The King's Dragon

Fire and Valor, Book 1

By: W. M. Fawkes, Sam Burns

Narrated by: Lessa Lamb, Greg Boudreaux

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2020 FlickerFox Books (P)2020 FlickerFox Books

Amazing!!

I’ve never reviewed a book before but it was just amazing. Every character was given so much definition, even the side characters.

Excellent story

What an extraordinary cast of characters and an interesting and intriguing story. What a journey. I’m anxiously awaiting finding out what happens next. A great listen!

An Excellent start

When I first read this book it seemed not my thing. By act 3 I was hooked. An excellent read and even better performances. This book is oddly comforting now on the second read.

Intriguing story

I loved the various perspectives on events as they unfolded. Each character captured my interest in different ways and got me invested in their outcomes, romantic and otherwise. Great story, complex characters, interesting plot, had something of a George RR Martin vibe, but with LGBT+ leads, though I'm hoping fewer of my favorites will be dying as the story continues to unfold. Ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, can't wait to find out what happens next and where the story takes the cast next.

Dragons, elves and halflings

Okay .. so where do I begin ... First of all, I don’t really think this is MM romance. This is a fantasy book which has LGBTQIA characters. And this is definitely bordering on epic fantasy. Secondly, I enjoyed this but this book isn’t without faults. There are just too many POVs in this book like tons and for like half of it, I found that I can’t really remember who’s who and when I finally get the hang of it, I found that many characters exhausting in a book. 😅 And another thing is that this ended very abruptly in my opinion. I know that this is the first book in the series and there are going to be more books. But still, we need at least some semblance of closure when a book ends and I didn’t really get that here.

I think this book is definitely more for people who love fantasy rather than MM romance junkies because you are not going to get it here. 🙂 Expansive world building with intriguing characters but I think this needs better editing to make the story a bit more clear and understandable. I enjoyed it. However what stood out for me in this story is the amazing performance of Lessa Lamb and Greg Boudreaux. It was simply spectacular! The complexity of this book was both enhanced and simplified by their performances. Enjoyed it a lot and looking forward to the sequel!



4.5 Dragons, elves and halflings stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️







Audio rating

Story - 3.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
Narration - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Good Story Great Narration

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. It took me an hour to get into the story, but as soon as I understood the setting and the relationship between the characters and got a glimpse of the secrets driving their actions I was captivated and unable to put this book down. Narrators were amazing and made this good story into the perfect listening experience. I am looking forward to the next book in Fire and Valor series.

Great storyline & narration

I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives in this story. It gave it an added layer of depth. Looking forward to the next instalment.

I loved it!

Characters were all very interesting, I thought the alternating perspectives would be tiresome but found myself riveted to each of them. The chemistry and tension between the love interests was wonderful. Will definitely be continuing the series.

Great Fantasy Series

I was introduced to this series as a m/m fantasy series. It is not. Oh don't get me wrong several main characters are gay and there is a strong m/m romance side plot. But this is first and foremost a political fantasy. I was disappointed initially when I started this book to be going back and forth between male and female characters, assuming this was advertised incorrectly to me and was a m/f fantasy. It wasn't until a few chapters in I realized that the different points of view weren't all for characters romantically involved. Once I realized that I was able to listen and appreciate the story for the wonderful fantasy novel it was. This had very YA fantasy vibes with some 18+ gay sex scenes so I was of course a big fan. Greg Boudreux as always was fantastic and Lessa Lamb is a new to me narrator but they paired very well together. The political plot is a bit heavy for me so I think I will take a couple days before I jump into book 2, but I will definitely be returning to this series.

Lessa Lamb and Greg Boudreaux are pure magic! 😍

The creative minds of W. M. Fawkes and Sam Burns once again come up with a truly exciting M/M fantasy series for those of us in love with dragons. The premise of the Fire and Valor series is original and concerns the initial dominance of dragons that ruled over mankind until a human hero with exceptional magic skills overthrow the dragons. With innate magical talent waning over the centuries, many human beings are fearful of a possible return of the dragon who still carve out an existence among the Mawrcraig Mountains. Being a hybrid as a result of an extramarital affair his mother had with a dragon, Lord Tristam Radcliffe's position in the Llangard court as the 'nephew' of the king was fairly precarious.
In 'The King's Dragon, Fire and Valor Book 1', the king dies and Prince Reynold takes the throne. Right away, it is easy to tell that the newly succeeded monarch is harder, harsher, and darker than his father. Amid whispers that the dead king may have been poisoned, King Reynold's 'shadow' Bet Kyston comes into the fullness of his responsibilities as an assassin and behind-the-scenes 'fixer'. Bet and Tristram's mutual attraction comes to the forefront when a knight visiting from the north tries to kill Tristram during a jousting competition and is himself eliminated.
During the visit of the dignitaries from the north, an attractive noblewoman (Rhiannon) along with her young male attaché Hafgan from the north shows up at the court in Llangard. Though the king is enchanted with her, she is more enchanted by the human female knight Sir Sidonie. When the king makes an unwanted sexual advance, she rebuffs with a force that reveals her draconic nature, and as an aside from their poor reaction, she discloses Tristram's heritage. Her attaché Hafgan escapes finding his way back across the Mawrcraig Mountains to report Rhiannon's capture and the intolerance of humans towards dragons, which insures their unwillingness to accept an alliance that will help them fight the common foe. Rhiannon's shield brother Maddox travels back to Llandgard to help her escape imprisonment and torture--the same kind of agony Bet spares Tristram, by convincing the king to allow him to interrogate Tristram instead of leaving it for the executioner.
In an effort to get the council to mitigate King Reynold's erratic behavior, his sister Gillian is betrayed by the uncle who suggested she approach the council initially. Being jailed in the tower by Bet, she is released by Tristram's mother Elinor who has Prince Roland in tow as he was unwilling to sit by while those he cared for were wronged by his father King Reynold. Meanwhile, Sir Sidonie averts Rhiannon's execution by releasing her from the magical collar that prevented her from shifting into dragon form. Taking advantage of her freedom, Rhiannon kills the executioner, eats the king, and flies off with Sir Sidonie. Gillian leaves the tower only to get captured by Maddox who plans to use her as a bargaining chip for his sword sister. He manages to see Rhiannon flying away from Llangard with an armor-clad 'passenger', so he has no choice but to take Princess Gillian along with him back towards the Mawrcraig Mountains. Bet, Tristram, Elinor, and Prince Roland are confronted by palace guards with the news of the king's death and the newly crowned king is quick to appoint Lord Tristram Radcliffe as regent. Wow!
The King's Dragon is a complex novel of intrigue skillfully orchestrated, clearly delineated, beautifully sprinkled with romance that happens on three fronts. Readers have the relationship between Tristram and Bet (M/M), the newly blossoming interconnection that transpires between Sir Sidonie and Rhiannon (F/F), and the obvious fireworks that occurs between Gillian and Maddox (M/F). It is enjoyable to see the dragon-human pairings in a series about the great divide that exists between the races. The writers do an outstanding job keeping the reader fully engaged in the novel with extraordinary pacing and superlative balance of the many key elements in the richly descriptive narrative. And delivered with a precision that prevents the reader from becoming confused--a remarkable achievement in such an elaborate work. It's SO ridiculously good!