Review: The Prince's Dragon (Fire and Valor #2) by W.M. Fawkes and Sam Burns

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 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.

This sequel did not disappoint and obviously, cannot be read as a standalone seeing as how this starts right where The King’s Dragon left off.

Front and center is the fragile connection between newly appointed regent Tris (half human, mostly secretly half dragon) and assassin Bet. They have one common goal and that is to keep Tris’s young cousin Roland, alive until he’s old enough to take over the crown. Each has completely different ideas and methods to accomplish such, each at opposite ends of the moral spectrum as it becomes increasingly clear that a traitor is in their midst. However, the undeniable pull between these two has only gotten stronger, and it was satisfying to see their feelings evolve into an intensity that made me swoon.

What ensues is still a complex look at the tenuous and contentious dynamic, not only between humans and dragons, but also both having hostile relations amongst others of their own kind. On the periphery, but no less interesting or important, are the various other characters in play. This involves humans and dragons alike, each struggling to find their path and do right by their peoples in any way possible. Intersperse all that with a sadistic ambitious enemy who has a seemingly unbeatable terrible power and one knows that more anxiety inducing trouble is sure to come.

All of these storylines are set in motion, as discoveries and machinations push everyone towards a journey of smartly revealed convergence.

Be forewarned that though Tris and Bet’s growing romantic feelings are the main course, also brewing is a FF and MF pairing that have significant page time and explicitness. Though I would gladly forgo the lady bits in what I choose to read, I still quite enjoyed these other two couples plus one more possibly in the works. What I came to conclude was that this story and the overall series as a whole, has emerged as an absolutely fantastic ensemble piece containing magic, dragons galore, political intrigue, and fucking asshats who need to die a slow painful death.

Yes, this still boasts 5 main POV’s with a smattering of other voices. Yes, there’s plot twists and reveals around every corner. Throw in some nice smexy and plenty of feels, and you’ve got a well rounded historical fantasy that kept me engrossed the entire time.

I applaud the complexity of how Fawkes and Burns handled so many characters and plot threads (while never being confusing), bringing a wonderful conclusion to the second act despite ending on a crazy cliffhanger. My only complaint is that the next book isn’t waiting for me to dive straight into!