Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kraken Rider Z | 2023 | David Estes | Buy |
| 2 | Thunder Kraken | 2025 | David Estes | Buy |
Kraken Rider Z takes a concept common in fantasy — bonding with and riding a giant creature — and applies it to krakens, the enormous sea monsters of legend. The first book establishes the world where these creatures exist and can be bonded with by specific riders, and the story follows a young protagonist learning what it means to be one of these riders in a world that is not entirely welcoming of them.
Thunder Kraken, the second book published in 2025, continues the story and raises the stakes. The series has an energetic, action-forward style that distinguishes it from Estes’s more politically complex epic fantasy. It reads quickly and the monster-riding sequences are clearly what the series is built around.
Kraken Rider Z is a good option for readers who enjoy creature-bonding fantasy like the How to Train Your Dragon series or more action-focused YA fantasy. It is one of Estes’s more playful recent releases and sits apart from the darker tone of his other post-2020 work.