A Destiny of Dragons

First, if you haven't read a book by T.J. Klune yet, you are truly missing out. Emotions run rampant in pretty much every book. Tears of laughter, tears of heartbreak, tears of joy - I don't think I've read one of his books without shedding one or all of the above. And no, I'm not a gluten for punishment or a masochist. I just love books that make me feel and T.J. Klune is a pro at all the feels. ALL OF THEM! So, where does The Tales of Verania fall in that spectrum? Well, the "Merry Band of Misfits" are comprised of a gay hornless (sassy) unicorn; a dragon who is WAY too full of himself; a magician's apprentice who has a knack for getting himself in crazy, mostly dangerous, sometimes deadly situations; a sometimes overly gallant, sword wielding  knight who would follow said magician's assistant anywhere to attempt to keep him out of trouble; a sweet, lovable half giant who BEGS to punch anyone who poses a threat to his friends and family; and sometimes even a "jilted by the knight," somewhat reluctant, grumbling prince. If you assumed that A Destiny of Dragons is on the silly side, you'd be half right. The thing about T.J. Klune is that even his silliest books have a depth that inevitably takes readers by surprise. Just one of the many things I love about his books, <3

A Destiny of Dragons changes things for everyone. Secrets are revealed, connections are discovered that are a bit unsettling and some trust is torn to shreds. Sam has to come to terms with way more than he's prepared for and spends a lot of time in denial. He avoids dealing with his "Destiny" in hopes that it will go away, but of course, that can't happen. The only thing he does know is that he'll do ANYTHING to keep those he loves safe but he's afraid that isn't possible. At least not in any way that keeps his heart intact. Then there's the added bonus of strange alliances are made and more enemies are added to the mix. Saying that A Destiny of Dragons is a hard one to put down is an understatement.

It's obvious from the list of characters that there is no blood involved in this make shift family, but there bond is stronger than any biological family could ever be. Even those among them who seem not to care, always come through when it counts. (Even the least likely among them.) I think that's what I love most about this series so far - the sense of family. I have a feeling as the series continues that they're going to need each other more than ever.

The Consumption of Magic is next, followed by the last book in The Tales of Verania, A Wish Upon the Stars. I have them both and as soon as I get up the nerve to pull on my "big girl pants" I'll pick them up. Rumor has it that there will be more than a few tears shed. *sigh*

Following the story set up in The Lightning Struck Heart, A Destiny of Dragons is the first in the continuing three part series, Tales From Verania , that T.J. Klune is calling the “Destiny Fuck Yeah Trilogy”. Much like Lord of the Rings, Tales from Verania is a series in parts and thankfully the remaining two books are being published shortly, so don’t let the word cliffhanger put you off. If you’re a fan of Sam of Wilds you have to read this book!

Now that Sam has his happily ever after and everything in the City of Lockes is going along smoothly, some drama just has to happen, right!? Cue Sam’s long-lost gypsy grandmother. She brings along the dark, mysterious, and incredibly buff Ruv (who she says is Sam’s true cornerstone), and Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart doesn’t like this one bit!

Oh, yes, and Sam has a vision of the future while being bad-touched by his grandma. He discovers it’s his destiny to save the world, and he must gather all the dragons in Verania to do it. Our favorite heroes are all back and better than ever and they set off on the quest.

Ryan is still dashing and immaculate, and now that Haveheart is solid, he’s letting us see his kinky side too. Gary still has sass up the wazoo, and Kevin surpasses anything I could even imagine with his vivid and creative descriptions of his favorite pastime. The story in A Destiny of Dragons is completely captivating, and the banter is clever and funny. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

It wouldn’t be TJ if there wasn’t some heartbreak, and some of the more poignant moments really touched me, such as Sam’s conversation with the Star Dragon about why all wishes can’t come true, “‘If we got everything we ever wished for, we wouldn’t have the capacity to be thankful for all the things we’d already been given.’” Sam is still struggling to accept his quest, figure out why all this is going on, and wondering if he truly wants to commit to it.

There are some fantastic new characters introduced in this book. Klune completely nails the character of Zero the dragon, all his teenage angst and attitude. Zero broke my heart between his desperation to be accepted and his desire to find a deep and passionate love. Zero is wise beyond his years when he tells Sam, “‘Everything dies, it’s the price we pay for being alive.’” Sam hears him, but he’s still going to do whatever he must to make sure his family stays safe.

TJ Klune gets a little heavy in this one. He delves deep into the concepts of fate and free will, good versus evil, faith, and the power of love. Maybe I should add honesty to the list… I know Sam is going to regret not coming clean about his visions and everything that went down with Myrin.

I’m so glad I waited for the audio version of A Destiny of Dragons. What would the story be without Michael Lesley giving voice to Gary, Tiggy, Kevin and the rest of the crew? Lesley infuses the characters with so much personality it just enhances everything that Klune has written. I love the voices he’s created for Zero, Vadoma, Myrin and the other new characters, Lesley is just so incredibly talented. The audio is beautifully produced and includes some amazing sound effects which really enliven the story.

TJ Klune’s imagination knows no limits and A Destiny of Dragons is creative and funny and poetic and heartfelt and, well you get the idea, pretty much The. Best. Book. Ever! *fangirl moment* I think Klune is a genius. Now the only thing that remains to be seen is whether I’ll dive straight into reading The Consumption of Magic or wait for the audiobook to come out. Who am I kidding, I’ll do both. There’s still three more dragons to find and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

TJ Klune has proved once again to be a master story teller. If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. TJ has a way of pulling you into the story with engaging characters and a well-developed enjoyable story. The tension between the characters is perfectly built and balanced without feeling like you are drowning under it. The humor is spot on and the sass - so much sass - was fun. Yes, I admit to cleaning up sprayed coffee, lol.
It was a genuine pleasure to read a book without plot holes, typos or grammatical errors (nothing throws me out of a story faster). Well done!!
I am really looking forward to the next instalment.

I have just one thing to say.

I LOVE SAM OF WILDS.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can get away with that being the sum total of my review. Darn it. TJ Klune makes it really hard to write a decent review. (Pun intended.) Trust me, I've been trying for years.

“A strange woman broke into the castle and bad-touched me and I had a vision about a white dragon in the middle of the Dark Woods and then Ryan domestically violenced me back to reality and now we think there’s an assassin trying to murder all of our faces.”
It was rather quiet after this pronouncement.”

The one thing Sam hates is mention of his destiny, no matter that he has no clue what it is. He just wants to live in Verania with his friends, his cornerstone, Ryan, and be the King’s Wizard. Unfortunately, Sam’s power is immense, the strongest seen in centuries, and when his gypsy grandmother turns up and shows him his destiny, he isn't exactly thrilled. There are many who don't believe he can handle it, that he isn't ready yet. But the darkness is coming, and Sam is going to have to pull up his big boy undies and face his destiny.

I thought ‘A Lightning-Struck Heart’ was full of heroic adventures, seriously comedic moments, heartfelt times, and just plain zaniness - sorry Gary, I couldn't think of a better word - but this second novel takes all of that, multiplies it by a thousand, AND throws in legends, destinies, a gnarly grandmother who irritates Sam, some of the hardest decisions he has ever had to make, guilt, betrayal, and super fabulous dragons. There's a whopping amount of revelations and emotions running rampant through this novel. And dragons. Did I mention them? Super fab dragons.

“You would risk everything?”
“For them? For him?” I didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes. Because they would do the same for me. We are better together than we ever will be apart. We are bound to each other. And nothing, nothing, will change that. Not you. Not the Dark. Not anything.”

Holy. Crap. This is beyond anything I could have even begun to imagine. Knowing what I know, and the direction that lies ahead, means it's going to be a very long wait until book three is released. For Sam, Ryan, Gary, Tiggy, Kevin, Zero, Morgan, and Randall’s epic journey (á la Lord of the Rings, albeit funnier and with gay sex), is only just beginning. I know the identity of the dark man now, and so does Sam, and every move from here on out, every choice, has the weight of the world resting on him. Oh, TJ, you are a genius with a tale.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

Where to even begin with the epicness that is A Destiny of Dragons? I suppose I could say it’s about an adventure. I suppose I could say it’s about magic. I also suppose I could say it’s about friends and family and the people you love standing by you no matter what lies ahead of you. And yes, A Destiny of Dragons is all of these things … but oh, man, is it ever so SO much more!



The thing you need to know most about A Destiny of Dragons is that of course all the absurd and hilariousness you'd expect in a book about wizards and hornless gay unicorns and half giants and knights with a delicious face is present and accounted for in spades, BUT this is a much different book than The Lightning Struck Heart. The same heart, the same irreverence is here, but, there’s a darker, heavier element not present in TLSH.



There is serious business afoot in Verania and Sam, of course, is at the heart of it all. It's a year or so after the end of TLSH and Sam and Ryan are blissfully happy and having lots of sex, Gary and Kevin are still inappropriate as always, Tiggy has his brooms and still wants to smash things, and Prince Justin is still just as bitchy as ever. Sam is still working on his Grimoire, even going so far as to include an ode to Ryan's penis, because, well, he's Sam and this is what he does. He's also learning more about his magic.



I was still only an apprentice. I was still only twenty-one years old. But I could do things that no one else could do. And even though I was sure all the stories spoken about me weren’t true, it would hopefully add to whatever legend of me they’d built in their heads. Morgan had taught me it was better to have people fear you a little than be indifferent toward you. I had never really understood what he’d meant until that moment.



So yeah, serious business, that becomes even more serious when Sam's mysterious gypsy grandmother, Vadoma, makes a sudden and unwanted appearance in Castle Lockes. Oh, she doesn't come alone and she definitely doesn't bring good news with her. You see, Sam has a destiny, one that's been written since before he was born. And boy, does Sam NOT want any part of it, no way, no how. To make matters worse, Sam finds out that Morgan and Randall have both been keeping important things from him and Sam is pissed and hurt and confused. But this is Sam of Wilds we're talking about so after a few temper tantrums, some deserved because holy cow, what's being asked of him is HUGE, he sets out on his journey. You know he's not going alone, though.


“Anyway,” Gary said. “This whole prophecy thing. Maybe it’s made up. Maybe it’s not. Maybe a star dragon did come out of the sky and tell your crazy grandma that you were going to be born and do some shit, or whatever it said.”


“Save the world from falling into darkness?” I said, trying not to be amused but failing miserably.


“Right,” Gary said dismissively. “Saving the world and stuff. Maybe it’s true and maybe it isn’t. But you know what is true?”


“What?”


He looked right at me, eyes impossibly wide and glistening. “You’ll always have us by your side,” he whispered.



Really, is there anything out there that's as epic and amazing as Gary? I don't think so.



So this destiny business is hard. There's Sam's wily and evil (well, so far she is. Maybe this will change?) grandmother who believes that Ryan is NOT Sam's cornerstone. There's tension and anger between Morgan and Sam and Sam doesn't know quite how to deal with this. There's the nefarious Lady Tina stirring up all kinds of hoopla in Verania. A wolf (he's not really a wolf, but the enforcer and protector of Vadoma) who's hot and causes Ryan to act like a jealous fool—which is actually quite fun. There are sand mermaids which ummmm ... yeah, just wait until you get to THIS part! There's an emo dragon named Zero who is 14 and 1400 at the same time. And worst of all is the mysterious force that's at the root of Sam's destiny, the big, dark thing that Sam must face, even though he knows he's not ready. But again, this is Sam so you know he’s not going to back down.



“Sam,” he said quietly. “What are you going to do?”



When I spoke, my voice was strong, more so than I expected it to be. “I’ve got a douchebag monologuing villain whose ass I need to kick, a kingdom to save, and a godsdamned destiny of dragons to face. You can sure as shit bet I’m going to do everything I have to.”



Go Sam!



Sam's magic is something else in Destiny; it's powerful and awesome, but still, maybe it's not enough to save the world. So yeah, our Sam is struggling. Good thing he has Ryan, who despite being an idiot at times, is the best person ever to be by Sam's side. Yes, Sam also has Gary and Tiggy, always, and Morgan, too, despite how angry Sam is it at him, but it's Ryan he needs above all else. Needs him to help control his magic which grows ever stronger and more chaotic and out of control. Needs his love and strength, his calm, and yep, even his penis. There is something though, something Sam has realized, about he and Ryan, and folks, it's a BIG thing. And it's going to be important down the road, I can feel it. I'm not sure what TJ is planning to do with this, but you can bet a million dollars that it's not going to play out how you think it will. (Sorry for the vagueness, but guys, you don't want spoilers for anything in this book!)



A Destiny of Dragons is not the ridiculous romp that The Lightning Struck Heart is, despite the many laugh out loud moments. Things are happening, things are changing, and Sam must confront forces both seen and unseen. He'll have Ryan by his side, so maybe, hopefully, Sam does the impossible and saves the world. We’re all just going to have to wait and see what the incredible and brilliant TJ Klune has in store for us. It's going to be one hell of a journey to get there, though, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!