Rating: 4.5🌈
The Dragon Prince’s Necromancer starts where The Dragon King’s Assassin ends, as Crown Prince Racmar Marresh’du of Zaru , ( a friend of King Taroc ) and the necromancer Daha, (a friend of the assassin/mate , Loch) leave the Kingdom of Racul for that of Zaru.
It seems that the dead are refusing to stay dead there and the other Necromancers they hired haven’t solved a problem that’s only gets worse.
Both the reader and Daha glean key pieces of information from the voyage to Zaru. Daha’s race , the Raltven , are despised to such a degree that Daha faces actual harm against a ingrained national loathing. Daha’s beauty and high intelligence has caused the Prince to change his own personal bigotry, at least towards Daha, and Daha has a long range plan that has nothing to do with his current mission.
It’s delicious and definitely engaging element.
Their arrival and the meeting with King Saric, and Daha’s first confrontation with the risen dead.
Sumida’s previous use of purple prose is missing here. So we can focus on the richness of the cultural aspects of the story and the mysteries at hand.
There’s a continuing look at the arrogance of Dragon rule, the class separation of race and speciesism . And while their relationship and King Saric’s rule take a closer in-depth exploration behind the intensity of hatred and racial bigotry towards the Raltven, it leaves it (probably realistically) at the starting point of disassembling old hatred’s.
The real mystery and culprit (s) is a element that might see some readers divided as to how they feel. As I was initially .
Because no one is punished. Not really. As the reader will find out, the crime (s) has many different origins and many different evils behind it.
After much thought, I found that to be painfully honest, no matter how frustrating and bleak. It’s a standing that’s rather pertinent at the moment.
The romance between Daha and Prince Racmar runs an entirely different course than that of the other couple. Here one , Racmar, still has bigoted views on the race of the one, he’s courting. Daha. That’s not acceptable for Daha.
How that plays out amidst the awakening dead, conspiracy, bigotry, and more makes for excellent and emotional reading. Especially when there’s a inner Dragon who’s acceptance is required for any permanent future. So many fascinating relationship elements to this couple that were missing in the first one.
I could see another story here. Because it’s really so politically unstable at the end, the King himself (un-mated) is a fantastic character, that it calls for a sequel.
Until then, there’s another one coming. The Dragon King’s Philosopher about one of the secondary characters who appears here. I’m anticipating his story.
This series just keeps getting better. Grab up The Dragon Prince’s Necromancer (The Dragons of Serai Book 2) by Amy Sumida and settle in for a wild, thoughtful story about race, bigotry, and relationships.
And dragons.
I’m highly recommending it. Read the series in the order they are written for character development, series foundation, and information.
The Dragons of Serai series:
✓ The Dragon King’s Assassin #1
✓ The Dragon Prince’s Necromancer #2
◦ The Dragon King’s Philosopher #3 – TBD release date
Description:
Death walks beside me.
Two weeks ago, I was hired by the Dragon Prince of Zaru to help his brother, the King, deal with their dead. Not that there is an abundance of corpses in their kingdom, but those who die aren’t staying in their graves. As a necromancer, I’m one of the few people on Serai who can put the dead to rest and discover why they are rising. As a Raltven, I’m particularly good at it. Good enough that the King of Zaru sent his brother across the sea to find someone like me.
At first sight, desire sparked between Prince Racmar and me. On the way to Zaru, our attraction for each other had grown. Now it’s reached the point of combustion, but I want more than a single night of pleasure from the Prince. To win him, I must play a dangerous game, tantalizing the man without riling the beast inside him. Between Racmar and the dead, I have some serious work to do, and both are presenting unforeseen complications. The reanimated corpses aren’t talking, something both unusual and unfortunate for my investigation. Then there is Prince Racmar who speaks too much, and his words are clawing at my resistance. I don’t know who will break first—the unknown power behind the dead, the Dragon Prince, or me.
Death walks beside us Raltven, in our shadow form we are akin to spirits, but if I’m not careful, a spirit is exactly what I will become.
———-
Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 