Reviews

• My Favorite Dragon Prince and His Murder Husband Are Back!

  One of my favorite books from 2020 was Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders and I didn’t know until a week ago that it was going to become a series with a second book coming out this month. Y’all! My favorite dragon prince and his murder husband are back to solve another murder mystery! I loved Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances even more than the first book and it will definitely be on my favorites list of 2022. This novella was everything! It starts off with Thuan (the soft bookish dragon husband) and Asmodeus (the stabby overprotective fallen angel husband with lots of knives) babysitting while visiting Thuan’s family. They soon find a ghost and uncover a murder that leads them into all sorts of troubles ranging from being attacked while babysitting to an ex-lover making an appearance. It’s mixed together with a hefty dash of emotional struggle, knives, and romance. I don’t think that these two will ever get to have a normal vacation ever. Aliette de Bodard has built such an intriguing gothic fantasy world that instantly sucks me in. Her writing is beautiful and I adored the Vietnamese mythology mixed with the lore on fallen angels. The plot was intriguing and was a good mix of action, romance, and comedy. The babysitting scenes alone had me grinning like a loon. My heart didn’t know it needed the scenes with Asmodeus and Thuan being uncles to Camille and Ai Nhi but it did. It's now a huge pile of goo because of all the stabbiness and cuteness! My favorite part though was the romance. Thuan and Asmodeus have come a long way since the first book but their marriage isn’t without its struggles and issues. The fight between them kept me on the edge of my seat and made me more than a little snippity to my family when my reading was interrupted. I just had to know if everything would work out and they would be fine. Full disclaimer, I still haven’t read the original trilogy this series is a spin-off of despite having plans to do so in 2020. We all know how that year went. In this novella, we got a look at the start of Thuan and Asmodeus’s relationship and I’m dying to know more! The Dominion of the Fallen series is one I will definitely be continuing and finishing this year! This series is so masterfully written and I can’t recommend it enough! It’s also a perfect Pride read with both bisexual and gay rep. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope with everything I have that we get even more novellas about my favorite murder husbands! I really can’t get enough of them or this world.

• Cosy and Sharp in all the right places

  Thuan and Asmodeus are once again visiting Thuan's family in their underwater kingdom but this time they are babysitting their nieces. When they meet a ghost, the plan of quiet holiday goes sideways. It's a cosy story but the stakes are still high, key characters are put in danger, and it tackles some tough topics, like prejudice and entitlement. It made me laugh in quite a few bits and I loved the way childcare considerations were fully incoproated into the story. I highly recommend it, if you like interesting world building, excellent characters, and explorations of relationships. Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances is the second in the Drags and Blades series which is part of hte expanded Dominion of the Fallen Universe. I think it could be read as a standalone but being familiar with the Dominion of the Fallen Series and Of Dragon, Feasts, and Murders (Dragon and Blades 1) will give you some helpful backstory

• Worth the wait!

  The novella can be read independently from the first part, as well as independently from the Dominion of the Fallen series (even though it follows the one and ties into the other.) What I want to say with that: If the blurb intrigues you, pick it up, you won't regret it! The long, long wait did definitely pay off! I loved it as much as I loved the previous novel. There's only one downside: It's a novella, it's TOO SHORT! (It's not, it's a great size for a novella, I am just really in love with the type of story and the characters, I want more, more, more.) Stabby angel and cinnamon bun dragon have another murder to solve in the Dragon Kingdom under the Seine. Gorgeous setting, again, and I loved the themes: caring for children and dependents, tradition versus modernity, ghosts, otherness, overcoming fear and communication with your romantic partner, learning each other's ways. And exorcism, Vietnamese style ;3

• More dragon prince and stab happy fallen angel, this time with children

  Aliette de Bodard’s Dragons and Blades series is a stand alone spin-off from her Dominion of the Fallen series. I didn’t feel like I was lacking information, but I am now intrigued enough that I want to read it. At some point during the first series, a marriage is arranged between Thuan, a lower level prince in the Imperial Family, and Asmodeus, a murder happy fallen angel. Though the marriage may not have initially been welcome by either party (they planned to kill each other), they have settled into an affectionate if wary partnership. In Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances, Thuan and Asmodeus are on another visit to the underwater city, this time with two children in their care. Naturally, there are dead bodies, but this time the ghost of a child is at the center of the action and threatens to destroy the fragile understanding between the husbands. The cultural and personality differences between Thuan a dragon shifter, and Asmodeus, a fallen angel, are a central dynamic, but now the tension between them is an obstacle and not just a sexy edge of danger. To be fair, everything Asmodeus does carries a sexy edge of danger. They do recognize that they are stronger working together, even when they aren’t sure the relationship will survive. Even when they aren’t sure Asmodeus will survive. In a very few pages Aliette de Bodard builds a gorgeous and intriguing world. Her novellas show us just enough for it to feel lived in and layered. And I love that we find out Thuan has a type. If Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders was about doing the hard work to set things right, Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances is about the power of seeing. Both novellas are wonderful and well worth your time.

• Charming Dragons

  It's always great to return to the world of the Fallen, especially when it's about Thuan and Asmodeus in the Dragon's Court. Hope there's more stories about them still to come.

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