The old kingdom of Paicha has been split into city states, but there are those who seek to reunite the shattered realm-by force if necessary. Amidst the turmoil there are three who will find their destinies inextricably tangled. Tesha is a glassblower’s apprentice who becomes a tribute bride when her city is conquered by the south. In the enemy’s court, she’s perfectly placed to sabotage them, but her heart has other plans. Naili is a laundress in the house of an eccentric alchemist who is awakening to strange new powers. When radicals approach her, she faces a choice between keeping her magic to herself and using it to change the world. And in the desolate Shield Mountains, dragon rider Ash protects the cities from the monsters in the Iipao sands beyond. But, soon he’ll have to learn how to protect his dragon when hunters unlock the secret to killing them. As war sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ash must fight for survival against political enemies, dragon hunters, and monsters both within and without.
Between Dragons and Their Wrath by Devin Madson is a queer epic fantasy that held me hostage from page one.
I absolutely loved the characters from the start, with a women working in a glass blowers workshop, a dragon rider, and a laundry maid with sudden strange plant magic creeping up.
All three of them felt so real, they walked off the page and into the real world, or at least it felt like that to me. None of them are heroes or villains, they all have their strengths and weaknesses, their virtues and vices.
The world building was equally amazing, with different cultures, politics, drugs enabling speaking to dragons, science, poisons, magic and much more.
The plot was nice and twisty, with betrayals and loyalties as well as plenty of backstabbing, blackmail and spys everywhere. Trust no one, but find allies. Sounds fun right? I know I’d not survive a single week, luckily the characters are way better adjusted than me.
The world is queer normative, and there’s plenty of m/m and f/f attraction, with a few spicy scenes. Especially one of the female characters is rather horny, and keeps getting distracted by pretty bodies.
It’s definitely an epic fantasy with spicy scenes though, do not expect a romance or romantasy, or you’ll be disappointed.
If you follow my review, you know I usually despise most romance (tropes) and sex scenes in my books, as most of them feel badly written to me. The ones in here I didn’t mind, as they didn’t follow the annoying tropes, and the sex scenes were straight forward, no “plowing the fields” or exploding beds.
My only tiny niggle is the end being rather abrupt, and so I felt like there should have been a bit more. I seriously can’t wait for the next book!
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