I just wanted to ease the suffering of Arimus, a gryphon blinded in combat. He'd lost his first rider, and his will to live. But when he forges a new psychic link with me to be his replacement rider, it brands me as "an affront to the gods" for daring to ride an avatar of the God of Man.

We're also at war and need every able-bodied fighter we can find, so I'm sent to the highly competitive Gryphon Rider Academy to train with the nation's finest young men. Some love seeing a girl in uniform, but most hate me for standing out. Few of the boys here want to see me succeed.

The king makes it very clear. If I fail this year at the Academy, he will mercilessly order Arimus's execution rather than suffer a female gryphon rider any longer.

I have to be the best to even have a chance here. They want courage, loyalty, discipline, and integrity? I'll give them all that and more, for Arimus's sake.

Dragon Riders of Pern meets Song of the Lioness in this YA fantasy series in which a pair of underdogs rewrite what's possible in a formerly all-boys military academy. If you like determined heroines, iron-clad friendships, and majestic creatures, then you'll love Gryphon Rider Academy!