My book reviews for the Dragon Scales duology by L. R. Lam, Dragonfall and Emberclaw. Please be aware that the review for the second book contains spoilers.
Published by Hachette UK
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Assassin Characters, Con Artist Characters, Diverse Representation, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Chronic Illness, Hearing impairment, Mental Health, Trauma, Compulsion, Elemental Magic, Fire Magic, Dark Fantasy, Dragon Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Disabled and Neurodivergent Authors, LGBTQIA+ Authors, Non-Binary Authors, Scottish Authors, Dragons, Found Family, Heist, Mental Health Representation, Non-Binary Characters, OwnVoices Representation, Queer Characters
Series: Dragon Scales #1
My Rating:
Published on: 2nd May 2023
Pages: 448
Disability Representation: Deaf, Fictional Condition, Plague, Trauma
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
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Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Now their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive.
So when thief Arcady casts a spell to steal a powerful artefact and accidentally traps Everen - the last male dragon - in the human world, the consequences are deadly.
Everen soon realises the key to his destiny, and to regaining his true power, lies in Arcady. All he needs to do is convince them to bond with him completely - and then kill them . . .
Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.
This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!
Content Warnings:
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Dragonfall Review
In Dragonfall by L.R. Lam, a young thief ends up accidentally forming a bond with a dragon. There were many elements of this book that I enjoyed, such as the world-building and the unusual narrative choice of using first person for Everen and third person for Arcady. However, the pace was just far too slow for me. Arcady is preparing for one last heist to set them up for the life they want when Everen quite literally falls into their life. As they’re stuck with him and Everen is new to town, Arcady takes the initiative, asking Everen to join them for their heist. Most of the book is taken up with Arcady teaching Everen in excruciatingly slow detail how to be a thief. While their relationship develops alongside his training, Dragonfall is the slowest of slow burns, and it was just too slow for me.
As for the heist itself, I have mixed feelings about it. Lam weaves everything together by the end of the book, and the last twenty percent of the book is brilliant. Yet I can’t shake the feeling that in recent years, there’s been an increase in heist fantasy novels, and I’m not sure that this one really needed to be one. There’s enough going on with Everen and Arcady’s storyline, as well as other sub-plots, that this just felt like a bit too much.
Despite not enjoying the way in which Lam has chosen to tell her story, I thoroughly enjoyed the unique world she created. She has created an interesting queer normative world where humans view dragons as gods, completely unaware of the true events of history or that dragons once lived alongside them. The amount of detail that Lam has gone into while creating the dragon species for Dragonfall is fascinating, and her descriptions are gorgeous.
As everything comes neatly together at the end of the novel, Dragonfall proves to be an interesting start to a new series. It just, as I said, took so long to get there. While I think it was worth it in the end, it personally wasn’t my preferred type of book. The book ends on a cliffhanger, which sets up very nicely for the next book. As a result, my attention has been caught enough to ensure I’ll be checking out book two to see what happens next.
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Assassin Characters, Con Artist Characters, Diverse Representation, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Chronic Illness, Hearing impairment, Mental Health, Neurodivergent, Trauma, Compulsion, Elemental Magic, Fire Magic, Various Magic, Water Magic, Disabled and Neurodivergent Authors, LGBTQIA+ Authors, Non-Binary Authors, Scottish Authors, Dragon Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Dragons, Found Family, Magic School, Mental Health Representation, Non-Binary Characters, Queer Characters
Series: Dragon Scales #2
My Rating:
Published on: 6th March 2025
Pages: 400
Disability Representation: Deaf, Fictional Condition, Plague, Trauma.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads
An ancient danger. A broken bond. The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.
Arcady and Everen have been separated, parted by the Veil.
Alone in Vatra, Arcady embarks on their greatest con yet: posing as a noble student at the University, determined to prove their grandsire's innocence once and for all.
Imprisoned in Vere Celene, Everen is hated by his kind. When he is released to defend his people, visions of the past and the future haunt him. If he steers the wrong path, he may never create a future where humans and dragons can live in harmony.
Time is running out. Threats rise from Arcady's old life and their new. And between the worlds, an ancient danger is awakening. Together Arcady and Everen can face it - but only if they can find their way back together, and restore the trust that has been broken.
This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!
Content Warnings:
Emberclaw Review
The first book in the Dragon Scales duology by L. R. Lam didn’t resonate with me completely, however, the world-building, writing style and the ending of Dragonfall had me hooked. Emberclaw starts with Arcady and Everian separated, and their bond is broken. Arcady believes he’s dead, and does her best to focus on the dream life they worked so hard to achieve as a student at the University. Everian finds himself back with the dragons, thrown in prison by his mother the Queen. But fate is not done with them yet, and to save humans and dragons they must find their way back to each other.
I found the pacing of Emberclaw to be a lot better than the first book. Arcady’s start at the University and the structure of her new academic life help to keep the story flowing and interesting. The new characters introduced were great, as were their backstories and related sub-plots. Likewise, the addition of Sorin as a narrator gave that character more depth.
Everything comes together in this sequel, and I enjoyed it a lot. The new characters and Arcady’s growing relationships with them and Sorin lead to some wonderful scenes. Lam writes their growing friendships wonderfully, their camaraderie feels genuine and leads to some heartfelt conversations about serious topics.
The end of the Dragon Scales duology by L. R. Lam comes to a fantastic end, filled with drama and suspense. This is a duology fantasy fans do not want to miss!
About L.R. Lam
L.R. Lam was first Californian and now Scottish. Lam is the USA Today and Sunday Times Bestselling award-winning author of Dragonfall and Emberclaw (the Dragon Scales series), the Seven Devils duology (co-written with Elizabeth May), Goldilocks, the Pacifica novels False Hearts and Shattered Minds, and the Micah Grey trilogy, which begins with Pantomime. They are also a writing coach at The Novelry.
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