The third novel in the Sianim series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha and Omega novels…When Rialla was young, slave traders from Darran ambushed her clan, killing all the men and enslaving the women and children. For years, Rialla lived in bondage, serving her master while waiting for a chance to escape. When that chance came, she made the … chance came, she made the best of it—and fled to the mercenary nation of Sianim…
Now she can strike back at her former masters. A lord in Darran seeks to outlaw slavery—but there are plots to kill him before he can. Rialla is chosen by the spymaster of Sianim to prevent the murder—and is plunged into a world of deadly magic, where gods walk in human form. Where her most trusted companions are not what they claim. And where Rialla could be enslaved again…
more
Steal the Dragon is book two in the Sianim series by Patricia Briggs and narrated by Jennifer James Bradshaw. This one is very intense, deep, and exciting. It’s filled with wizards, mages, and spies.
I want to get out of the way; dragon. The dragon in the title is miss leading. There is one appearance in a dream of a dragon, but there are no dragons in this book.
Now, I loved book one and four in this series. Both those books focus on Aralorn who is an interesting character, but in Steal the Dragon we get different characters in the same world just a different part of the world. The only common thing is the mercenary guild.
This novel reads as a stand-alone. You don’t have to read in order as you can see I read books one and then jumped to four and then came back for two.
Rialla is a former dancer/slave who is asked to return to the land of her slavery on an important mission for the Spymaster of the mercenary guild. She does this, but it’s not easy for her. Has she really left slavery behind her, even though she’s found her way to the mercenary guild and a new life. I felt for our lead and what she’s trying to do and all that she had to go through to complete the mission/goal.
Things don’t go as planed and Laeth her slaver spy partner is accused of murder. She ends up finding help in an unexpected place. Tris our healer is more than he seams. He’s not quite human. He helps Rialla and Laeth. With Laeth on his way back to the mercenary guild with part of the information, Tris and Rialla stay behind to find the real killer, which puts her in her former owner’s clutches again.
There is slavery and all that that entails. It was hard to listen to the scenes of abuse and rape. Rillalla’s internal conflict is intense and well done. Tris was a nice love interest, tho the focus is the mission with love blooming slowly. I like that they solve their issues with brain power rather than muscle power and even at times running away.
Steal the Dragon is a sneaky chess game with skill and strategy. The storytelling is vivid and outstanding.
Narration: Jennifer James Bradshaw does a wonderful job! I’m glad I listened. It made the story move along and brought out the hardships and issues these characters face. I like how vivid the different voices are for everyone and it felt like the story was coming off the pages.
Rated: 4 Stars
Remains a favorite to this day, one I can read over and over. Briggs is my favorite writer because she writes characters that are so easy to care about!
The Sianim series is certainly one of Briggs’ earlier works, which is evident in the writing, but I still enjoy them. The stories aren’t the most amazing and the world she builds is a little confusing at times (the magic is never really explained in a way that the reader can get a good grasp on it–it doesn’t have clear rules and limitations like something Brandon Sanderson creates), but I do enjoy the characters and the dash of drama she loves throwing in with it. Briggs loves heroines that are abused, tortured, etc., etc., and I have to admit that I love it, because I love reading about people who go through horrible things and fight through it.