The Adamantine Palace reminded me - very, very loosely - a little bit of Carol Berg's The Song of the Beast and, by the smidgen of a hair, of Anne McCaffery's Pern(c) series. And both reminders are in a good way, since I am a fan of both authors.
The book is as much about dragons as about the power they represent - and the political maneuverings of those that have them. But what if, by chance, dragons wanted to be free of their masters? What would happen to the people?
I have two favorite two-legged characters in the book - Jaslyn and Kemir. The latter is a mercenary and the former a princess. The mercenary lost a cousin to the dragon knights and he wants vengeance for that loss. The princess just cares about the dragons and relates to people in terms of which dragon is whose. I like Jaslyn as much for her lack of ambition as I do Kemir for his wanting to avenge his cousin's death.
Then there are the dragons and the Scales that take care of them. I would have liked to see more about them, how they came to be as they are (although the issue is addressed in the book), and to see more of how they will be 'free'. I hope to see more of them in the future from Stephen Deas. Good read!