I’m Val Thorvald, and I’m an assassin.When magical bad guys hurt people, I take care of them. Permanently. This doesn’t make me popular with the rest of the magical community—as you can tell from the numerous break-ins and assassination attempts I’ve endured over the years. But thanks to my half-elven blood, a powerful sword named Chopper, and a telepathic tiger with an attitude, I’ve always been … attitude, I’ve always been able to handle my problems with aplomb. Maybe some cursing and swearing, too, but definitely aplomb.
That changes when my boss is afflicted with a mysterious disease, a government agent starts investigating me, and a godforsaken dragon shows up in the middle of my latest job.
I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, and ogres, but dragons are way, way more powerful. And it doesn’t look like this one is going to like me.
Worse than that, he wants to use his magic to compel me to do his bidding, as if I’m some weak-minded minion.
That’s not going to happen. I’d die before being some dragon’s slave.
But if I can’t figure out a way to avoid him, save my boss, and get rid of the government spook, I’m screwed. Or dead. Or screwed and dead. And that’s never comfortable.
Pick up Sinister Magic today to see if I make it. Even if you don’t care about me, I promise the tiger is cool.
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Sinister Magic is book one in a brand new urban fantasy series, Death Before Dragons, by Lindsay Buroker.
What an AWSOME Urban Fantasy. It reminded me a little of Kate Daniels series, yet completely different. It’s got an older snarky heroine, a fun tiger side-kick, and a patronizing dragon.
Val our heroine is a half-elven bounty hunter. It’s her job to go after the vile and weird creatures. She’s a contractor for the government and working for the them; well it involves an entirely different kind of nasty.
Zavyrd or Lord Zavyrd as he wants to be called is sent to Earth, a plant he despises, to clean it up off all the riff raft that have fled justice. His job is to bring them home for rehabilitation.
Val soon finds herself crossing paths with a this self-important dragon shifter who just begs our heroine to poke and get a rise out of him at every opportunity. Val and Zavryd, don’t get along and Zavyrd insists that Val is his bait.
We are also treated to Val’s friend, familiar, side-kick, bodyguard, and service animal, the magical silver tiger Sindari. He warns Val not to aggravate the dragon, but she can’t help herself in the face of such a smug and superior being.
Let me first mention that cover. It’s eye-catching and pulled me in. I also want to say that this is my first taste of Lindsay Buroker. I had know idea what I was getting into, but man did she hook me. I actually read Sinister Magic in Kindle Unlimited and I just knew after finishing, that I’d read it again, so I ended up buying the book and all the rest in the series.
I had a blast with this first novel. I loved that our heroine is in her 40’s, has life experience, and still can kicking-ass. Her magical cat, Sindari, is such a fun character and Zavyrd, our dragon shifter, is perfectly arrogant. I loved Val, Sindari, and Zavyrd.
Sinister Magic is packed full of action and adventure. It’s one wild ride from beginning to end. We are treated too unique characters. A plot that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. The world building is well done and Val’s backstory was perfect.
I can’t wait to see what’s next. If you love Urban Fantasy, then this one is for you. It’s got it all.
Rated: 5 Stars
I love this series! I’m actually re-reading it start to finish right now. Something about this series just draws you in and won’t let go–Val is a real character, fully developed, with real-life problems. Sure, she’s kicking butt and taking names . . . While puffing an asthma inhaler and juggling going to therapy. It brings relatability to a fantastic situation.
Highly recommend. Go read it, what are you waiting for?
I’ve reread it and it’s really great still. a wonderful battle maiden fantasy. I still love it.
So happy to have found this series
Lindsay Buroker has been on my to do list for months. And here we are, my first Buroker book under my belt. And I am very happy. Storytelling. Check! Worldbuilding. Check! Character building. Check! Plots. Check! Plots on plots, with endless possibilities. Check! This is a flawless book. And I did expect that. Love this world of Buroker´s and her characters. I feel like her heroine is a real person, with corners in her life that are not perfect and need some tidying, when the heroine finds time from battling other badasses of course. Already know I will finish the whole serie. Perfect narrator as well.
A great introduction to a fun series.
This seems yo have a lot going on, but with a different charm for everything thing she does is to much. She has a tiger that comes from a charm, a charm for lock picking, for invisibility, for this that and the other thing, it’s gets confusing. I didn’t find the story interesting and I became bored. I only read to 50% of the book and I just can’t read anymore. As usual, I would suggest you read this for yourself and form your own opinion.
A magical thrill ride of epic proportions. Hold onto your seat. This one’s action-packed with a healthy dollop of snark.
Excellent world-building, a host of interesting characters, surprising humor, and a great mix of action, adventure, and romance. This is an amazing series that I highly recommend. Val is a half-elf assassin who just wants to kill bad guys and pay off the loan on her Jeep. Unfortunately a dragon enforcer from another realm just tossed her Jeep into a tree and demanded she be his bait in capturing his long list of criminal supernatural beings who are hiding on Earth …. for free. Val doesn’t do anything for free and she would rather have her tiger bite the arrogant dragon on the butt than take orders from him. When her gets struck with a mysterious disease, Val is forced to go on the run from the humans who want to arrest her and the supernaturals trying to kill her. She might prefer death before submitting to any dragon’s demands but having the most powerful creature in all the worlds help in solving this mystery might be the only way to survive.
This book has everything a girl needs: slow-burn romance with wit, awesome characters and dragons. Did I mention dragons? Just get it – you’ll thank me later.
Urban Fantasy that is gripping and hilariously funny in equal measure
I love all of Lindsay Buroker’s books, so I don’t quite understand why I waited so long to start the Death Before Dragon series, especially as it ticks so many of my boxes. Urban Fantasy, a mature heroine that is kick-ass, but solves problems as much with her brains as her brawn and also features a hot dragon, who doesn’t quite get humans and considers them a lesser life form, at least at the start. A magical feline side-kick and memorable secondary characters complete the cast. There are mysteries that need to be solved, villains that need to apprehended, nail-biting action, a world full of magic, and a reluctantly budding romance. And all underpinned by great banter and laugh-out-loud humor. I think this is among Lindsay Buroker’s best work so far; she has really outdone herself this time!
Val is an independent government contractor and her job is to hunt down and kill magical criminals that have killed humans. Because of her half-Elven heritage she is uniquely suited for her job. But lately some health issues have been popping up (even though her doctor assures her that is normal for women her age). But as she considers cutting back a little her car (which hasn’t been paid off yet) lands in a tree, her expense accounts come under review by some insufferable government type and her boss succumbs to a magically induced illness. If all that wasn’t bad enough, a dragon appears on the horizon, or rather, starts butting into Val’s business and there seems to be not getting rid of him…
One of the things I liked best about this book is Val’s unfiltered mouth, even though it gets her into trouble frequently: she says what she thinks, whether to her boss or to a certain haughty dragon who is accustomed to more reverence from beings so far beneath him. But at her age Val is past taking bs from anybody, damn the consequences. It makes for some hilarious exchanges and funny and relatable inner monologue. Great Urban Fantasy!
Fairly good story, lots of action and a strong theme of helping others. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are some inconsistencies that are hard to swallow, even for fantasy. No cliffhanger, just a hook to the next story which I might read if it’s on KU or ever on sale.
I loved the entire series!
The characters are fantastic, and I love the way the author created a beautiful twist around so many fantasy tropes.
Well done!
Love this author!!
You can’t go wrong with a Lindsay Buroker book and this urban fantasy is no exception. Outstanding!
The first in a new series, the main character is Val, half human, half elf, and all badass. With magical help, her sword Chopper, gun Fezzik, and Sendari the tiger, she’s working for the military, taking out supernaturals that harm humans. Her latest job eliminating a wyvern catches the notice of a dragon, Zav, who isn’t happy when she kills the wyvern he’s trying to take back to his realm and rehabilitate. As the story progresses and Val is trying to solve a mystery and save a friend, she runs into the dragon more than once. He decides he wants to use her as bait to catch the miscreants that are his mission to apprehend, since she seems to attract them to her. She can’t get it into her head that it isn’t wise to smart talk and refuse a dragon, but it seems to work for her, since he doesn’t kill her, at least so far. I liked Val’s smart remarks and irreverence, especially since Zav’s superior attitude begs for it. I know these two are going to make a great team, as soon as the dragon gets his head out of his ass.
This was invigorating like dragon’s blood. I really like a tough heroine who goes through a book kicking a**, and getting hers kicked in return. Val is as tough as they come, but she pays for it too: her stress-levels are so high she has developed asthma and needs therapy, both of which are well integrated into the story. She has some other issues as well, mainly that she has had to abandon everyone she loves, a daughter included, so that they won’t be killed because of her job as a monster slayer.
The story itself is fairly straightforward. Val needs to find a cure for her boss who has been poisoned with magic, and clear both of their names in the process. Her path to it is littered with creatures from other realms who are bent on killing her. Making matters worse is a dragon who wants to use her as bait to lure in more creatures who want to kill her. It is action from the beginning to the end.
As the first book in a series there was some worldbuilding and character introductions, but everything was done organically along the story. No backstory was given for why the world was populated with creatures from other realms; it was a fact that didn’t need explaining for the characters. As a first person narrative, we get only Val’s thoughts on things and other characters remain slightly distant. But they were all interesting. My favourite was Zav, the arrogant dragon law-enforcer. The book hints that some sort of romantic bond will form between him and Val, but in this first book there was no romance yet. It didn’t need it.
All in all, a great start for a series and I’ll definitely read the next book too.
Lindsay Buroker knows how to craft interesting complex yet fun (and often utterly cool) characters like no other. She’s also the champ at creating kick-a** heroines (my favorite kind of character). That skill is fully on display in her new book, Sinister Magic, the start of her newest series, Death Before Dragons. The lead here, half-elf assassin Val is an utterly superb, utterly cool and utterly kick-a** fantastic character. Add in a fabulous cast (dragon bounty hunter Lord Zavryd – really key to watch in this “Urban Fantasy Dragon Series” – dwarf descendant and telepathic magical tiger sidekicks, plus vampires, zombies, and ogres … oh my!) and totally rockin’ fantastic plot that’s (of course the case with this author) superbly written. The result is drool-worthy enjoyment that’s left me aching for book 2 and more than delighted to recommend this book 1.
Oh, a pro tip extra: go to https://lindsayburoker.com/cut-scenes-and-fun-extras/death-before-dragons-extras-interview-with-sindari/ for a great interview with Sindari. A truly majestic tiger indeed.