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DRAGONFALL is the second-and-a-half novel I’ve read by L. R. Lam (first one was GOLDILOCKS, a really beautiful & all-too-believable sci-fi novel…the half was SEVEN DEVILS, a riotous space opera they co-wrote with Elizabeth May.)

I believe this is their first foray into epic fantasy, and wow…DRAGONFALL is something wholly unique, and this is an incredible start to THE DRAGON SCALES TRILOGY!

I really went into this not knowing a whole lot. I heard talk of “sexy dragons” and the like, and I knew this book fell (at least somewhat) under the romantasy umbrella.

In this world, dragons have been banished to another dimension. This was ages ago, and in the interim, humans revere dragons as gods. Meanwhile, on the other side of this dimensional rift, what dragons remain live in a dying world. Everen is the last male dragon, the son of the dragon queen.

Back on the human side, a thief named Arcady casts a spell that goes awry, which draws Everen into the human world, and creates a strange and incomplete bond between the two. Everen must use his own magic to create a human disguise, all while trying to carry out elaborate plans to kill Arcady, steal their magic, and open the rift for good, allowing dragons to escape their dying world.

Arcady, meanwhile, is trying to clear their grandfather’s name. They steal enough to survive, with the hope of accessing a higher form of education, in order to prove that their grandfather is not the monster that everyone believes him to be.

This is…the absolute bare bones of what’s happening in this novel, and I’ve done a poor job explaining it still. There is so much lore & backstory in DRAGONFALL, which is impressive because this is a pretty short book by traditional epic fantasy standards (around 350 pages).

It’s an extremely slow burn romance, to be sure. The book overall takes its time, but Lam is so meticulous about crafting this world & developing these characters. And in DRAGONFALL, Lam is also very deliberate about gender in this world…I’m not sure how best to explain it, but it’s very interesting & done well. There’s like an internal set of rules, and so some characters will have their pronouns capitalized (They and Them), and just the whole process whereby people decide/declare their identity was clearly a priority in the writing of this book.

I fucking loved Arcady as a main character! They spend their life on the fringe of society but are determined to improve their situation. They are kind of like the living embodiment of the “one last score, then I’m out” mentality, which is something I’m always drawn to in fantasy. I loved their chemistry with the super broody Everen & I really appreciate the extremely deliberate pace at which the relationship between these two unfolds.

It’s really funny/timely that I had so recently read Robin Hobb’s ASSASSIN’S APPRENTICE for the first time. Lam dedicates DRAGONFALL to Hobb (the only author referred to by name, but the book is also dedicated to “all the other fantasy authors whose books I gobbled up”), and also mentions in the acknowledgments at the end of the book that Hobb’s REALM OF THE ELDERLINGS was an influence on them while writing DRAGONFALL. And for sure, this is something I picked up on even before reading the acknowledgments, with ASSASSIN’S APPRENTICE relatively fresh in my mind.

It’s the relationship between a POV character named Sorin and Magnes that really reminded me of Hobb’s words (specifically the relationship between Fitz and Chade, who is training Fitz as an assassin). Sorin kind of wound up being my favorite character in this book, which…was tough because she gets much less time on the page than the two other main POV characters. But yeah, Sorin is a HIGHLY skilled assassin, working for Magnes, a high priest who is keenly aware of any rips that occur between the dragon world and the human world. Their relationship is…kind of a toxic shitshow, to be honest. Magnes is manipulative & controlling, his interests are not always clear to Sorin. So I’m hoping for some different storylines for Sorin as the trilogy moves forward! Curious to see where she ends up.

This was outstanding! I think L. R. Lam writes such interesting, nuanced, and deeply human characters. Even the ones that aren’t all-the-way human. Hugely recommend this book, and I’m really excited to see where the story goes in book two, EMBERCLAW!