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Dragon Spawn
by
Eileen Wilks
It is part of the World of the Lupi #13 series and is a paranormal fantasy in eBook edition that was published by Berkley on December 6, 2016 and has 313 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Midnight Promises, Death Magic, Tied with a Bow, Mortal Ties, Ritual Magic, Unbinding, Mind Magic, Dragon Blood, "Good Counsel", "Cyncerely Yours", "The New Kid", "Brownies", Mortal Danger, Blood Lines, Night Season, Mortal Sins, Blood Magic, Blood Challenge, "Human Nature"
Thirteenth in the World of the Lupi paranormal fantasy series revolving around FBI Agent Lily Yu and Rule, who holds the mantles of two Clans. It’s been two months since Mind Magic, 12.
My Take
Wait. Don’t get this book until Dragon Blood comes out in 2017. Dragon Spawn has the most annoying ending. I felt as if Wilks left me hanging in mid-air after jumping off a cliff, much like Wile E Coyote hangs there until he realizes there’s nothing beneath him.
It took forever for Wilks to get to the point, and then there’s that bloody ending. I kept trying to flip a page over, as I was so sure the story couldn’t possibly have ended…there. WTF?
I did crack up when Sarah Winstead turns out to be as hypocritical as most men about women’s dress, lol. Hmmm, I wonder if we could get a picture of Cullen in that Speedo. Wilks also gets in a jab at bigoted idiots.
Good point about control. It took me a bit to work it out, but…yeah. Habits are a behavior we don’t consciously control. Must be why it’s so hard for me to give up swearing.
I like the point Lily makes about Toby beginning to seek his own answers. He’ll need to accept his dad’s advice, and Toby experiences a lot of unexpected growth. I did not like how Lily learns the name Dirty Harry has given her, “Beloved”. It made me cry and then laugh to think that that rangy cat had such a soft side.
Now that I’d like to see…Grandmother in biker leathers!
It’s been a weird sort of story and more like a build-up for the start of a war Wilks has been “promising” forever.
The Story
Lily learns she was right. Tom Weng—a powerful sorcerer allied with the Old One who keeps trying to take over the world—is still alive. But that’s not the worst. Weng is a dragon spawn, the product of a botched hatching given a human form in an attempt to keep him from going mad. A failed attempt.
Meanwhile, Lily’s husband Rule is facing a Challenge to the death. Then there’s the possible reappearance of another sorcerer. But none of that matters when their enemy strikes out of nowhere in the worst way possible.
Lily must face a nightmare and return to a place she never wanted to see again. The place where she died…
The Characters
Lily Yu is a touch-sensitive FBI agent, a Chosen, AND married to Rule Turner, a two-mantled Lupi who holds the role of Lo Nuncio, the heir to Nokolai Clan, and Rho, the leader for Leidolf Clan. Lily was also efondi in Mind Magic and must now learn to control and use her new mindsense. Toby is Rule’s ten-year-old son. Dirty Harry is Lily’s cat who is just fine around lupi. Freddy is Lily’s cousin and a whiz with currency trading. Grandmother, Madame Li Lei Yu, is formidable and shapeshifts into a Siberian tiger. She’s had a relationship with Sam for centuries. Li Qin is Grandmother’s companion. Beth is Lily’s sister.
Lupi security includes Mike, the Leidolf second-in-command (at least until José finishes regrowing his leg), Barnaby, Crane, Ricky, Mason, Jason, Hank, Daniel, Carlos, and Jude. Charlie is one of the lupi security sent to keep Ackleford safe.
The Lupi
Clan Home is what the lupi call their home base. Lupi is plural for lupus, which is essentially a wolf shifter. A high dominant literally cannot submit to his Rho. The wild cancer strikes a lupus in old age or First Change.
Nokolia Clan is…
…Rule’s home Clan based outside San Diego. His father, Isen Turner, is Rho. Cullen Seabourne, a lupus sorcerer, is mated to Cynna Weaver, the Clan’s Rhej (the heart of the Clans, their link to the past and to the Lady), and they have a daughter, Ryder. Joe and Sean are Cynna’s Lupi bodyguards. Benedict Turner is Rule’s older brother and in charge of security for the Clan. Arjenie Fox, Benedict’s pregnant mate, is the fact-loving FBI researcher. Pete is Benedict’s second. The Magical Mystery Machine (Triple M) is the device Cullen is inventing. Tom Erdquist has a son, Mark, who is Toby’s agemate and friend. Dr. Nettie Two Horses is physician, healer, and shaman for the Clan. Mrs. Rogers.
Leidolf Clan had been…
…led by Victor Frey who thrust the mantle onto Rule. Alex Thibidoux is Lo Nuncio, but his continuing in that role is in doubt due to his dishonesty. Mateo Ortez, a high dominant, is Leo Freeman‘s son and too idealistic and naive to believe.
Czøs Clan is…
…in Minnesota. Lucas is Lu Nuncio; his son, Sandy, was kidnapped.
Ybirra Clan
Diego is the eight-year-old grandson of their Rho.
Etorri Clan
Noah is a three-month-old baby and grandson of the former Rho.
The Lady is the Old One respected by the Lupi. The Santo Desafío, the Holy Challenge, is considered heresy by some. Gan, a former demon, is now female and the chancellor of Edge growing a soul. She’s also a crosser, one who can travel between realms without a gate.
FBI
Derwin “the Big A” Ackleford is the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the San Diego office and a pain in the posterior. The idiotic Conroy Pine is the assistant director. Director Franklin Parks is brand-new (and a jerk). Crowley. Fielding is either a reporter or FBI.
Unit 12 is…
…part of the FBI’s Magical Crimes Division. Ruben Brooks, a precog, had been its leader until events in Mind Magic. Deborah is Ruben’s wife. Now Martin Croft is running Unit. Ida is the Unit secretary. Stephen Marsh will become the acting head, and he wants to exterminate lupi. Karin. Jenny, Amos Baxter, Rob Bennet, Po, Arianne Rice, and Rutger were in the D.C. office.
Shadow Unit is…
…an undercover, even more secret organization than Unit 12. Ruben is its leader. Rule and Lily are part of it.
Colonel Marcus Abram/Abrams is an unknown quantity. Avery Jenkins was the pilot who fired the missiles. The plane was from General MacDonald‘s command. Airman First Class Rodney Klepper has a tip.
The gnomes are…
…masters at opening Gates and sticklers for protocol. Max is half-gnome. Byuset is the best of the gatemakers; Old Jenerder and Mabron are some of the gnomes with gate abilities. Ggilek is a Gnomish language. Tvortish is some kind of rite of passage, I think. I also think a hitsuche means “tribe”, three of which are Hragash (earth’s gnomes), Hirmon, and Harazeed. Jabak are devices the gnomes use to communicate across realms.
The Great Bitch, a.k.a., the Mistress or the Enemy, is the insane enemy Old One of the Lupi. The conspirators from Mind Magic included Sharon Plummer; Bethany; the pilot, Frederick South; a farseer or clairvoyant (no one is sure which), Adrian Farquhar; a Finder, Susan Thompson; a Telepath-plus, Amanda Craig; and, the levitating Tom Weng, a very powerful dragon spawn. Robert Friar‘s Gifts include clairaudience and patterning.
The kidnappers include…
…Warty and Ginger Harris (Sarah, Lily’s murdered grade school friend, had been Ginger’s sister).
Dis is…
…the Hell realm. Dashtu is a demon trick that allows a demon to go out of phase with the rest of the world. Xitil, a.k.a., Earth Mover, is a demon prince whose body was used as an avatar by the Enemy. Mevroax had been a chancellor for Xitil. Urti is infrared light? A chur-chur is a demon sex toy. Claws are among the deadliest of Xitil’s foot soldiers. Khahlikka are the red-eyed demons.
Ambient magic is…
…rising throughout the world, and there are only twenty-four dragons to soak up the excess before it blows up the tech. The Dragon Accords treaty allow dragons to lair where they wish and to not be subject to human law in return for their help. Sun “Sam” Mzao is the black dragon covering, or rather, absorbing in California with a lair in San Diego. Mika turned female in Mind Magic. Fa Deng had been a dragon based east of Beijing. “Reno“, a.k.a., El Draco, is a green dragon with an orange frill based in Spain. Third birth is when a dragon turns female. Mind-dark dragons-turned-humans are Lóng Luăn and psychopathic sorcerers capable of reproduction. Üther is living mass.
Meghan is one of the girls hitting on Cullen. Sarah Winstead is waiting in line. Orange Trunks, Green Trunks, and Confederate Flag, a.k.a., Marvin, are drunken, bigoted idiots. Smith had been an NSA bureaucrat gone wrong.
Michael is possibly the name of the sorcerer who amped up Cullen’s powers, and Cullen thinks he has the Codex Arcana (The Book of All Magic).
The Cover and Title
The cover is the mountainous browns and oranges of Dis with Reno flying in its sky. A hip-cocked Lily, her long hair blowing in the breeze and wearing black jeans and a black tank top, is toting a machine gun as she stares off to the side. There are three lines of blurb at the very top with the author’s name large and in white just below it. The title is a gradation of cream to yellow at the bottom with the series info below it in the same yellow.
The title refers to the Lóng Luăn, the Dragon Spawn.
