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Review of The King’s Dragon, The Prince’s Dragon, & The assassin’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

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I purchased a copy of W.M. Fawkes‘ and Sam Burns‘ The King’s Dragon, then borrowed a copy of The Prince’s Dragon through Amazon. Then, several months later (once it had been released) I borrowed a copy of The Assassin’s Dragon and returned here to update the review post.

Description of The King’s Dragon:

Lord Tristram Radcliffe has a secret—he is the only dragon at the king’s court in Llangard. It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy.

When the old king dies and Prince Reynold takes the throne, two visitors from the north throw Tristram into the middle of the ancient conflict between dragons and men. They put him on a collision course with the king’s shadow, Bet Kyston, a dangerous assassin who may want him dead or may want more of Tristram that he’d ever thought to give.

With the eyes of dragons upon him and a threat from the north creeping toward the home he loves, Tristram must weigh his allegiances before his dual legacies tear him apart.

Review:

You know, mutual “I’m too dangerous, defiled, unworthy for this beautiful perfect being” is apparently my jam. I love to see those men pine from the shadows and then see them stand in gobsmacked awe when they realize that their feelings are actually reciprocated. I really enjoyed Tris and Bet. I thought Rhiannon and Sidonie were lovely side characters, as was Gillian (whom I’m hoping she gets her happily ever after with a certain individual I won’t name in the next book). And little Roland (though too mature for his age) was still marvelous. All in all, I can’t wait for more.

Description of The Prince’s Dragon:

The last place Lord Tristram Radcliffe ever expected to find himself was right hand to the Llangardian throne. His parentage should have seen him banished, but he managed to keep his draconic secret. Now, King Reynold is dead. Long live King Roland.

The boy ascends to rule a kingdom in chaos, and Tristram must undo the damage of the last king’s reign to save his people from lean winter and wolves in the palace itself. Reynold’s former shadow, Bet Kyston, is determined to root out King Roland’s enemies, but his version of help may cause as much harm as good.

There remains a traitor near to the throne, and when the king falls mysteriously ill, Tristram’s strongest ally is forced to leave court. As his enemies move closer, the strength of Tristram’s regency is more precarious than ever. Abandoned and friendless, Tristram must sacrifice everything to protect his homeland or risk not only Roland’s life, but his own.

Review:

What’s interesting about this story is how many sorts of romantic couples it allows for. There is M/M, F/F, M/F, and the start of an age gap coming into play (not to mention cross-species). In my experience, books tend to focus on one or the other but rarely have multiple couplings. And I adore all of them.

I liked seeing Bet finally accept affection and how low angst some of the other pairs were. (I’m avoiding spoilers.) I was distressed that the book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and the next book isn’t out yet. But all in all, I loved it.

Description of The Assassin’s Dragon:

In Atheldinas, everyone’s secrets have been uncovered. Tristram is a half-dragon, Nicholas is a villain scheming to take the throne from his cousin Roland, and eternally sharp Bet is nothing less than a hero.

The cost has been high, and now Tristram is forced to amass the armies of Llangard to save his king from Jarl Vidar, the mysterious figure who’s hellbent on tearing Llangard in two. To get his king back and defeat the impending Tornish invasion, Tris will need the help of not only all his Llangardian allies, but the dragons of the Mawrcraig Mountains. If he cannot bring his two peoples together, no other stands a chance.

But one last secret remains hidden in the harsh north, and uncovering it might be the undoing of all that Tristram and his allies have fought to protect.

Review:

I quite enjoyed this. I like all the characters involved and the world. I enjoyed seeing the humans and dragons come together, I honestly laughed far more than I expected to and the writing is fabulous. So, ultimately a success for me.

However, I did think that there were too many couples involved. I 100% appreciate that in the multiple couples we are given several examples of different types of love and relationships (sexual and platonic). However, this has all the couple from both book one and book two and it caused the book to jump around too much in my opinion. I had trouble keeping track of who was where and with whom.

Review of Waking Magic: The Revelations of Oriceran (The Leira Chronicles #1) by Martha R. Carr & Michael Anderle

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I won a copy of Waking Magic, by Martha Carr and Michael Anderle through Goodreads.

Description from Goodreads:
There are some on our planet who believe you can’t handle the truth, so the truth has been hidden for millennia. The only problem is the truth is coming back… Early.

Some of the crazy history shows on cable TV might not have the answers, but at least they ask the right questions.

Homicide detective, Leira Berens is in a race against a magical force with a mischievous troll by her side with a penchant for swearing.

The stakes are real. And so is the magical world she just visited.

An elven prince is dead, a timebomb as a necklace is loose in her world, and her mother may not be crazy.

It’s a lot. But with help from unexpected places, Leira is going to accomplish more than she ever thought possible.

Welcome to The Revelations of Oriceran.

Because some believe you can’t handle the truth.

Review:
I was bitterly disappointed by this. Let me start with a little bit of a rant. This is labeled as the first book in a series, book 1. But I picked it up and was completely confused, lost. The story had obviously started somewhere else. How can that be if this is book one, I asked.

Well, apparently there is a book .5. Now, I have no problem with .5 books (or however you want to labeled something that comes before book one). This is the place for a prequel. But if the story is part of book one, if it’s necessary to read and understand the story, then I firmly believe this is not a prequel, it’s not book .5. IT IS BOOK ONE. So, I take some serious issue in how this author has chosen to number the books. I couldn’t pick up book one and find the start of a story. I couldn’t easily catch up or follow it. This is a serious problem for me. Especially since it doesn’t really end either. So, I didn’t get a complete beginning or ending.

Outside of that (for me) one big issue, I also thought the book rushed and unfocused. Tell me, if you have a few short days to find someone and a magical object would you take the time to go bowling? As an author, would you dedicate pages to someone’s trip to CVS?

There was very little in the line of plot progression, character development or world building. (Maybe it’s all in that previous book, which only further supports my assertion that it should be book one.) I’ll grant that the characters were likable and the troll cute. But you never get to know them.

The writing is mechanically fine and I don’t remember too many editing errors. But I have no desire to continue the series.

Edit: Another reviewer, who did read the ‘prequel’ stated that it is the “the first 3 or so chapters of the book, despite being published separately.” I’ll add that it’s not even a freebie. So apparently you have to pay for the first 3 chapters of this book separately. That’s a big FAT “no” from me.