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 … 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.
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Nine year old Roland is now king. There is more intrigue, traitors, mystery, assassins, more dragons, and more story lines that are weaving amongst each other. Gilliam is missing. Rhionnon has taken Sidonie. Tristam is abandoned, without Bet and is struggled to find the traitor and keep the kingdom intact. I went right into book 3! The narrators continue to make this story amazing.
Once again, readers will have the unique pleasure of continuing an epic fantasy written by the wonder team of W. M. Fawkes and Sam Burns. In the previous novel, the intrigue surrounding the kingdom of Llandgard is exacerbated by the centuries-long hostilities that exist between dragons and humans. A human mage possessing incredible power makes it possible to break the draconic dominance that subjugated mankind in the past. And at the present time, it becomes clear that the rift between both races must be mended in order for them to confront a common and formidable adversary.
In ‘The Prince’s Dragon: Fire and Valor Book 2’, the killed (and dragon-eaten) King Reynold leaves Prince Roland to succeed him to the throne and the young king wisely selects Lord Tristram Radcliffe as his regent. In the performance of his duties, Tristram discovers that Reynold had been stockpiling weapons for war and the food stores are sorely lacking. He has to work hard to see that enough food is stored so that everyone in the kingdom can make it through winter.
In the meantime, young King Roland is mortally ill and Bet obtains evidence that Roland’s uncle Laurence, the very one that betrayed Gillian in book 1, had been dealing with an herbalist specializing in poisons. Bet kills the uncle who was trying yet again to grab control of the throne then sets out to find a remedy amongst his elven kin. The elves do not appear but a dragon lady gives him a cure for the young king and her horse for Bet to make his way back to Llandgard. Arriving just in time to administer the remedy, young King Roland’s life is saved.
During Laurence Cavendish’s funeral, his son Nicholas accuses Tristram of killing his father to gain and hold the position as regent thereby ruling Llandgard when other of the family are better suited. Nicholas challenges Tristram to a duel and Bet is notified just in time to hurry forth with the announcement that he was the one that did the killing. Bet is imprisoned and the confrontation serves to make them aware of Nicholas’s magical powers he hadn’t had previously.
While in dragon form, Rhiannon flies Sidonie to the monastery being unable to make their way all the way home because she is ill from eating the poisoned King Reynold. Maddox stops by the monastery with Gillian in tow to catch up with his shield sister Rhiannon who he traveled to Llandgard to save. He encounters his father Rhys, not realizing that his father was encouraged to leave him and the Sun clan by his wife who is the clan’s queen and Maddox’s mother. This revelation causes him to abandon the decades-long animosity he held against Tristram for being the second child Rhys fathered and with the human woman named Elinor. It is at this point Rhys discovers Elinor was pregnant with his half-dragon son decades previously.
The monastery where Rhys and others lived and trained human children to manage their magical abilities is attacked by the enemy comprised of monstrosities made possible by the humans ingesting dragon’s blood. The folks surviving the attack at the monastery are scattered including Rhys who makes his way to Llandgard to warn of the threat. It also affords him the opportunity to rejoin Elinor there and finally meet his son, Lord Tristram Radcliffe, regent of Llandgard. Meanwhile, Maddox has Gillian along with him and Rhiannon with Sidonie make their way more slowly to Llandgard with others including the children that were displaced.
Wanting to get a sight of a dragon arriving at the gates of Llandgard, King Roland talks Bet into allowing him to scope the sight. Cousin Nicholas catches both of them and uses his magic to propel Bet out of the window. Tristram turns from welcoming the retinue at the gate to seeing Bet falling to his death from the window and the sight makes it possible for him to transform into a dragon. He swoops in to save Bet but young King Roland is abducted. The leaders of Llandgard get a notice that young King Roland would be returned unharmed when the kingdom is signed over to the control of his cousin Nicholas who had cast his lot with its enemy.
Our writers deliver another incredible novel that fulfills the promise put forth by the first book of the series. In addition to the awesome world-building, outstanding character growth of main characters and secondary players, the book has wonderful pacing with a great balance of varying types of events in the narrative. The high-action occurrences are tempered by the quieter moments that serve to support the entire series arc through explanation, clarification, and emphasis of all elements within the many subplots. With EVERYTHING so tight and precise, readers are treated to a well-formed, completely thorough, totally credible fantasy story. Talk about excellent work!
Another winner!
I love it when book 2 is just as good as book 1! Tristram and Bet are just as tangled up in royal politics as they were last time, or even more. There is a large cast of characters in these books and they are written from multiple POV’s, which I like a lot. Well written with great suspense and plotting, more than a few engaging characters, and hot sexytimes. I enjoyed this very much and I’m looking forward to seeing what new things we learn in book 3!
Enchanting
Aside from the magic and fantastic world-building in this series, I think what I enjoy the most are the intertwined stories from each of the characters’ viewpoints. We learn so much when we experience this adventure from everyone’s perspective. I just have to share how much I adore Hafgan. He’s nothing short of amazing and the world needs more people like him.
“Take care of your dragon…and be wary of the monsters that surround you.” Wise words and monsters are hidden everywhere in this world. Good thing Tristram has Bet on his side and who knows maybe he has more than he ever thought. I really love Bet and Tris. They make me so happy and I love the light to the dark dichotomy of them. They blend well and whatever may happen, their relationship will never be boring. Surprises, surprises and more surprises will have you devouring this book and wanting the next one immediately.
The Prince’s Dragon is the second book in the Gires and Valor series by Sam Burns & WM Fawkes. This is a paranormal m/m romance with multiple point of views, a well developed world, well written storyline and fascinating characters. Suspense, drama, steam…this series is addictive and wonderful.