The Dragonswarm, by Aaron Pogue, is a straight-forward high fantasy adventure that's tightly focused on the protagonist. The first book was a really good coming-of-age of a hero sort of book, and this one continued by not only upping the ante in terms of magic and impact on the world, but also having him continue to grow emotionally.
The premise is that Daven, the main character, gets some dragon blood in him through an accident that happens in the first book. This gives him crazy powers that other humans don't have. He's also street-wise and an accomplished swordfighter with an intellectual bent. No small-minded anti-heroes here! Unfortunately, he's wanted by a tyrannical king (where wanted = wants to kill him), hated by powerful wizards, in love with a beautiful girl, but is mostly concentrating on the imminent dragonswarm apocalypse. A guy has to have his priorities, after all.
