Theo Paxstone and the Dragon of Adyron by James Turner

He's a mechanic at the local steam mech repair shop.  He has books about a brave knight and dreams of becoming one himself.   The fact that he's an orphan and poor has nothing to do with it.  He's brave (almost) and has his dreams.  While he focuses on being a hero, he's building himself his own steam machine.  It looks odd and has his own engineering in the design so it's experimental for the most part.  He hasn't run it yet.  But he will soon...

The author and Net Galley shared a copy of this book with me for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can grab a copy now.

With dragons and witches, knights and knaves, and a conspiracy against the king, this was a fun read.  It's got just the right amount of steampunk, gives you characters to love and hate, and you get to watch Theo grow up right before your eyes.

When a dragon sets the royal tournament ablaze, Theo sees a way to realize his dreams.  He'll slay the dragon and everyone will admire him.  The fact that the dragon is huge is just coincidental.  There must be some way to kill it.

He joins an old knight that gets around in a wheelchair and his squire.  His machine was disabled in the disaster so they use Theo's unit.  The knight even purchases Theo to go on the quest with him.

What Theo learns is that nobody is who they say they are and most have secrets.  It's a good thing he's a tough kid or he wouldn't have made it.

This was a very good read.  I admire Mr. Turner's world building and would read more in this series.