Reviewed by Dan

TITLE:  Booker’s Song

AUTHOR: Hannah Walker

PUBLISHER:   Self-Published 

LENGTH:     251 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  July 29, 2016

BLURB:

Rillian Mascini is one of the most knowledgeable mages in the world. Spending his days and sometimes nights with his nose in a book has taught him magic and histories that few care to remember. He has a passion for dragons that pulls him to learn all he can about them, including their language. He is one of the last people left alive who can speak to the magnificent beasts.

Conwyn D’Aver is squad leader of the Dragon Riders. He will do whatever it takes to protect the dragons and people he has given his oath to serve. Nothing is more important, and when Neela, his personal dragon, is attacked, Conwyn is out for blood. He vows to find the threat and defeat it.

When an old spell book is found that gives a person the power to control all dragons, Conwyn will do anything he can to keep it from getting into the wrong hands, even if that means teaming up with the bookish Rillian to find a way to overcome the evil enemies who seek to gain the power.

Together with the dragons, the two men must find a way to protect everything they both love, but while doing so, they risk losing their own hearts to each other. As their enemies seek to destroy them, they learn that sometimes it takes love and trust to defeat the things we fear the most.

REVIEW:

I have to tell you that I love the recommended row on Amazon. Especially the Kindle Unlimited recommendations, and particularly the M/M Sci-Fi/Fantasy recommendations. I get tons of books through the regular review channels to review, but I also particularly like searching out and finding new to me authors who are self-publishing on Amazon.  I sometimes find a gem.

Hannah Walker is one such author. I’ll be honest, the blurb for the book grabbed me first, and then I saw a dragon on the cover and I was hooked. I had a couple things I had to do very early this morning, and I was exhausted while trying to do them because I stayed up more than half the night reading this book! I loved it. Ms. Walker’s world building and character development were very well done. I particularly enjoyed that there was no chunk of pages given up to tell us about the world, as too often is the case elsewhere. This author left it for the reader to figure out as they went along, and it worked. She used a combination of standard American English terms and some made up terms to lend a sense of ‘other’.

The story takes place on another planet. A planet that is inhabited by two races.  One is a race of dragons, who we learn are the remnants of a mighty civilization that fell sometime back in history. The other race is human, and communication between the two races is one sided, since no one can talk to the dragons.

Enter our hero, Rillian Mascini. Rillian, or Rill, is a powerful young mage with a secret. He can speak to dragons. But he keeps it hidden because if everyone finds out, he might lose his position working with the books which are his passion. But can both books and dragons be in his future?

The bane of Rill’s existence is a Squad Leader from one of the Dragon Rider teams. Conwyn D’Aver, or Con. Con and Rill HATE each other. They snip and dig at each other whenever possible. But then something unexpected happens…Con kisses Rill and neither man can forget it.

Along the way the world learns of Rill’s ability to talk to dragons when Con’s dragon is injured in a mysterious event. Con, the dragons, and the other inhabitants of Rill’s country all learn that Rill is one of only four or so known individuals on the entire planet who have the ability. The dragons are ecstatic! Finally…someone who can hear them and communicate. But dark plot are afoot and strange things keep happening. There is also an underlying mystery involving a dangerous tome containing some very powerful spells.

I really enjoyed this story and the author’s writing style. I’m going to have to check out her Sci-Fi series next, and I’ll bring you my thoughts on those down the road. For now, let me tell you that I highly recommend this book. It is free on Kindle Unlimited. I’m not sure if more is planned in this world she has created, but I for one would welcome it eagerly. I think…since we never found out who sent Rill the spell book that is central to the story…that we might see more! Enough spoilers. If you are a M/M fantasy reader, give it a try. I think you’ll like it.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon