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A review by mxsallybend
Dragonfall by L.R. Lam
4.0
Dragonfall was pitched to me as a queer dragon enemies-to-lovers fantasy, which was all I needed to want to read it, but it turned out to be a queer dragon enemies-to-lovers fantasy in a genderfluid world, and that was all I needed to love reading it.
Before I get to that, though, let me explore the more familiar foundations of the fantasy. As we discover in the first chapter (no spoilers, I promise), our story is set in two worlds, magically separated long enough for the sundering itself to become legend. On one side is humanity, with its veneration of long-absent dragons as gods, and on the other side are the dragons themselves, with their loathing for the humans who betrayed them.
So, when we talk enemies-to-lovers, we're not just talking run-of-the-mill adversaries, we're talking about epic enemies, the kind whose relationship threatens to destroy one world (or perhaps both) depending on how it develops. As much as we, as readers, want to see the romance be realized, we're also painfully aware that there are consequences to their love that nobody can afford.
Tied up in the conflict and the affair is a daring heist tale involving ancient dragon artifacts, a den of thieves with entanglements of betrayal, and a mysterious assassin who doesn't fully intersect the main story until near the end. It all sounds familiar, and on a strict plot level it is, but the personalities, the writing style, and the alternating POVs are what set this apart. For all its epic stakes, it's a very intimate tale, and one that draws you in, making you care about (and for) the players.
Getting back to the issue of gender, it's not necessarily a driving force behind the plot, but it's a lovely bit of background that excited me.
I love stories that explore gender without being about gender, so this hit me right in the feels.
While the pacing lags a bit in a few places, when this gets going, it sucks you in and demands you hold tight through to the end. As for the ending, it's an interesting sort of subversion of the whole story, but there's a surprise twist that hits hard and nails the ending. Bring on Emberclaw!
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/book-review-dragonfall-by-l-r-lam-fantasy/
Before I get to that, though, let me explore the more familiar foundations of the fantasy. As we discover in the first chapter (no spoilers, I promise), our story is set in two worlds, magically separated long enough for the sundering itself to become legend. On one side is humanity, with its veneration of long-absent dragons as gods, and on the other side are the dragons themselves, with their loathing for the humans who betrayed them.
So, when we talk enemies-to-lovers, we're not just talking run-of-the-mill adversaries, we're talking about epic enemies, the kind whose relationship threatens to destroy one world (or perhaps both) depending on how it develops. As much as we, as readers, want to see the romance be realized, we're also painfully aware that there are consequences to their love that nobody can afford.
Tied up in the conflict and the affair is a daring heist tale involving ancient dragon artifacts, a den of thieves with entanglements of betrayal, and a mysterious assassin who doesn't fully intersect the main story until near the end. It all sounds familiar, and on a strict plot level it is, but the personalities, the writing style, and the alternating POVs are what set this apart. For all its epic stakes, it's a very intimate tale, and one that draws you in, making you care about (and for) the players.
Getting back to the issue of gender, it's not necessarily a driving force behind the plot, but it's a lovely bit of background that excited me.
"Some feel between, or outside of male and female, man or woman ... You'd use neutral for children until they choose, whenever that might be."
"I was never drawn purely to femininity or masculinity. Neither felt like me . .. Gender is both so important and yet inconsequential, in the grand scheme of things."
I love stories that explore gender without being about gender, so this hit me right in the feels.
While the pacing lags a bit in a few places, when this gets going, it sucks you in and demands you hold tight through to the end. As for the ending, it's an interesting sort of subversion of the whole story, but there's a surprise twist that hits hard and nails the ending. Bring on Emberclaw!
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/book-review-dragonfall-by-l-r-lam-fantasy/