that are accessible without having read the other two.
Dragon Champion (Book 1) Perspective: AuRon
Dragon Champion follows AuRon (Auron), the youngest male and clutchwinner. After being separated from Wistala, he is captured and sold to humans buying dragon hatchlings. He escapes and sets forth to seek the dragon NooMoahk because of a rumour that the ancient black knows the secret of dragonkind's supposed fatal weakness. Along the way he encounters many friends and future allies, the Dawn Roarer wolf pack, the tradesdwarf Djer, Naf the mercenary and the girl-child Hieba. AuRon studies under NooMoahk for a time and then comes to rule a small kingdom of the local blighters after the latter's death. However, the blighter ruler he had installed is killed by rivals who wish to lead all blighters to war with the humans. AuRon comes to learn of the Wyrmmaster who believes in human supremacy and wishes to wipe out the other races. The blighter war was instigated by him to destroy the other races. The Wyrmmaster is so named because he uses dragons to fight his wars; it was to him AuRon would have been sold to as a hatchling. AuRon volunteers and infiltrates to serve the Wyrmmaster and finds the "fatal" weakness of dragons: the fact that they imprint upon the first creature they see upon hatching and can then be tamed. With the help of the female dragons AuRon leads a successful uprising against the Wyrmmaster. AuRon mates with Natasatch and hopes to raise his children so that the males do not kill each other upon hatching, ending the book.
Dragon Avenger (Book 2) Perspective: Wistala
Dragon Avenger follows Wistala, the sole surviving female. After being separated from Auron, she tracks down their gravely-injured father and spends some weeks nursing him back to health. However, Wistala and AuRel are found by the dragon hunter Drakossozh, and after her father is killed she is forced to leap into a gorge to escape. She is rescued, unconscious and near death, by a kindhearted elf named Rainfall who becomes an adoptive father to the orphan. During her stay with Rainfall, Wistala becomes involved in a conspiracy by the local thane Hammar to claim Mossbell, Rainfall's ancestral home. She later travels with a circus as a fortune teller, briefly roaming the land after uncasing her wings in search of dragons who can help her avenge her family's deaths. After an unsuccessful meeting with a small group of ambivalent dragons in the north, Wistala returns to the circus and wins favor with a dwarf named Gobold Fangbreaker, the ruler of the Wheel of Fire and the same dwarf responsible for the murder of her parents. Wistala manipulates his downfall from a position of trust, instigating a war between the dwarves and the human barbarians of the north and sabotaging the dwarves, leading to the downfall of the stronghold. Wistala slays Gobold and later encounters the Dragonblade, who agrees to end the bloodshed between their families. The book ends with Wistala preparing to leave in search of AuRon, who she finds is still alive.
Dragon Avenger spans the least amount of time of the first three books, following Wistala's first 14 years or so.
Dragon Outcast (Book 3) Perspective: the Copper (RuGaard)