The Assassin's Dragon

Fire and Valor, Book Three

By: W.M. Fawkes, Sam Burns

Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux, Lessa Lamb

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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 hell-bent 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.

©2020 FlickerFox Books (P)2020 FlickerFox Books

Amazing epic story!!

I love this book and this series sooo much! I feel like these characters are my family members now, and I don't want to let them go.
These are some of the best characters I've ever read about, Tristram and Bet, Gillian Sidonie, and Roland with Aderyn and Hafgan. I just want another three books in this series. I love them all so much. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Lessa Lamb is an exceptional voice actor. Her voice is sexy af. Greg Boudreaux is perfect as always. I loved listening to them. I can't get enough of these audiobooks.

Best fantasy series ever!

I have fallen in love with this world and all it's beauty and all of its faults. after book 1 (which I have to admit was a bit intense for my typical reading) it took me a little while to dive back in because by the time book two came out on audio, what I remembered most was how heavy it was, even though I also remembered how much I loved it, eventually I just couldn't leave it alone, reread it and then dove into the second and third books with gusto and it is so worth it! the way the authors thread together the different storie lines of all of the characters and how they are all fighting for the same thing without knowing it and how they all come together for the end, it was just absolutely stunning! and the ending was satisfyingly epic and I love good happy ever after and this certainly had a fair share of them because I loved all the characters equally! I highly recommend this series even if it was hard to pick the first book up again it was so worth it!

Loved this whole series!

I seriously loved this whole series. The right amounts of steam, action, adventure, and suspense. Will read more by this duo.

What a series...

What an ending to the series. I adore the characters and I have become attached to them, which indicates the brilliance of the author. Not to be left aside, the narrators Greg Boudreaux and Lessa Lamb adds so much to the story with their narration. Their talent added life to each and every single character. Not sure which couple was my favorite...Bet & Tristram, Rhianna & Sedonie, Gillian & Maddox, or Roland and Dragon...

What a great ride! Enjoyed it immensely!

High Fantasy Delight, truly underrated

Now that I've gotten through all three books, I'm honestly so mad at myself for allowing other reviews to delay me for even a moment in reading this series, but at least it meant I could devour all three of them in a row.

A satisfying, delightful wrap up, and the fate of a kingdom decided by the love, decisions, and commitments of those within her. I could read another two or three books exploring not just the relationships, but the ideas and premises set forth in this wonderful fantasy world.

if you're just looking for a sexy romance novel, maybe this series is not for you, although there is plenty of heat and depth of love. If you want a story where love is the engine that drives the world, and then yes, pick this up without delay, and may you have as much joy in it as I did.

Lessa Lamb and Greg Boudreaux are just perfect! 😍

In the previous book, our writers W. M. Fawkes and Sam Burns leave readers with a horrendously wretched cliffhanger. After barely surviving poisoning, the truly lovely young King Roland is captured by his twisted cousin Nicholas in a continued bid to gain the throne that started with the poisoning of King Edmund by his brother Laurence Cavendish in who is dead by the first book of the series. Courtesy of Bet Kyston, Laurence Cavendish is also dead but his son and wife Margaret continue to be a bane to Llandgard. With the complexity of the plot and the challenges for the novel's major players, readers will be delighted to know that the writers resolve the major conflict and several challenges for the series arc quite masterfully.
In 'The Assassin's Dragon: Fire and Valor Book 3', a confined unknown dragon witnesses the exchange between his master, a wickedly powerful mage named Vidar, and a Stone clan dragon named Bowen who are tasked with attacking the Sun clan for dragons. Deciding they will only capture the weak and the elderly for Vidar, the Stone clan's attack leaving the dragon queen of the Sun clan to understand the very real threat from the enemy and the circumstances that make it necessary for the Sun clan to join the folks at Llandgard. Hafgan is captured during the conflict and during his confinement, he discovers Dragon--an unnamed, unknown dragon who is also of the eradicated Wind clan. Hafgan also befriends Bowen of the Stone clan and using his exceptional negotiation skills, encourages both clans to band together in an effort to steal back the eggs that were stolen and held hostage by Vidar.
The rescuers discover not just Stone clan eggs but those from several others including four Wind clan eggs, much to Hafgan's ultimate joy. However, he is heartbroken that the speed needed to reclaim the dragon eggs meant leaving Dragon, Hafgan's brother, behind. The Stone clan queen solicits Hafgan's help in nurturing all the eggs but they must leave the dwellings to avoid retribution for the reclaimed dragon eggs. Making their way to the nearest 'safe' place, they found themselves beset by enemy forces comprised of especially effective mages. They wage a huge battle of resulting in a great loss of life, yet they do manage to save the Stone queen and all of the eggs.
Nicholas and Margaret Cavendish turn over young King Roland to Vidar and he finds himself caged next to Dragon who he befriends. He realizes Dragon's crate is impenetrable after he manages to break out of his own cage and he sadly leaves him with the same promise Hafgan has made to Dragon--you will be rescued. Bet is understandably upset he was unable to find young King Roland earlier in the novel and he sets out once again to find him this time with a young dragon left orphaned during the fighting. When cooking by the fire, the smell attracts the young King who was wandering about after breaking away from the cage at Vidar's compound. Finding his way safely into Bet's care, the young king goes back with Bet to rejoin Tristram and the others determined to fight Vidar's forces.
The enemy Vidar is actually the 'hero' from long ago who was instrumental in winning the human's freedom from draconic subjugation. He was later banished by his eldest son for his brutality and also his willingness to sacrifice the life of his youngest son in expectation of gaining immortality. His forces are composed of both mages and the monstrosities that were initially humans corrupted by the ingestion of dragon's blood. A celestial phenomenon that will occur at the time of the fighting will benefit the heroes by turning the mages into mindless monstrosities incapable of both rational thinking and logical behavior. Discovering that they will be fighting on two fronts including Llandgard, Sir Sidonie helps prepare every person capable of bearing arms to fight. The entire lot manages to thwart the threat coming at the kingdom which was lead by Margaret, Nicholas's mother and wife of Laurence Cavendish who Bet killed in the previous novel. She is captured and held in prison when the fighters are successful in defending Llandgard.
Rhys has the opportunity to fight the enemies with his sons Maddox and Tristram who plan to defeat Vidar's army at the pass. Nicholas is one of the first of the monstrosities they face after an initial charge by the foes but he is quite easily defeated. However, he doesn't represent the worse our heroes will face at the pass. Having broken away from Llandgard to join Tristram and the others, Gillian joins them to fight having grown in power because of her close association with dragons (especially Maddox) and the training she received training from Rhys (Maddox and Tristram's father) at the monastery mentioned in the preceding book. Her interpretation of historical documents makes her aware of the need for a Cavendish descendant to kill Vidar. Her strength and Bowen's help the dragons and men avoid pass avalanches cause by Vidar, leaving her too occupied to kill him. It will fall to young King Roland to kill the wicked mage who was unwisely riding astride a scared, tired, injured and very angry Dragon.
When he spies Dragon from afar with the wicked Vidar astride his back, young King Roland seeks to honor his promise to rescue Dragon. Roland breaks away from Bet who is left to track him down. Gillian calls out to the young king the need for him to kill Vidar. Wanting to offset Roland's obligation to commit murder, Bet's attempt to be the young king's proxy is unsuccessful and he nearly manages to get himself killed by the wicked mage. The situation makes it necessary for Roland to step up to his responsibility in eliminating Vidar, a deed facilitated by Dragon's anger. At an earlier time, Vidar took the feathered quill pen Roland gave to Dragon before leaving him caged while making his own escape--the one and ONLY thing Dragon owned. Young King Roland gave it to Dragon as a token of their friendship, a pledge to Dragon's value as a person, a promise for Dragon's release, and an assurance for Dragon's brighter future. (The feather gifting scene between King Roland and Dragon had me doing some ugly crying! The Wailing, soul-cleansing kind! Taking Dragon's feather! Wicked mage Vidar got far better than he deserved for that act alone!)
All ends well and very well in the current novel along with the entire Fire and Valor series with the following pairings: Hafgan of the newly revived Wind clan gets (and gets with) Bowden, leader of the Stone clan; Tristram's mother Elinor resumes a romance with his dragon father Rhys and both remain in Llandgard along with established pair Tristram and Bet; Maddox becomes the new leader of the Sun clan and Gillian decides she will follow him there to further unity between dragons and humans; Rhiannon and Sir Sidonie decide to leave Llandgard to rebuild the monastery so that the teaching of magical skills can resume. Given that Vidar was taught at the monastery centuries earlier, one would hope they will continue to use wisdom when selective their pupils!
There's a machine-level precision to the cohesion of the work with all the many elements coming together beautifully both within each book and throughout the series arc. The storylines are strong and plausible, giving readers an awesome experience free of the frustration that can come from writers using the fantasy genre to shortcut! The interconnection that exists for both the dragon and the human races to prevail is the persistent undercurrent running throughout the entire series. Incredible world-building, exponential character growth, excellent plot development, exemplary pacing, and flawless balance all contribute to making this one EPIC fantasy series. Awesome!

Satisfying Story!

This trilogy is engaging and fun. The characters run with the gamut of possible relationships, M/M, W/W, M/W DRAGON/DRAGON, DRAGON/HUMAN. The ending is a feel good for all except the villains.

Greg Boudreaux is, as always, a great narrator. Lessa Lamb holds her own with these characters as well.

A fantastic ending.

I’m ashamed to say I was unable to pace myself with this series. Hooked from the beginning, I reveled in the adventures of the large cast of characters Fawkes and Burns wrote. I would suggest this series to any young adult with a love of fantasy. Thank you to the people involved in bringing these books to audiobook form.

Epic! Fantastic!

Third book in the series is every bit as fantastic as the previous two. Phenomenal narration, epic plot with love, loss, mayhem, war, surprises, and reunification of families. If you like dragons, good overcoming evil, sweet love stories, men and women treated as equals in love, life, and battle- then you will love this book. I highly recommend this complex, intriguing series. The narrated audiobook is absolutely amazing! Greg Boudreaux is one of my favorites, and Lessa Lamb was new to me and absolutely stunning!

A Warning Would Have Been Nice

I am as accepting of Homosexuals as anybody I have ever known. Everybody has a right to their own personal preferences, as long as they are not hurting somebody else.
That doesn’t mean I have to personally enjoy anything about it.
I read books for enjoyment. I read books to relax. This book does the opposite of that.
If there was any bit of prominent information to warn people, then we could make an informed choice to read this book or not. If the audio sample had been of the first sex scene, then those who enjoy this type of prose, would willingly buy the book, knowing what was included in the story.
That the scenes of homosexuality wasn’t prominently displayed means that it’s major selling point wasn’t employed to sell more books.
It also means that for those who do not enjoy such things as entertainment that contain references or depictions of homosexuality, the feeling of being sold something in one genre, that belongs in a very different genre, is upset and anger for being misled into wasting money and wasting what little time we have to relax and/or enjoy ourselves.
To say I am disappointed in Audible, is putting it lightly.