Dragon Thief [BOOK 2], sequel to Dragon Princess, takes the world & characters established in book one and tosses them into the fire. If you enjoyed the first book, you NEED to read the second.
Plot
Frank still struggles to adjust to life as a princess stuck in a female body. He can't take the idle puppetry at court & hasn't quite figured out how to continue his personal life. And what's worse? His dragon husband, formerly Princess Lucille - formerly occupant of his current body, is having too much fun with her new found agency as Prince to bother much about him. Feeling down, and drunk --- I think we've seen this before somewhere --- he uses the wedding gift given to him by the Dark Lord Natlac. A necklace that promises to temporarily turn him into a man again. Frank wakes up far from Lendowyn, of course, & in the body of the notorious criminal Snake. Bounty hunters, & entire nations hunt him. And it's safe to say that occupying Snakes body isn't any more enjoyable to Frank than Lucille's was. In this adventure Frank uncovers an evil plot which will affect more countries than just Lendowyn. He befriends a pack of cannibalistic teenage girls. And we even get a backstory for the inexplicable Sir Forsythe, Good Knight of the Dark Lord.
Review:
This is an expertly crafted book two. No cheap tricks pulled, no rehashing of the book one plot. No undoing of the entire book one plot. Instead we go into book two feeling like we know Frank well, & we sympathize with his trapped situation and are surprised by the situations he manages to get himself into and out of this time.
Secondary characters play a much more central role in the sequel. Both friend and foe -- human, dragon, wizard, cannibal, and barbarian. Establishing that Frank has grown from lone thief to man [woman] of the people. And he remains dedicated to this extended network. All of which are in danger this time around.
The world building is expanded, but still remains light which is the right tone for this story. It is not a high fantasy even though this plot is about countries on the brink of war.
I loved how Frank was no more comfortable in another man's body than he was in a female body. I love watching him work and rework the various titles and roles he has unwillingly gained along this journey to his advantage.
In Conclusion:
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Fantasy, Satire, Body-Swapping, Adventure
Length: 326 pages
Plans to Continue? Yes! Dragon Wizard is Next
What This Story has to Offer You
Fantasy Satire
Tough Teenage Girls
A Vengeful Goddess
A Bar Fight on LSD
Plenty of Humor
A Handful of Selfless Care
The Preceding's of War
A Ragtag Team Trying to Save the Day
I am having so much fun reading this series. If you gave it a try I would love to hear it!
Thanks for reading!
Amanda
Photo taken by me, edited on VSCO