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kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
Thirteenth in the World of the Lupi paranormal fantasy series revolving around FBI Agent Lily Yu and Rule, who holds the mantles of two Clans. It's been two months since Mind Magic, 12.
My Take
Wait. Don't get this book until Dragon Blood comes out in 2017. Dragon Spawn has the most annoying ending. I felt as if Wilks left me hanging in mid-air after jumping off a cliff, much like Wile E Coyote hangs there until he realizes there's nothing beneath him.
It took forever for Wilks to get to the point, and then there's that bloody ending. I kept trying to flip a page over, as I was so sure the story couldn't possibly have ended…there. WTF?
I did crack up when Sarah Winstead turns out to be as hypocritical as most men about women's dress, lol. Hmmm, I wonder if we could get a picture of Cullen in that Speedo. Wilks also gets in a jab at bigoted idiots.
Good point about control. It took me a bit to work it out, but…yeah. Habits are a behavior we don't consciously control. Must be why it's so hard for me to give up swearing.
I like the point Lily makes about Toby beginning to seek his own answers. He'll need to accept his dad's advice, and Toby experiences a lot of unexpected growth. I did not like how Lily learns the name Dirty Harry has given her, "Beloved". It made me cry and then laugh to think that that rangy cat had such a soft side.
Now that I'd like to see…Grandmother in biker leathers!
It's been a weird sort of story and more like a build-up for the start of a war Wilks has been "promising" forever.
The Story
Lily learns she was right. Tom Weng—a powerful sorcerer allied with the Old One who keeps trying to take over the world—is still alive. But that's not the worst. Weng is a dragon spawn, the product of a botched hatching given a human form in an attempt to keep him from going mad. A failed attempt.
Meanwhile, Lily's husband Rule is facing a Challenge to the death. Then there's the possible reappearance of another sorcerer. But none of that matters when their enemy strikes out of nowhere in the worst way possible.
Lily must face a nightmare and return to a place she never wanted to see again. The place where she died…
The Characters
Lily Yu is a touch-sensitive FBI agent, a Chosen, AND married to Rule Turner, a two-mantled Lupi who holds the role of Lo Nuncio, the heir to Nokolai Clan, and Rho, the leader for Leidolf Clan. Lily was also efondi in Mind Magic and must now learn to control and use her new mindsense. Toby is Rule's ten-year-old son. Dirty Harry is Lily's cat who is just fine around lupi. Freddy is Lily's cousin and a whiz with currency trading. Grandmother, Madame Li Lei Yu, is formidable and shapeshifts into a Siberian tiger. She's had a relationship with Sam for centuries. Li Qin is Grandmother's companion. Beth is Lily's sister.
Lupi security includes Mike, the Leidolf second-in-command (at least until José finishes regrowing his leg), Barnaby, Crane, Ricky, Mason, Jason, Hank, Daniel, Carlos, and Jude. Charlie is one of the lupi security sent to keep Ackleford safe.
The Lupi
Clan Home is what the lupi call their home base. Lupi is plural for lupus, which is essentially a wolf shifter. A high dominant literally cannot submit to his Rho. The wild cancer strikes a lupus in old age or First Change.
Nokolia Clan is…
…Rule's home Clan based outside San Diego. His father, Isen Turner, is Rho. Cullen Seabourne, a lupus sorcerer, is mated to Cynna Weaver, the Clan's Rhej (the heart of the Clans, their link to the past and to the Lady), and they have a daughter, Ryder. Joe and Sean are Cynna's Lupi bodyguards. Benedict Turner is Rule's older brother and in charge of security for the Clan. Arjenie Fox, Benedict's pregnant mate, is the fact-loving FBI researcher. Pete is Benedict's second. The Magical Mystery Machine (Triple M) is the device Cullen is inventing. Tom Erdquist has a son, Mark, who is Toby's agemate and friend. Dr. Nettie Two Horses is physician, healer, and shaman for the Clan. Mrs. Rogers.
Leidolf Clan had been…
…led by Victor Frey who thrust the mantle onto Rule. Alex Thibidoux is Lo Nuncio, but his continuing in that role is in doubt due to his dishonesty. Mateo Ortez, a high dominant, is Leo Freeman's son and too idealistic and naive to believe.
Czøs Clan is…
…in Minnesota. Lucas is Lu Nuncio; his son, Sandy, was kidnapped.
Ybirra Clan
Diego is the eight-year-old grandson of their Rho.
Etorri Clan
Noah is a three-month-old baby and grandson of the former Rho.
The Lady is the Old One respected by the Lupi. The Santo Desafío, the Holy Challenge, is considered heresy by some. Gan, a former demon, is now female and the chancellor of Edge growing a soul. She's also a crosser, one who can travel between realms without a gate.
FBI
Derwin "the Big A" Ackleford is the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the San Diego office and a pain in the posterior. The idiotic Conroy Pine is the assistant director. Director Franklin Parks is brand-new (and a jerk). Crowley. Fielding is either a reporter or FBI.
Unit 12 is…
…part of the FBI's Magical Crimes Division. Ruben Brooks, a precog, had been its leader until events in Mind Magic. Deborah is Ruben's wife. Now Martin Croft is running Unit. Ida is the Unit secretary. Stephen Marsh will become the acting head, and he wants to exterminate lupi. Karin. Jenny, Amos Baxter, Rob Bennet, Po, Arianne Rice, and Rutger were in the D.C. office.
Shadow Unit is…
…an undercover, even more secret organization than Unit 12. Ruben is its leader. Rule and Lily are part of it.
Colonel Marcus Abram/Abrams is an unknown quantity. Avery Jenkins was the pilot who fired the missiles. The plane was from General MacDonald's command. Airman First Class Rodney Klepper has a tip.
The gnomes are…
…masters at opening Gates and sticklers for protocol. Max is half-gnome. Byuset is the best of the gatemakers; Old Jenerder and Mabron are some of the gnomes with gate abilities. Ggilek is a Gnomish language. Tvortish is some kind of rite of passage, I think. I also think a hitsuche means "tribe", three of which are Hragash (earth's gnomes), Hirmon, and Harazeed. Jabak are devices the gnomes use to communicate across realms.
The Great Bitch, a.k.a., the Mistress or the Enemy, is the insane enemy Old One of the Lupi. The conspirators from Mind Magic included Sharon Plummer; Bethany; the pilot, Frederick South; a farseer or clairvoyant (no one is sure which), Adrian Farquhar; a Finder, Susan Thompson; a Telepath-plus, Amanda Craig; and, the levitating Tom Weng, a very powerful dragon spawn. Robert Friar's Gifts include clairaudience and patterning.
The kidnappers include…
…Warty and Ginger Harris (Sarah, Lily's murdered grade school friend, had been Ginger's sister).
Dis is…
…the Hell realm. Dashtu is a demon trick that allows a demon to go out of phase with the rest of the world. Xitil, a.k.a., Earth Mover, is a demon prince whose body was used as an avatar by the Enemy. Mevroax had been a chancellor for Xitil. Urti is infrared light? A chur-chur is a demon sex toy. Claws are among the deadliest of Xitil's foot soldiers. Khahlikka are the red-eyed demons.
Ambient magic is…
…rising throughout the world, and there are only twenty-four dragons to soak up the excess before it blows up the tech. The Dragon Accords treaty allow dragons to lair where they wish and to not be subject to human law in return for their help. Sun "Sam" Mzao is the black dragon covering, or rather, absorbing in California with a lair in San Diego. Mika turned female in Mind Magic. Fa Deng had been a dragon based east of Beijing. "Reno", a.k.a., El Draco, is a green dragon with an orange frill based in Spain. Third birth is when a dragon turns female. Mind-dark dragons-turned-humans are Lóng Luăn and psychopathic sorcerers capable of reproduction. Üther is living mass.
Meghan is one of the girls hitting on Cullen. Sarah Winstead is waiting in line. Orange Trunks, Green Trunks, and Confederate Flag, a.k.a., Marvin, are drunken, bigoted idiots. Smith had been an NSA bureaucrat gone wrong.
Michael is possibly the name of the sorcerer who amped up Cullen's powers, and Cullen thinks he has the Codex Arcana (The Book of All Magic).
The Cover and Title
The cover is the mountainous browns and oranges of Dis with Reno flying in its sky. A hip-cocked Lily, her long hair blowing in the breeze and wearing black jeans and a black tank top, is toting a machine gun as she stares off to the side. There are three lines of blurb at the very top with the author's name large and in white just below it. The title is a gradation of cream to yellow at the bottom with the series info below it in the same yellow.
The title refers to the Lóng Luăn, the Dragon Spawn.
My Take
Wait. Don't get this book until Dragon Blood comes out in 2017. Dragon Spawn has the most annoying ending. I felt as if Wilks left me hanging in mid-air after jumping off a cliff, much like Wile E Coyote hangs there until he realizes there's nothing beneath him.
It took forever for Wilks to get to the point, and then there's that bloody ending. I kept trying to flip a page over, as I was so sure the story couldn't possibly have ended…there. WTF?
I did crack up when Sarah Winstead turns out to be as hypocritical as most men about women's dress, lol. Hmmm, I wonder if we could get a picture of Cullen in that Speedo. Wilks also gets in a jab at bigoted idiots.
Good point about control. It took me a bit to work it out, but…yeah. Habits are a behavior we don't consciously control. Must be why it's so hard for me to give up swearing.
I like the point Lily makes about Toby beginning to seek his own answers. He'll need to accept his dad's advice, and Toby experiences a lot of unexpected growth. I did not like how Lily learns the name Dirty Harry has given her, "Beloved". It made me cry and then laugh to think that that rangy cat had such a soft side.
Now that I'd like to see…Grandmother in biker leathers!
It's been a weird sort of story and more like a build-up for the start of a war Wilks has been "promising" forever.
The Story
Lily learns she was right. Tom Weng—a powerful sorcerer allied with the Old One who keeps trying to take over the world—is still alive. But that's not the worst. Weng is a dragon spawn, the product of a botched hatching given a human form in an attempt to keep him from going mad. A failed attempt.
Meanwhile, Lily's husband Rule is facing a Challenge to the death. Then there's the possible reappearance of another sorcerer. But none of that matters when their enemy strikes out of nowhere in the worst way possible.
Lily must face a nightmare and return to a place she never wanted to see again. The place where she died…
The Characters
Lily Yu is a touch-sensitive FBI agent, a Chosen, AND married to Rule Turner, a two-mantled Lupi who holds the role of Lo Nuncio, the heir to Nokolai Clan, and Rho, the leader for Leidolf Clan. Lily was also efondi in Mind Magic and must now learn to control and use her new mindsense. Toby is Rule's ten-year-old son. Dirty Harry is Lily's cat who is just fine around lupi. Freddy is Lily's cousin and a whiz with currency trading. Grandmother, Madame Li Lei Yu, is formidable and shapeshifts into a Siberian tiger. She's had a relationship with Sam for centuries. Li Qin is Grandmother's companion. Beth is Lily's sister.
Lupi security includes Mike, the Leidolf second-in-command (at least until José finishes regrowing his leg), Barnaby, Crane, Ricky, Mason, Jason, Hank, Daniel, Carlos, and Jude. Charlie is one of the lupi security sent to keep Ackleford safe.
The Lupi
Clan Home is what the lupi call their home base. Lupi is plural for lupus, which is essentially a wolf shifter. A high dominant literally cannot submit to his Rho. The wild cancer strikes a lupus in old age or First Change.
Nokolia Clan is…
…Rule's home Clan based outside San Diego. His father, Isen Turner, is Rho. Cullen Seabourne, a lupus sorcerer, is mated to Cynna Weaver, the Clan's Rhej (the heart of the Clans, their link to the past and to the Lady), and they have a daughter, Ryder. Joe and Sean are Cynna's Lupi bodyguards. Benedict Turner is Rule's older brother and in charge of security for the Clan. Arjenie Fox, Benedict's pregnant mate, is the fact-loving FBI researcher. Pete is Benedict's second. The Magical Mystery Machine (Triple M) is the device Cullen is inventing. Tom Erdquist has a son, Mark, who is Toby's agemate and friend. Dr. Nettie Two Horses is physician, healer, and shaman for the Clan. Mrs. Rogers.
Leidolf Clan had been…
…led by Victor Frey who thrust the mantle onto Rule. Alex Thibidoux is Lo Nuncio, but his continuing in that role is in doubt due to his dishonesty. Mateo Ortez, a high dominant, is Leo Freeman's son and too idealistic and naive to believe.
Czøs Clan is…
…in Minnesota. Lucas is Lu Nuncio; his son, Sandy, was kidnapped.
Ybirra Clan
Diego is the eight-year-old grandson of their Rho.
Etorri Clan
Noah is a three-month-old baby and grandson of the former Rho.
The Lady is the Old One respected by the Lupi. The Santo Desafío, the Holy Challenge, is considered heresy by some. Gan, a former demon, is now female and the chancellor of Edge growing a soul. She's also a crosser, one who can travel between realms without a gate.
FBI
Derwin "the Big A" Ackleford is the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the San Diego office and a pain in the posterior. The idiotic Conroy Pine is the assistant director. Director Franklin Parks is brand-new (and a jerk). Crowley. Fielding is either a reporter or FBI.
Unit 12 is…
…part of the FBI's Magical Crimes Division. Ruben Brooks, a precog, had been its leader until events in Mind Magic. Deborah is Ruben's wife. Now Martin Croft is running Unit. Ida is the Unit secretary. Stephen Marsh will become the acting head, and he wants to exterminate lupi. Karin. Jenny, Amos Baxter, Rob Bennet, Po, Arianne Rice, and Rutger were in the D.C. office.
Shadow Unit is…
…an undercover, even more secret organization than Unit 12. Ruben is its leader. Rule and Lily are part of it.
Colonel Marcus Abram/Abrams is an unknown quantity. Avery Jenkins was the pilot who fired the missiles. The plane was from General MacDonald's command. Airman First Class Rodney Klepper has a tip.
The gnomes are…
…masters at opening Gates and sticklers for protocol. Max is half-gnome. Byuset is the best of the gatemakers; Old Jenerder and Mabron are some of the gnomes with gate abilities. Ggilek is a Gnomish language. Tvortish is some kind of rite of passage, I think. I also think a hitsuche means "tribe", three of which are Hragash (earth's gnomes), Hirmon, and Harazeed. Jabak are devices the gnomes use to communicate across realms.
The Great Bitch, a.k.a., the Mistress or the Enemy, is the insane enemy Old One of the Lupi. The conspirators from Mind Magic included Sharon Plummer; Bethany; the pilot, Frederick South; a farseer or clairvoyant (no one is sure which), Adrian Farquhar; a Finder, Susan Thompson; a Telepath-plus, Amanda Craig; and, the levitating Tom Weng, a very powerful dragon spawn. Robert Friar's Gifts include clairaudience and patterning.
The kidnappers include…
…Warty and Ginger Harris (Sarah, Lily's murdered grade school friend, had been Ginger's sister).
Dis is…
…the Hell realm. Dashtu is a demon trick that allows a demon to go out of phase with the rest of the world. Xitil, a.k.a., Earth Mover, is a demon prince whose body was used as an avatar by the Enemy. Mevroax had been a chancellor for Xitil. Urti is infrared light? A chur-chur is a demon sex toy. Claws are among the deadliest of Xitil's foot soldiers. Khahlikka are the red-eyed demons.
Ambient magic is…
…rising throughout the world, and there are only twenty-four dragons to soak up the excess before it blows up the tech. The Dragon Accords treaty allow dragons to lair where they wish and to not be subject to human law in return for their help. Sun "Sam" Mzao is the black dragon covering, or rather, absorbing in California with a lair in San Diego. Mika turned female in Mind Magic. Fa Deng had been a dragon based east of Beijing. "Reno", a.k.a., El Draco, is a green dragon with an orange frill based in Spain. Third birth is when a dragon turns female. Mind-dark dragons-turned-humans are Lóng Luăn and psychopathic sorcerers capable of reproduction. Üther is living mass.
Meghan is one of the girls hitting on Cullen. Sarah Winstead is waiting in line. Orange Trunks, Green Trunks, and Confederate Flag, a.k.a., Marvin, are drunken, bigoted idiots. Smith had been an NSA bureaucrat gone wrong.
Michael is possibly the name of the sorcerer who amped up Cullen's powers, and Cullen thinks he has the Codex Arcana (The Book of All Magic).
The Cover and Title
The cover is the mountainous browns and oranges of Dis with Reno flying in its sky. A hip-cocked Lily, her long hair blowing in the breeze and wearing black jeans and a black tank top, is toting a machine gun as she stares off to the side. There are three lines of blurb at the very top with the author's name large and in white just below it. The title is a gradation of cream to yellow at the bottom with the series info below it in the same yellow.
The title refers to the Lóng Luăn, the Dragon Spawn.
sandyfleener's review
4.0
I really don't like cliffhangers
That said, once again I love this series! I just wish I already had the next book Dragon Blood. I have to wait for the library to have a Kindle format available.
That said, once again I love this series! I just wish I already had the next book Dragon Blood. I have to wait for the library to have a Kindle format available.
witchylevy's review against another edition
5.0
Dragon spawn was definitely not what I expected. I didn't read the blurb because I like surprises and this was definitely a surprise. And holy cliffhanger that ending is intense!
rclz's review against another edition
4.0
good book but I down graded it one star for the huge cliff hanger
tinasbooknook's review against another edition
4.0
Cliffhanger ending, which I hate!
Big changes in the battle against GB, kids kidnapped to Dis, great chaos in DC, a lot of characters thought dead returning, good pacing and action
Big changes in the battle against GB, kids kidnapped to Dis, great chaos in DC, a lot of characters thought dead returning, good pacing and action
nixwhittaker's review against another edition
4.0
the four stars is because I really really hate cliff hangers especially when the writer isn't prolific.
rouver's review against another edition
3.0
Wilks' books are starting to bleed into one another quite a bit more. While bad guys often get away to cause havoc another day, this ends on a cliff-hanger. Lily & crew must once more venture into hell, but this time it will be on purpose. They must rescue several werewolf leader's children who have been kidnapped, including Rule's. I like the characters, the action, the plot twists...I just think that these would benefit from a harsher editor that could cut back on a lot of the unnecessary dialog. Surely this could have been all one book....
Still gonna keep reading them, though.
Still gonna keep reading them, though.
jevvec's review
4.0
Love Eileen Wilks, hate cliffhangers. I would rather have waited longer for two books close together than to have such a long wait after an enormous cliffhanger. I could hardly bring myself to finish this book which is why it has taken me so long. I wish I had not preordered it.
slc333's review against another edition
2.0
Remember earlier books were there was an actual case that Lily investigated and solved as she and Rule learnt about each other and how to balance the mate bond and Rule dealt with Lupi politics. Yeah me too. What the hell happened to those – they were good.
This is a case of too much going yet there is no follow through on any of it so instead we get lots of boring explanations, dragon lectures (but god forbid they explain anything) and long detailed descriptions of things with no actual story progression. It started well with a challenge to Rule’s leadership of Leidolf but then we are interrupted with long tedious exposition in the form of more dragon lectures (and the Challenge issue is never really resolved or is it with the off page handing over of the heir portion to the challenger – we don’t know because no follow thru) then there is the bombing of the FBI headquarters – how did this happen? Lily is about to investigate but then the children are kidnapped so again no further attention is paid to that investigation. AS mentioned, then the children are kidnapped – this will surely spice up the plot but no there is more tedious explanations and plans then a long overly detailed and dramatic journey filled with danger to rescue the children only the children aren’t there. No fricking follow thru – AGAIN. We also have a random scene of San Diego SAC being followed, and attempted assassination thwarted by lupi, a random scene of the GB’s new telepath and for a book titled Dragon Spawn there is very little actual time given to the actual dragon spaw himself. Plus that stupid cliff hanger ending were they are pulled through to another realm but on noes Lily & Rule are not in the same place. Do I even care. By this point not really.
This is a case of too much going yet there is no follow through on any of it so instead we get lots of boring explanations, dragon lectures (but god forbid they explain anything) and long detailed descriptions of things with no actual story progression. It started well with a challenge to Rule’s leadership of Leidolf but then we are interrupted with long tedious exposition in the form of more dragon lectures (and the Challenge issue is never really resolved or is it with the off page handing over of the heir portion to the challenger – we don’t know because no follow thru) then there is the bombing of the FBI headquarters – how did this happen? Lily is about to investigate but then the children are kidnapped so again no further attention is paid to that investigation. AS mentioned, then the children are kidnapped – this will surely spice up the plot but no there is more tedious explanations and plans then a long overly detailed and dramatic journey filled with danger to rescue the children only the children aren’t there. No fricking follow thru – AGAIN. We also have a random scene of San Diego SAC being followed, and attempted assassination thwarted by lupi, a random scene of the GB’s new telepath and for a book titled Dragon Spawn there is very little actual time given to the actual dragon spaw himself. Plus that stupid cliff hanger ending were they are pulled through to another realm but on noes Lily & Rule are not in the same place. Do I even care. By this point not really.
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
Man, this series just keeps picking up the pace, but the story lines are so complicated that it's a bit tricky to keep track of what is going on. Note to future self, re-read this one before you read the next one, or you will probably not be able to follow it, and they are in the middle of a heck of a cliffhanger. Actually, probably re-reading mind magic and then this one would be good. This particular story arc seems to really start there.
Nonetheless, still like the characters and appreciate the nonstop action.
Nonetheless, still like the characters and appreciate the nonstop action.