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Heartstrikers #4
A Dragon of a Different Color
To save his family from his tyrannical mother, Julius had to step on a lot of tails. That doesn’t win a Nice Dragon many friends, but just when he thinks he’s starting to make progress, a new threat arrives.
Turns out, things can get worse. Heartstriker hasn’t begun to pay for its secrets, and the dragons of China are here to collect. When the Golden Emperor demands his surrender, Julius will have to choose between loyalty to the sister who's always watched over him and preserving the clan he gave everything to protect.
Turns out, things can get worse. Heartstriker hasn’t begun to pay for its secrets, and the dragons of China are here to collect. When the Golden Emperor demands his surrender, Julius will have to choose between loyalty to the sister who's always watched over him and preserving the clan he gave everything to protect.
512 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2017
About the author
Rachel Aaron
33 books2,930 followersHello, my name is Rachel Aaron, and I write the Heartstriker books, a new Urban Fantasy series about misfit dragons, starting with Nice Dragons Finish Last. I also wrote The Legend of Eli Monpress fantasy series for Orbit Books about a wizard thief and the poor bastards who have to try and stop him. PLUS I'm also the author of the new, rolicking fun Science Fiction romance Fortune's Pawn under the name Rachel Bach.
I was born in Atlanta, but I currently live a lovely, nerdy, bookish life in Denver, CO with my lightspeed son, perpetually understanding husband, and far too many plants. Besides my own books, the internet knows me best for writing very fast. The best way to get to know me is probably to read my blog or follow me on Twitter.
I was born in Atlanta, but I currently live a lovely, nerdy, bookish life in Denver, CO with my lightspeed son, perpetually understanding husband, and far too many plants. Besides my own books, the internet knows me best for writing very fast. The best way to get to know me is probably to read my blog or follow me on Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 430 reviews
May 26, 2018
The penultimate installment in the Heartstrikers series could’ve been the best in the series so far.
A Dragon of a Different Color could’ve been 5 stars, but it was bogged down by too much info dump, which I’ll get into later. Following the same tradition as the third book, the story picked up immediately after the end of the previous book. The plotline was told within two main storylines, one in the Heartstriker Mountain surrounding Julius, Chelsie, and Qilin, while the other one is more focused on world-building and the magic in this series. All eventually converge in the end and the book ends on a cliffhanger that prepares the series for the big conclusion in the last book.
I always emphasize the importance of characters in books and this book clearly show the benefit of wonderful characterizations. The story itself was quite predictable, and yet I always had this “I can’t wait for this moment to happen” thought crossing my mind, and get this, they were all satisfying because I’m just so invested in the characters. Aaron completely blew my expectation away, there are actually a lot of things that I usually hate in my fantasy read here. Romance? It’s here. Keeping secrets assuming things won’t work out? It’s here. Predictable storyline? Here. However, Aaron did them exceptionally well that I can’t help but be completely immersed in the way it all plays out.
My favorite part of the book definitely goes to Chelsie and Qilin’s storyline. Now, Chelsie’s past was utterly predictable, I know a lot of readers would’ve seen her past revelation coming from the previous book. But I certainly didn’t know that the way her past unfolds in the story would become not only my favorite part of the book but also one of the best section of the entire series so far. It was magnificent and the inclusion of Qilin, the Chinese Dragon which is also the symbol of luck in real life, was amazing. The Luck magic system surrounding Qilin could’ve been a deus ex machina plot device but with a simple twist, Aaron changed that perception and made it super compelling and badass.
Julius infuriating ‘nice’ attitudes from the previous book is starting to pay off too. Seriously, this guy talks a LOT. He may be nice but the words that spewed out of his mouth is actually the most manipulative out of the entire dragons’ clan, bending everyone to his will with his nice attitude. If he exists in real life, I’m sure he could win the presidential election on his own and shut off that particular president from tweeting. All other characters continue to have great characterizations but the best ones are for Fredrick, Qilin, and Chelsie.
With all these praises, what stopped me from giving a full 5 stars? Simple, the other main storyline contained way too much info dump. I don’t even know how many actually made it to my head because it got really boring at times, it was as if I was sitting in a lecture with someone talking for 2 hours about magic. The word magic was used 786 times in the book, I’m not exaggerating, it was that long, many, repetitive, and I actually fell asleep at one point. It’s not that the world-building or magic explanation wasn’t interesting, it’s the execution of a non-stop lecture method that bored me. By chapter 10 I was seriously at my limit and I almost skipped an entire chapter. I kept on hoping to get back to Julius’s POV instead and that’s not a good thing. It’s not until chapter 14 out of 17 that this particular POV finally grabbed my attention again.
That said, the last 20% was once again brilliant. All the buildup from the beginning of the series is starting to pay off and yet it also leaves the major revelations for the last book. Do know that the book ends on a cliffhanger that most likely will push the reader to continue to read the next/final book in a heartbeat. Although this installment dragged a lot at times, Heartstrikers has already become one of the best urban fantasy series I’ve ever read. Obviously, I can’t wait to find out how all Bob’s grand plan unraveled in the last book and I will continue to read the next one immediately.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest
A Dragon of a Different Color could’ve been 5 stars, but it was bogged down by too much info dump, which I’ll get into later. Following the same tradition as the third book, the story picked up immediately after the end of the previous book. The plotline was told within two main storylines, one in the Heartstriker Mountain surrounding Julius, Chelsie, and Qilin, while the other one is more focused on world-building and the magic in this series. All eventually converge in the end and the book ends on a cliffhanger that prepares the series for the big conclusion in the last book.
“It’s one of humanity’s worst traits. Good intentions justify all kinds of terrible behavior.”
I always emphasize the importance of characters in books and this book clearly show the benefit of wonderful characterizations. The story itself was quite predictable, and yet I always had this “I can’t wait for this moment to happen” thought crossing my mind, and get this, they were all satisfying because I’m just so invested in the characters. Aaron completely blew my expectation away, there are actually a lot of things that I usually hate in my fantasy read here. Romance? It’s here. Keeping secrets assuming things won’t work out? It’s here. Predictable storyline? Here. However, Aaron did them exceptionally well that I can’t help but be completely immersed in the way it all plays out.
My favorite part of the book definitely goes to Chelsie and Qilin’s storyline. Now, Chelsie’s past was utterly predictable, I know a lot of readers would’ve seen her past revelation coming from the previous book. But I certainly didn’t know that the way her past unfolds in the story would become not only my favorite part of the book but also one of the best section of the entire series so far. It was magnificent and the inclusion of Qilin, the Chinese Dragon which is also the symbol of luck in real life, was amazing. The Luck magic system surrounding Qilin could’ve been a deus ex machina plot device but with a simple twist, Aaron changed that perception and made it super compelling and badass.
Julius infuriating ‘nice’ attitudes from the previous book is starting to pay off too. Seriously, this guy talks a LOT. He may be nice but the words that spewed out of his mouth is actually the most manipulative out of the entire dragons’ clan, bending everyone to his will with his nice attitude. If he exists in real life, I’m sure he could win the presidential election on his own and shut off that particular president from tweeting. All other characters continue to have great characterizations but the best ones are for Fredrick, Qilin, and Chelsie.
With all these praises, what stopped me from giving a full 5 stars? Simple, the other main storyline contained way too much info dump. I don’t even know how many actually made it to my head because it got really boring at times, it was as if I was sitting in a lecture with someone talking for 2 hours about magic. The word magic was used 786 times in the book, I’m not exaggerating, it was that long, many, repetitive, and I actually fell asleep at one point. It’s not that the world-building or magic explanation wasn’t interesting, it’s the execution of a non-stop lecture method that bored me. By chapter 10 I was seriously at my limit and I almost skipped an entire chapter. I kept on hoping to get back to Julius’s POV instead and that’s not a good thing. It’s not until chapter 14 out of 17 that this particular POV finally grabbed my attention again.
That said, the last 20% was once again brilliant. All the buildup from the beginning of the series is starting to pay off and yet it also leaves the major revelations for the last book. Do know that the book ends on a cliffhanger that most likely will push the reader to continue to read the next/final book in a heartbeat. Although this installment dragged a lot at times, Heartstrikers has already become one of the best urban fantasy series I’ve ever read. Obviously, I can’t wait to find out how all Bob’s grand plan unraveled in the last book and I will continue to read the next one immediately.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest
September 27, 2017
3.5 Julius + Marci Stars Forever
When reading a book with various PoVs you run the risk of loving one and hating another which leaves you with this dichotomous feeling about the book you’ve just read.
I loved Julius’s PoV and meeting the Chinese Dragons. His mother Bethesda is still awful but at least he has a new ally in Fredrick. He needs another friend especially if he is being maneuvered by the ever seeing Bob. With friends like Bob who needs enemies.
Finally we get a little more of Chelsea and the F-clutches backstory along with meeting the great Luck Dragon of China. Everything in this plot arc and PoV was extremely interesting to me.
I was still waiting for Julius and Marci to find their way back to each other and at least I’m happy to inform you that it does happen in this book, I just won’t say when you’ll have to read it to see.
Marci’s PoV has such promise. I mean she is technically dead and on the other side of all the magic of the world trying to find her way back. She even has a little friend that has tagged along, well besides Ghost (who is still totally awesome).
But sometimes this PoV became a huge lecture on magic and how it works. I’m a show me kind of girl, not tell me all about it so I got a little bored for a large section of this. Still once Marci had a lot of it figured out and was trying to figure out how exactly to get back to the land of the living I was all in.
This book had more…More magic, more dragons (even a baby one), more twists, more mortal spirits and more BOB to it. Plus you know the end of the world is coming so the next book should be epic.
When reading a book with various PoVs you run the risk of loving one and hating another which leaves you with this dichotomous feeling about the book you’ve just read.
I loved Julius’s PoV and meeting the Chinese Dragons. His mother Bethesda is still awful but at least he has a new ally in Fredrick. He needs another friend especially if he is being maneuvered by the ever seeing Bob. With friends like Bob who needs enemies.
He might run you over a few times to get there, but Bob’s endgame is always worth playing. Trust me, he’s a good kid.”
Finally we get a little more of Chelsea and the F-clutches backstory along with meeting the great Luck Dragon of China. Everything in this plot arc and PoV was extremely interesting to me.
I was still waiting for Julius and Marci to find their way back to each other and at least I’m happy to inform you that it does happen in this book, I just won’t say when you’ll have to read it to see.
Marci’s PoV has such promise. I mean she is technically dead and on the other side of all the magic of the world trying to find her way back. She even has a little friend that has tagged along, well besides Ghost (who is still totally awesome).
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, stepping away. “I didn’t want you to see.”
It took Marci a while to recover enough of her wits to speak. When she did, though, it was in awe. “Dude, that was insane. You’re a walking existential crisis! All that ‘look into the void, void looks back’ Nietzsche stuff.”
But sometimes this PoV became a huge lecture on magic and how it works. I’m a show me kind of girl, not tell me all about it so I got a little bored for a large section of this. Still once Marci had a lot of it figured out and was trying to figure out how exactly to get back to the land of the living I was all in.
This book had more…More magic, more dragons (even a baby one), more twists, more mortal spirits and more BOB to it. Plus you know the end of the world is coming so the next book should be epic.
November 10, 2017
4.5 stars.
The penultimate chapter of the Heartstrikers series was all kinds of awesome. Right now, I can safely say that this is my current favourite urban fantasy series. I just love the story and its characters, compounded with great worldbuilding and mythology.
With the story coming so close to its conclusion, I will not mention much about the plot except that all the various key threads from the past few books have evolved into a climax of epic proportions in this volume. As Mr Nice Dragon of the Heartstrikers had to contend with the weight of being one of the leaders of the clan, all is not what it seemed. Especially when you have Brohomir, the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers, or Bob, pulling at all the strings to achieve his endgame.
The worldbuilding and history aspects of this fantastical version of Earth literally exploded in this book. With the Chinese dragons descending upon Heartstrikers mountain, we finally saw the full glory of the Golden Emperor and the unique magic that he possessed. To that, I just want to say that I loved how Rachel Aaron reimagined the mythology and symbology of dragons in the different cultures of our real world in her worldbuilding.
The other main character's point-of-view was the icing on the cake - a whole mountain of icing, in fact. There was just so much exposition about the magic of the spirits and the land, about how magic was cut off a thousand years ago, and how it came back. While it was wholly fascinating, the pacing suffered from the sheer amount of verbiage and revelation delivered through these chapters.
Another niggling issue I had was that there was just a little too much talking between the characters. Julius, oh my goodness, Julius. He truly can talk one to death, or at the very least, into submission. Julius was insanely stubborn and especially now when he was increasingly standing his ground. Fortunately, he tended to have valid arguments such that it didn't feel too convenient or ludicrous. I would also like to point out that some juncture, there was a feeling of familiarity around the perpetuating cycle of problems and resolutions where Julius was concerned.
The above issues aside, I still loved this book simply because I was heavily invested in the main characters and the unravelling of the story which I found very engaging. From a character standpoint, a new favourite emerged and one formerly viewed as an antagonist gained my empathy and understanding. I still can't say the same for both Bethesda or the Chinese Empress Queen, they are both equally highly unlikeable.
The intervention of the dragon seers made the story infinitely more intriguing. As much as I would love to have more of Bob making an appearance, I appreciate that doing so will just lessen the intrigue. What really happened in China with Chelsie was finally revealed and some emotional scenes ensued. Even though my prediction turned out to be correct (it was quite obvious though), the reality of its implication was way bigger than I anticipated it to be. I also loved how the romantic arcs in this series were written. It seemed realistic and was not given to unnecessary plot devices. I did at first assume the China incident to be a bit contrived for the sake of drama, but with the complete realisation of what it really meant that initial minor problem went away.
The last few chapters of this book played out like a domino effect of dragon-sized shit hitting the fan the size of a megacity, which then proceeded to end with a cliffhanger that promised an even more epic catastrophe to come in the grand finale.
Dragons. Who doesn't want more of them? As one of the coolest characters in the book said,
"Do you know how many stories are there about us? We're practically a genre."
I am also not about to get tired or sick of them anytime soon. So let's keep the genre alive and read Heartstrikers people!
This review can also be found at Booknest
The penultimate chapter of the Heartstrikers series was all kinds of awesome. Right now, I can safely say that this is my current favourite urban fantasy series. I just love the story and its characters, compounded with great worldbuilding and mythology.
With the story coming so close to its conclusion, I will not mention much about the plot except that all the various key threads from the past few books have evolved into a climax of epic proportions in this volume. As Mr Nice Dragon of the Heartstrikers had to contend with the weight of being one of the leaders of the clan, all is not what it seemed. Especially when you have Brohomir, the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers, or Bob, pulling at all the strings to achieve his endgame.
The worldbuilding and history aspects of this fantastical version of Earth literally exploded in this book. With the Chinese dragons descending upon Heartstrikers mountain, we finally saw the full glory of the Golden Emperor and the unique magic that he possessed. To that, I just want to say that I loved how Rachel Aaron reimagined the mythology and symbology of dragons in the different cultures of our real world in her worldbuilding.
The other main character's point-of-view was the icing on the cake - a whole mountain of icing, in fact. There was just so much exposition about the magic of the spirits and the land, about how magic was cut off a thousand years ago, and how it came back. While it was wholly fascinating, the pacing suffered from the sheer amount of verbiage and revelation delivered through these chapters.
Another niggling issue I had was that there was just a little too much talking between the characters. Julius, oh my goodness, Julius. He truly can talk one to death, or at the very least, into submission. Julius was insanely stubborn and especially now when he was increasingly standing his ground. Fortunately, he tended to have valid arguments such that it didn't feel too convenient or ludicrous. I would also like to point out that some juncture, there was a feeling of familiarity around the perpetuating cycle of problems and resolutions where Julius was concerned.
The above issues aside, I still loved this book simply because I was heavily invested in the main characters and the unravelling of the story which I found very engaging. From a character standpoint, a new favourite emerged and one formerly viewed as an antagonist gained my empathy and understanding. I still can't say the same for both Bethesda or the Chinese Empress Queen, they are both equally highly unlikeable.
The intervention of the dragon seers made the story infinitely more intriguing. As much as I would love to have more of Bob making an appearance, I appreciate that doing so will just lessen the intrigue. What really happened in China with Chelsie was finally revealed and some emotional scenes ensued. Even though my prediction turned out to be correct (it was quite obvious though), the reality of its implication was way bigger than I anticipated it to be. I also loved how the romantic arcs in this series were written. It seemed realistic and was not given to unnecessary plot devices. I did at first assume the China incident to be a bit contrived for the sake of drama, but with the complete realisation of what it really meant that initial minor problem went away.
The last few chapters of this book played out like a domino effect of dragon-sized shit hitting the fan the size of a megacity, which then proceeded to end with a cliffhanger that promised an even more epic catastrophe to come in the grand finale.
Dragons. Who doesn't want more of them? As one of the coolest characters in the book said,
"Do you know how many stories are there about us? We're practically a genre."
I am also not about to get tired or sick of them anytime soon. So let's keep the genre alive and read Heartstrikers people!
This review can also be found at Booknest
April 17, 2018
I have a lot of love just overflowing for this series. It hasn't been the best time for me in my personal life, and this series has given me a journey that is just the perfect amount of entertaining & charming.
It's blessed me with something specific to look forward to & at this point I'm going to feel like a comfortable place is gone when I finish it. I was so wrapped up in reading Heartstrikers that I couldn't even be bothered to write my reviews in a timely fashion.
This series is all about having the courage to go against the grain & stand tall in the face of everything you fear. It's about knowing when to act & relentlessly pursing your heart's desire even when it feels impossible. Immersing myself in a series with such positive messages is exactly what I needed in my life right now.
This series packs so many mystical aspects into one setting, all of it woven together in a way that is so aesthetically pleasing:
➾ Dragons
➾ Magic
➾ Mages
➾ Prophecies
➾ Spirits
➾ Sorcery
➾ Planeswalking
I say this in every review, but everything about it is just so cool!
A Dragon of a Different Color brings together so many threads of uncertainty that have been floating around in the series up to this point. The waves of understanding just wash over you after all the pent up questions & small hints & it's so gratifying.
Details about the lore are especially delightful to finally unravel. It's like the satisfaction of seeing a complicated pattern of wheels & cogs finally uncovered & running smoothly without a hitch.
There were times when I thought I had figured out what was going on, only for the story to blindside me. My friend TS can attest, as I shared a handful of my theories to her while reading only to be proven wrong at almost every turn. That makes for quite the amusing reading experience!
The relationships between characters are, again, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the story. The ever elusive Bob & his parental bond with Amelia. The devastating truth about Chelsie's past. Marci & Julius growing ever closer, even as they spend the majority of the book separated & engaged on opposite ends of the conflict.
All of these moving pieces are so skillfully crafted together.
My only complaint about this installment is that it is much more reiterative than it needed to be. A couple ideas that have been consistent throughout the series are, yet again, repeated. The ideas & phrases themselves are not the problem, I just feel as though most of the time they were unnecessary to restate.
Without these recaps, and perhaps a tiny bit of shaving down here & there, I believe this book could've been a good bit shorter. A handful fewer pages would've been a more effective length in this case.
But I'm sure most will agree, this is more of a nitpick. This series is a one hell of a ride & I'm so thrilled I finally took the plunge after it sat on my TBR for almost an entire year!
It's blessed me with something specific to look forward to & at this point I'm going to feel like a comfortable place is gone when I finish it. I was so wrapped up in reading Heartstrikers that I couldn't even be bothered to write my reviews in a timely fashion.
This series is all about having the courage to go against the grain & stand tall in the face of everything you fear. It's about knowing when to act & relentlessly pursing your heart's desire even when it feels impossible. Immersing myself in a series with such positive messages is exactly what I needed in my life right now.
This series packs so many mystical aspects into one setting, all of it woven together in a way that is so aesthetically pleasing:
➾ Dragons
➾ Magic
➾ Mages
➾ Prophecies
➾ Spirits
➾ Sorcery
➾ Planeswalking
I say this in every review, but everything about it is just so cool!
A Dragon of a Different Color brings together so many threads of uncertainty that have been floating around in the series up to this point. The waves of understanding just wash over you after all the pent up questions & small hints & it's so gratifying.
Details about the lore are especially delightful to finally unravel. It's like the satisfaction of seeing a complicated pattern of wheels & cogs finally uncovered & running smoothly without a hitch.
There were times when I thought I had figured out what was going on, only for the story to blindside me. My friend TS can attest, as I shared a handful of my theories to her while reading only to be proven wrong at almost every turn. That makes for quite the amusing reading experience!
The relationships between characters are, again, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the story. The ever elusive Bob & his parental bond with Amelia. The devastating truth about Chelsie's past. Marci & Julius growing ever closer, even as they spend the majority of the book separated & engaged on opposite ends of the conflict.
All of these moving pieces are so skillfully crafted together.
My only complaint about this installment is that it is much more reiterative than it needed to be. A couple ideas that have been consistent throughout the series are, yet again, repeated. The ideas & phrases themselves are not the problem, I just feel as though most of the time they were unnecessary to restate.
Without these recaps, and perhaps a tiny bit of shaving down here & there, I believe this book could've been a good bit shorter. A handful fewer pages would've been a more effective length in this case.
But I'm sure most will agree, this is more of a nitpick. This series is a one hell of a ride & I'm so thrilled I finally took the plunge after it sat on my TBR for almost an entire year!
April 17, 2018
Full review now posted!
I can’t even express to you how much I’m enjoying this series.
You know those complaints I had about No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished? Yeah, I don’t have those now. All of my issues from the preceding book have been answered in this book. The plot points that seemed so evident to me but were flying over the characters’ heads? I get now why those things couldn’t be revealed yet. Or rather, why they couldn’t be revealed until this book. While we basically knew what happened in China during the last book, the revealing of what actually happened was incredibly powerful due to the emotions of the characters involved. That emotion made getting the truth worth the wait.
Also, Julius’s extreme pacifism is starting to pay off. While there are still some characters I wish he would have made an exception for and wiped from the face of the earth, I can’t hold his pacifism against him anymore, because it’s the sole reason he’s able to bring so many different dragons and people and spirits together. Bob has called Julius a lynchpin, and that’s one of the best possible descriptions for him. Well, that and the word “nice,” which is who he is to the world: Julius, the Nice Dragon. Never has a moniker been more appropriate.
There’s not a lot more I can say about this book without giving away some of the plot from preceding novels, but I will say that some characters that seemed like they were gone forever are not! Which made me incredibly happy. We get to see the Sea of Magic, which was fascinating; it was almost like seeing the underside of the world. The mythos Aaron has fabricated here, the idea that our world is a duality of magical and physical, is such an interesting one. I also loved the Chinese mythology entwined with the Qilin, or the Luck Dragon. There was so much to love in this book!
I’m incredibly glad that I didn’t read this when it was first published. That ending left me desperate for the fifth (and final) book, which has thankfully been recently published, so I can go ahead and plunge into the last book. I’m so excited to get to Bob’s story, and to finally get some answers about him. While I’m sad that it’ll be coming to an end, I’ve loved this series and can’t wait to see how it all ties together. It’s one of the most addictive things I’ve ever read.
I can’t even express to you how much I’m enjoying this series.
You know those complaints I had about No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished? Yeah, I don’t have those now. All of my issues from the preceding book have been answered in this book. The plot points that seemed so evident to me but were flying over the characters’ heads? I get now why those things couldn’t be revealed yet. Or rather, why they couldn’t be revealed until this book. While we basically knew what happened in China during the last book, the revealing of what actually happened was incredibly powerful due to the emotions of the characters involved. That emotion made getting the truth worth the wait.
Also, Julius’s extreme pacifism is starting to pay off. While there are still some characters I wish he would have made an exception for and wiped from the face of the earth, I can’t hold his pacifism against him anymore, because it’s the sole reason he’s able to bring so many different dragons and people and spirits together. Bob has called Julius a lynchpin, and that’s one of the best possible descriptions for him. Well, that and the word “nice,” which is who he is to the world: Julius, the Nice Dragon. Never has a moniker been more appropriate.
There’s not a lot more I can say about this book without giving away some of the plot from preceding novels, but I will say that some characters that seemed like they were gone forever are not! Which made me incredibly happy. We get to see the Sea of Magic, which was fascinating; it was almost like seeing the underside of the world. The mythos Aaron has fabricated here, the idea that our world is a duality of magical and physical, is such an interesting one. I also loved the Chinese mythology entwined with the Qilin, or the Luck Dragon. There was so much to love in this book!
I’m incredibly glad that I didn’t read this when it was first published. That ending left me desperate for the fifth (and final) book, which has thankfully been recently published, so I can go ahead and plunge into the last book. I’m so excited to get to Bob’s story, and to finally get some answers about him. While I’m sad that it’ll be coming to an end, I’ve loved this series and can’t wait to see how it all ties together. It’s one of the most addictive things I’ve ever read.
November 24, 2019
The Cover artist for this series is a God/Goddess. There's no other way to explain such pure awesomeness!
December 7, 2017
This is the fourth book in the Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron, and my goodness I really enjoyed it :) I have to say that this is an Urban fantasy series I am loving right now, and as I'm now caught up I'll be eagerly awaiting the next one in the series.
This book is once more following Julius, our nice dragon who just wants to hep his family and stop dragon-kind from destroying itself. In this book we see Julius in a position of power he never wanted, but he's actually pretty good in the role, and I really enjoy seeing him start to realise his own abilities and lead the others in his family.
We're also following a young woman on a quest to become a Merlin, the first one of this time. She's incredibly feisty and resilient and definitely doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to being pretty wonderful. is a favourite character of mine, and seeing how she has grown and interacted with the other characters and her ...it's just great!
Alongside this we also still need to unravel the mysterious backstory of Chelsea and what really happened in China. This is a question we've been wondering for a while, and some of the clues were already laid out for us, but it was great to see these things start to come together and get explained.
Overall, the storylines in this one kept me interested throughout and I found that there were many moments where I was completely hooked. The two plots of course come together in the end, and we do learn the secrets, and it had a pretty epic conclusion. I definitely want to see what will happen next...
A wonderful read and probably my favourite in the series so far. 4.5*s for this one!
This book is once more following Julius, our nice dragon who just wants to hep his family and stop dragon-kind from destroying itself. In this book we see Julius in a position of power he never wanted, but he's actually pretty good in the role, and I really enjoy seeing him start to realise his own abilities and lead the others in his family.
We're also following a young woman on a quest to become a Merlin, the first one of this time. She's incredibly feisty and resilient and definitely doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to being pretty wonderful. is a favourite character of mine, and seeing how she has grown and interacted with the other characters and her ...it's just great!
Alongside this we also still need to unravel the mysterious backstory of Chelsea and what really happened in China. This is a question we've been wondering for a while, and some of the clues were already laid out for us, but it was great to see these things start to come together and get explained.
Overall, the storylines in this one kept me interested throughout and I found that there were many moments where I was completely hooked. The two plots of course come together in the end, and we do learn the secrets, and it had a pretty epic conclusion. I definitely want to see what will happen next...
A wonderful read and probably my favourite in the series so far. 4.5*s for this one!
September 25, 2017
http://weatherwaxreport.blog
This book was SO AWESOME!
The books up until this point have been fun, but this one took it to next level insane.
So, so much shit went down and it was just go-go-go the entire way, there wasn't much of any downtime for the book. I stayed up til 5am trying to finish but couldnt.... and woke up at 2pm the next day and finished before I did anything else with my time. I'm dying for the audiobook to come out so I can go through it again with the voices I'm used to, I had audiobooked up until this book but it's not out yet and I hope it's coming out soon.
Bobs plans are out of control.
The Chinese dragons are here.
We learn the secrets of what the source of magic is, why the meteor brought back magic (which I always thought was a weird way for magic to be introduced to society but it makes sense now)
Ghost is back and is a big part of the book.
Algonquin is going NUTS
Another Mortal Spirit is spawned.
It's really tough talking about a fourth book in a series without giving away spoilers, ugh!
Julius is still a "nice dragon" but he's not taking much shit anymore, and he's finally standing up to people and not just sitting there meekly - THANK GOD. Julius is not my least favorite character anymore which is great since he's sort of the main character. However, this book could easily be considered a two main POV because much of it is from Marci's POV which was great.
This book had Bob in it, but he's mostly dropped his ridiculousness and is much more serious and you start to see what he had been planning all along.
There's a mega huge threat to the entire world that's been brewing for 60 years and it's all coming to a head.
If you liked the first three books I think this one will blow you away, the others were fun and goofy and light hearted but they were building up to this book slowly and it's just awesome.
Book hangover like woooaahhh. C'mon audiobook!
This book was SO AWESOME!
The books up until this point have been fun, but this one took it to next level insane.
So, so much shit went down and it was just go-go-go the entire way, there wasn't much of any downtime for the book. I stayed up til 5am trying to finish but couldnt.... and woke up at 2pm the next day and finished before I did anything else with my time. I'm dying for the audiobook to come out so I can go through it again with the voices I'm used to, I had audiobooked up until this book but it's not out yet and I hope it's coming out soon.
Bobs plans are out of control.
The Chinese dragons are here.
We learn the secrets of what the source of magic is, why the meteor brought back magic (which I always thought was a weird way for magic to be introduced to society but it makes sense now)
Ghost is back and is a big part of the book.
Algonquin is going NUTS
Another Mortal Spirit is spawned.
It's really tough talking about a fourth book in a series without giving away spoilers, ugh!
Julius is still a "nice dragon" but he's not taking much shit anymore, and he's finally standing up to people and not just sitting there meekly - THANK GOD. Julius is not my least favorite character anymore which is great since he's sort of the main character. However, this book could easily be considered a two main POV because much of it is from Marci's POV which was great.
This book had Bob in it, but he's mostly dropped his ridiculousness and is much more serious and you start to see what he had been planning all along.
There's a mega huge threat to the entire world that's been brewing for 60 years and it's all coming to a head.
If you liked the first three books I think this one will blow you away, the others were fun and goofy and light hearted but they were building up to this book slowly and it's just awesome.
Book hangover like woooaahhh. C'mon audiobook!
December 28, 2017
Overall rating = 4.5 stars
Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: A Dragon Of A Different Color is the fourth Heartstriker book and the title is a strong indicator about the plot of the book for those who want to take a stab at guessing. The plot of this book literally starts moments after the shocking events of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished. We see Julius who is very distraught upon learning about the shocking death that was the climax of NGDGU. He's also not entirely prepared to learn about what events have befallen Amelia & Bob. To add to it, Julius and the other heads of the Hearstrikers council soon learn that they are being invaded by the Chinese dragons and to top to it all, the Golden Emperor is on his way. Safe to say things aren't looking all that well and to add to it all Bob has missing and Julius really doesn't know whom to trust.
This book is a hard one to review since it's the penultimate volume so talking about even the basic plot is going to be hard. Simply because many things that are happening/mentioned in this volume will be spoilers for all of the previous volumes. Plus I can't really talk about one whole plot thread simply because of SPOILERS. Still I’ll persevere, the first thread focusses nicely on Julius as we find him at his wit’s end without his support from the earlier books. He has achieved what he set out to do but soon finds that heavy lies the head that wears the proverbial crown. The Heartstrikers Mountain now wears a slightly deserted look and Julius finds himself with more questions as he find out what transpired when he was getting the council instated. But before he can come to terms with his anguish over the loss of his loved ones, he finds that duty calls as the Golden Emperor and the Chinese clan have decided to take over their territory. Julius will soon have to learn why the Golden Emperor is so feared by everyone including his own dragons (the author does a nice twist on the all-powerful emperor trope & as to why is he so feared by his own).
The second tract of the book is amazing and it’s even more horrible as to why I can’t talk about it in this review. But safe to say that it reveals a major secret about what truly happened more than a millennia ago and why did the magic disappear. Why do the spirits fear and abhor human magic? We also get a POV from Algonquin. Lastly this tract runs parallel to Julius and is the more intriguing of the two IMO. The only spoiler I can say about it is that readers who were so distraught by the ending the NGDGU will absolutely love it for a reason they won’t expect and not for the reason that they think. The characterization as with the previous books has been spectacular but with this book we truly get to see some emotional & romantic payback. There’s two scenes both featuring Chelsie which will absolutely pull on the readers’ hearts. I thought that the first one was an awesome tearjerker because of the buildup from book 3 and the latter one just plays out beautifully as it reinforces the bond of family among individuals who have been denied these emotions for a long, long time.
It’s to the author’s credit that these scenes don’t just seem caricaturish but will make the readers truly happy as we get to see the characters experience certain emotions & bonds that have never experienced in their long lives. One drawback though for readers who expect a happy & cheerful Julius will be slightly disappointed as our Nice Dragon isn’t the same with his recent losses but he still has his brains and resourcefulness. Going on the plot of the book, it’s a dual thread one and moves at an absolute breakneck pace so readers will constantly be wanting to finish chapters and move ahead to find what happens in the climax.
Talking about the world building, besides the first book, each book has taken a strong look in to the past and given the backgrounds of several things. The second book dealt with the dragons and revealed all about them. The third book revealed a lot about human magic and the history of the Merlins. The third book also hinted about Chelsie's past and gave several pointers about her big secret. This fourth volume is another crackerjack of a story thanks to the reveal about Chelsie and what really happened in China. This book also deals with spirits and their connections to humans, the land and the source of magic. This book is essentially the big revelation book which kind of unveils all the big secrets that have been hidden so far. This book does everything except tie up the story in a nice bow, you have to admire Rachel Aaron's plotting skills as this story hits so many high points while moving the story in a streamlined way.
These books very much read like seasons of a TV show and I would love it if someone were to adapt to it. This book has it all crazy action, several emotional scenes (this will make sense when you read the book), in fact one character's power hinges entirely on emotion and the way it is resolved is almost beautiful to watch. There's a solid tract that I can't talk and the only thing I can say is that this book lays bare to the whole reason for the return of magic and what truly happened nearly a millennia ago. I loved how carefully the author has structured the story with all of its reveals. Lastly the epilogue of this book is a stunner as it literally sets of a timebomb of sorts.
The last book will be chaotic and intense and potentially world ending exactly as Bob wants it. In case if you are wondering how much of a role Bob has to play, it's exactly as this review, he's there in the start and towards the end but his impact can't be understated. Rachel has specifically said in her interview with us as to how important Bob is to the story and in this book we get the biggest confirmation about this fact. Lastly we also learn the truth about Bob's favorite pigeon and the reveal has absolutely been worth the wait. This book is the proper culmination of so many threads that have been running since book 1 and it is an absolute pleasure to read them being brought together in an intense & emotional tapestry. This book’s ending is also going to make you want the last book Last Dragon Standing right now (very similar to its predecessor). I can’t tell you how much I want to read the fifth volume and see what an explosive ending Rachel has planned for us all.
CONCLUSION: I’ve said it all along that Rachel Aaron is one hell of a story teller and her plotting skills & imagination are truly what make one of the best in not only the urban fantasy genre but possibly the whole of speculative fiction. A Dragon Of A Different Color is the penultimate book in the Hearstrikers series but it possibly is the most striking with regards to its emotional resonance among all the books so far. Rachel Aaron continues her fine form and easily shows why she’s the true mother of dragons in the art of storytelling.
Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: A Dragon Of A Different Color is the fourth Heartstriker book and the title is a strong indicator about the plot of the book for those who want to take a stab at guessing. The plot of this book literally starts moments after the shocking events of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished. We see Julius who is very distraught upon learning about the shocking death that was the climax of NGDGU. He's also not entirely prepared to learn about what events have befallen Amelia & Bob. To add to it, Julius and the other heads of the Hearstrikers council soon learn that they are being invaded by the Chinese dragons and to top to it all, the Golden Emperor is on his way. Safe to say things aren't looking all that well and to add to it all Bob has missing and Julius really doesn't know whom to trust.
This book is a hard one to review since it's the penultimate volume so talking about even the basic plot is going to be hard. Simply because many things that are happening/mentioned in this volume will be spoilers for all of the previous volumes. Plus I can't really talk about one whole plot thread simply because of SPOILERS. Still I’ll persevere, the first thread focusses nicely on Julius as we find him at his wit’s end without his support from the earlier books. He has achieved what he set out to do but soon finds that heavy lies the head that wears the proverbial crown. The Heartstrikers Mountain now wears a slightly deserted look and Julius finds himself with more questions as he find out what transpired when he was getting the council instated. But before he can come to terms with his anguish over the loss of his loved ones, he finds that duty calls as the Golden Emperor and the Chinese clan have decided to take over their territory. Julius will soon have to learn why the Golden Emperor is so feared by everyone including his own dragons (the author does a nice twist on the all-powerful emperor trope & as to why is he so feared by his own).
The second tract of the book is amazing and it’s even more horrible as to why I can’t talk about it in this review. But safe to say that it reveals a major secret about what truly happened more than a millennia ago and why did the magic disappear. Why do the spirits fear and abhor human magic? We also get a POV from Algonquin. Lastly this tract runs parallel to Julius and is the more intriguing of the two IMO. The only spoiler I can say about it is that readers who were so distraught by the ending the NGDGU will absolutely love it for a reason they won’t expect and not for the reason that they think. The characterization as with the previous books has been spectacular but with this book we truly get to see some emotional & romantic payback. There’s two scenes both featuring Chelsie which will absolutely pull on the readers’ hearts. I thought that the first one was an awesome tearjerker because of the buildup from book 3 and the latter one just plays out beautifully as it reinforces the bond of family among individuals who have been denied these emotions for a long, long time.
It’s to the author’s credit that these scenes don’t just seem caricaturish but will make the readers truly happy as we get to see the characters experience certain emotions & bonds that have never experienced in their long lives. One drawback though for readers who expect a happy & cheerful Julius will be slightly disappointed as our Nice Dragon isn’t the same with his recent losses but he still has his brains and resourcefulness. Going on the plot of the book, it’s a dual thread one and moves at an absolute breakneck pace so readers will constantly be wanting to finish chapters and move ahead to find what happens in the climax.
Talking about the world building, besides the first book, each book has taken a strong look in to the past and given the backgrounds of several things. The second book dealt with the dragons and revealed all about them. The third book revealed a lot about human magic and the history of the Merlins. The third book also hinted about Chelsie's past and gave several pointers about her big secret. This fourth volume is another crackerjack of a story thanks to the reveal about Chelsie and what really happened in China. This book also deals with spirits and their connections to humans, the land and the source of magic. This book is essentially the big revelation book which kind of unveils all the big secrets that have been hidden so far. This book does everything except tie up the story in a nice bow, you have to admire Rachel Aaron's plotting skills as this story hits so many high points while moving the story in a streamlined way.
These books very much read like seasons of a TV show and I would love it if someone were to adapt to it. This book has it all crazy action, several emotional scenes (this will make sense when you read the book), in fact one character's power hinges entirely on emotion and the way it is resolved is almost beautiful to watch. There's a solid tract that I can't talk and the only thing I can say is that this book lays bare to the whole reason for the return of magic and what truly happened nearly a millennia ago. I loved how carefully the author has structured the story with all of its reveals. Lastly the epilogue of this book is a stunner as it literally sets of a timebomb of sorts.
The last book will be chaotic and intense and potentially world ending exactly as Bob wants it. In case if you are wondering how much of a role Bob has to play, it's exactly as this review, he's there in the start and towards the end but his impact can't be understated. Rachel has specifically said in her interview with us as to how important Bob is to the story and in this book we get the biggest confirmation about this fact. Lastly we also learn the truth about Bob's favorite pigeon and the reveal has absolutely been worth the wait. This book is the proper culmination of so many threads that have been running since book 1 and it is an absolute pleasure to read them being brought together in an intense & emotional tapestry. This book’s ending is also going to make you want the last book Last Dragon Standing right now (very similar to its predecessor). I can’t tell you how much I want to read the fifth volume and see what an explosive ending Rachel has planned for us all.
CONCLUSION: I’ve said it all along that Rachel Aaron is one hell of a story teller and her plotting skills & imagination are truly what make one of the best in not only the urban fantasy genre but possibly the whole of speculative fiction. A Dragon Of A Different Color is the penultimate book in the Hearstrikers series but it possibly is the most striking with regards to its emotional resonance among all the books so far. Rachel Aaron continues her fine form and easily shows why she’s the true mother of dragons in the art of storytelling.
August 5, 2017
3.5 stars. While I still love the characters and overall arc of the story this entry rambled and plodded it's way through with way too many loooong explanations of magic. Then ended on a huge cliffhanger :(
November 12, 2023
Re-listen Nov 2023
Good times. All the feels
Relisten dec 2021
Book 4 done.
Amzing as always, how could it not be!?
Though I did get another book to listen to so book 5 must wait, but do not worry book 5! I will get to you too.
Recommened.
What are you waiting for?!?!?!?!?!?
FIrst time:
Omg omg omg. First, omg so hard to get a hold of this one. I listened to the last one 2,5 months ago and I have been dyyyyyyying for more.
Especially since we finally understood what happened in China! And got to see Julius free the Fs and Chelsea and I was all mooooore!
And this one begins with the Golden Emperor coming and I was all omg, finally finally finally! But OMG how she was evil. Every time we were getting close to something a Marci chapter came instead. And the Marci chapters were good since she is dead and all 0_0 but I so wanted to see all the threads come together. The Golden Emperor people! The golden Emperor!
And yes yes I wanted to see if Marci managed to come back from the dead too.
Not to mention the world is ending as Algonquin is going koko. And Bob's plans coming together. SO many things going on.
Damn, I can not write a normal review. One night I woke up at 4 am and could not fall back asleep. So I listened to this cos I thought about it always, always! Took me under 4 days and I tried to cram in as much listening time as I could. Because I could not stop.
Also I loved seeing more of Fredrick, he is the coolest butler ever.
SO if you have NOT started this series, what are you waiting for? Oh and listen, cos Vikas Adam is awesome!
Re-listen:
Still the best series!
Omg what happened in China!
Love you Julius
Vikas Adam is the best narrator ever.
You have to listen to this series
The feels!
A re-listen is awesome for the soul
Narration
Duh, Vikas Adam is awesome!
Good times. All the feels
Relisten dec 2021
Book 4 done.
Amzing as always, how could it not be!?
Though I did get another book to listen to so book 5 must wait, but do not worry book 5! I will get to you too.
Recommened.
What are you waiting for?!?!?!?!?!?
FIrst time:
Omg omg omg. First, omg so hard to get a hold of this one. I listened to the last one 2,5 months ago and I have been dyyyyyyying for more.
Especially since we finally understood what happened in China! And got to see Julius free the Fs and Chelsea and I was all mooooore!
And this one begins with the Golden Emperor coming and I was all omg, finally finally finally! But OMG how she was evil. Every time we were getting close to something a Marci chapter came instead. And the Marci chapters were good since she is dead and all 0_0 but I so wanted to see all the threads come together. The Golden Emperor people! The golden Emperor!
And yes yes I wanted to see if Marci managed to come back from the dead too.
Not to mention the world is ending as Algonquin is going koko. And Bob's plans coming together. SO many things going on.
Damn, I can not write a normal review. One night I woke up at 4 am and could not fall back asleep. So I listened to this cos I thought about it always, always! Took me under 4 days and I tried to cram in as much listening time as I could. Because I could not stop.
Also I loved seeing more of Fredrick, he is the coolest butler ever.
SO if you have NOT started this series, what are you waiting for? Oh and listen, cos Vikas Adam is awesome!
Re-listen:
Still the best series!
Omg what happened in China!
Love you Julius
Vikas Adam is the best narrator ever.
You have to listen to this series
The feels!
A re-listen is awesome for the soul
Narration
Duh, Vikas Adam is awesome!
March 20, 2018
4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/03/19/...
Ah, I love the Heartstrikers! I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. Maybe it’s because I initially thought it was going to be the final installment and I just didn’t want the series to end! But A Dragon of a Different Color is in fact the penultimate volume, and I’m glad I finally got to read it. The story picks right up from the end of the previous book, so as always, the standard caveat applies for all my sequel reviews: spoilers for the previous books are possible, so avert thine eyes if you’re not caught up to the end of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished yet.
Once again, we meet up with our protagonist Julius, the youngest and nicest dragon of the Heartstriker family. To stop his clan from literally killing itself, Julius had set out to change the way things worked—by overthrowing his tyrannical mother, Bethesda, and forming an elected council so that none of them would have to resort to bloody violence ever again. But in accomplishing his goals, Julius has also lost so much. As the book opens, we see him mourning for the death of a dear friend. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, his grief is soon compounded by another shocking revelation about his siblings Bob and Amelia. Julius can’t bring himself to believe that Bob, the Heartstriker seer and the brother who has always been so kind to him, would commit such an unthinkable act, but the evidence doesn’t lie. It also means there are now even fewer people our protagonist can trust.
Meanwhile, the powerful spirit of the lake Algonquin is stirring, and unfortunately, in the midst of all these changes, the Heartstrikers are in no state to defend themselves. It also appears that their weakness has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese dragons and their Golden Emperor, who are now seizing this opportunity to invade Heartstriker territory. But is everything truly as it seems? Julius soon learns why the Golden Emperor is so powerful and how he has reigned for so long. But the Golden Emperor has his secrets too, and clearing the air may be the Heartstrikers’ only chance to come out of this catastrophe in one piece.
With so much happening in this book, it’s no wonder that there was never a dull moment and the pacing remained energetic and non-stop throughout. The narrative mainly bounced between two different threads, the first being the dramatic events occurring at Heartstriker Mountain, where Julius has his confrontation with the Golden Emperor, and the second being a more metaphysical subplot involving the afterlife and discovering what happened to the world’s magic all those centuries ago. Algonquin, who has thus far been a powerful force in the background, also gets a bigger role in this book and readers are even provided a glimpse into the events from her point of view.
But for me, the highlight of this novel was everything that unfolded at Heartstriker Mountain. As fascinating as it was to learn about the history of the Merlins and magic, it couldn’t hold a candle to the emotions and action being tossed all around at Bethesda’s former stronghold. Julius puts his diplomatic talents to good use, and shows how being “nice” doesn’t necessarily have to mean being a doormat. Undoubtedly, the traumatic events of the previous novel must have taught him some lessons, because I loved how he has developed more of a backbone in this one, pushing back when the situation calls for it.
But of course, in other respects, Julius is not quite so quick on the uptake. By the end of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, I think most readers have already figured out the big secret involving his sister Chelsie, given all the obvious hints. If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably been impatiently waiting for the moment Julius the Oblivious finally gets it, and this book will be immensely satisfying for you. Chelsie has become one of my favorite characters, which is really incredible if you think about how she began this series as a kind of bogeyman figure for Julius, as the clan enforcer everyone feared. Now I just can’t get enough of her, and it delighted me to see her open up in some downright touching and tear-jerking moments in this novel.
To be honest, aside from some of the more mystical elements got in the way of the flow sometimes, and the fact we also didn’t get to see as much of the rest of the Heartstriker family like Justin, there really weren’t too many flaws with this book. Besides, I believe that the strengths more than made up for these minor weaknesses. Everything is shaping up quite nicely for an epic finale. As sad as I am that the next book will indeed be the concluding volume, I’m making a promise to myself that this time I won’t wait as long to read it.
Audiobook Comments: I’ve gone back and forth between the audio and print for this series and personally I find both formats to be equally enjoyable. After reading the print edition of the previous book, returning to Vikas Adam’s narration was a nice change of pace. I enjoyed his performance (except his Bob still sounds way too goofy for my liking, even if it’s all part of his character) and his huge range of accents and voices means he’s fantastic at making each individual’s personality stand out.
Ah, I love the Heartstrikers! I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. Maybe it’s because I initially thought it was going to be the final installment and I just didn’t want the series to end! But A Dragon of a Different Color is in fact the penultimate volume, and I’m glad I finally got to read it. The story picks right up from the end of the previous book, so as always, the standard caveat applies for all my sequel reviews: spoilers for the previous books are possible, so avert thine eyes if you’re not caught up to the end of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished yet.
Once again, we meet up with our protagonist Julius, the youngest and nicest dragon of the Heartstriker family. To stop his clan from literally killing itself, Julius had set out to change the way things worked—by overthrowing his tyrannical mother, Bethesda, and forming an elected council so that none of them would have to resort to bloody violence ever again. But in accomplishing his goals, Julius has also lost so much. As the book opens, we see him mourning for the death of a dear friend. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, his grief is soon compounded by another shocking revelation about his siblings Bob and Amelia. Julius can’t bring himself to believe that Bob, the Heartstriker seer and the brother who has always been so kind to him, would commit such an unthinkable act, but the evidence doesn’t lie. It also means there are now even fewer people our protagonist can trust.
Meanwhile, the powerful spirit of the lake Algonquin is stirring, and unfortunately, in the midst of all these changes, the Heartstrikers are in no state to defend themselves. It also appears that their weakness has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese dragons and their Golden Emperor, who are now seizing this opportunity to invade Heartstriker territory. But is everything truly as it seems? Julius soon learns why the Golden Emperor is so powerful and how he has reigned for so long. But the Golden Emperor has his secrets too, and clearing the air may be the Heartstrikers’ only chance to come out of this catastrophe in one piece.
With so much happening in this book, it’s no wonder that there was never a dull moment and the pacing remained energetic and non-stop throughout. The narrative mainly bounced between two different threads, the first being the dramatic events occurring at Heartstriker Mountain, where Julius has his confrontation with the Golden Emperor, and the second being a more metaphysical subplot involving the afterlife and discovering what happened to the world’s magic all those centuries ago. Algonquin, who has thus far been a powerful force in the background, also gets a bigger role in this book and readers are even provided a glimpse into the events from her point of view.
But for me, the highlight of this novel was everything that unfolded at Heartstriker Mountain. As fascinating as it was to learn about the history of the Merlins and magic, it couldn’t hold a candle to the emotions and action being tossed all around at Bethesda’s former stronghold. Julius puts his diplomatic talents to good use, and shows how being “nice” doesn’t necessarily have to mean being a doormat. Undoubtedly, the traumatic events of the previous novel must have taught him some lessons, because I loved how he has developed more of a backbone in this one, pushing back when the situation calls for it.
But of course, in other respects, Julius is not quite so quick on the uptake. By the end of No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, I think most readers have already figured out the big secret involving his sister Chelsie, given all the obvious hints. If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably been impatiently waiting for the moment Julius the Oblivious finally gets it, and this book will be immensely satisfying for you. Chelsie has become one of my favorite characters, which is really incredible if you think about how she began this series as a kind of bogeyman figure for Julius, as the clan enforcer everyone feared. Now I just can’t get enough of her, and it delighted me to see her open up in some downright touching and tear-jerking moments in this novel.
To be honest, aside from some of the more mystical elements got in the way of the flow sometimes, and the fact we also didn’t get to see as much of the rest of the Heartstriker family like Justin, there really weren’t too many flaws with this book. Besides, I believe that the strengths more than made up for these minor weaknesses. Everything is shaping up quite nicely for an epic finale. As sad as I am that the next book will indeed be the concluding volume, I’m making a promise to myself that this time I won’t wait as long to read it.
Audiobook Comments: I’ve gone back and forth between the audio and print for this series and personally I find both formats to be equally enjoyable. After reading the print edition of the previous book, returning to Vikas Adam’s narration was a nice change of pace. I enjoyed his performance (except his Bob still sounds way too goofy for my liking, even if it’s all part of his character) and his huge range of accents and voices means he’s fantastic at making each individual’s personality stand out.
August 16, 2017
2.5 stars, which I rounded down because of my high expectations.
I'm not entirely sure what happened with this book. It started off great. We had Heartstriker Mountain totally empty, we had Julius trying to keep his clan together, we had Marci and Amelia supposedly dead, and we had the Chinese dragons and Algonquin simultaneously trying to take over the world. Sounds like it couldn't possibly go wrong, right?
Hey, that's what I thought.
I guess one of the most obvious mistakes was the world-building. Not the world-building in and of itself - that was awesome, and I always love that - it was the way it was built. Rachel Aaron's explanations bordered on the dreaded info-dumping. Half the time what she was explaining barely made sense, it was so run-on and complex. My reactions generally went something like this: "Ah, I see. Yes, that would make sense, wouldn't it? Hmmm, that's dangerous. Oh, yes, of course you're right. Wait. What are we talking about?"
Secondly, I felt like it was all a suspense builder - nothing more. There were no dynamic plot twists that I didn't see coming (Seriously, Julius? Are you just now figuring the Chelsie thing out? I figured that out a book and a half ago) and there were no impressive changes or new players introduced that turned everything on it's head.
Nope, we pretty much ended up exactly where we all wanted to, and then the cliffhanger.
Which, by the way, was entirely too expected, and a little too familiar. (Does anyone else see the similarities between Heartstrikers and Eli Monpress? The fact that there's an otherworldly female bad guy who's a little bit crazy, and the fact that everyone keeps surmounting obstacles that should be entirely insurmountable, and the total lack of severe, overwhelming consequences? Don't get me wrong, I loved Eli Monpress, but I object to repeating plot lines and/or character actions. Just my opinion.)
I thought this would be the last book, the final battle, the epic, heart-wrenching conclusion and instead I got a couple hundred pages of suspense and world-building and then we FINALLY got where we should have gotten a while ago.
But, really, I can deal with all that. I would have really liked this book if it hadn't been for the second-to-last chapter.
*Spoiler alert*
The one where Marci and Julius get together in his bedroom WHILE THE WORLD IS ENDING AND PEOPLE ARE DYING no less, and we have a scene.
That was what really ruined the book for me.
Firstly because they're doing this NOW, at an absolutely inappropriate time when they should be racking their brains for a way to save their world, but more importantly because they're using this as an end in and of itself. Which it most decidedly isn't. They're acting like this is what their whole relationship is about, what it leads up to, and where it culminates. Like there's no other point, no other reason, to do this.
And that made them drop a few notches in my estimation. Scratch that, a lot of notches.
I'm so disappointed, and I really loved their romance up to now.
And I really wanted to love this book.
*sobs*
Still not sure if I'm going to read the next one. (Honestly, I probably will, but don't tell anyone.)
I'm not entirely sure what happened with this book. It started off great. We had Heartstriker Mountain totally empty, we had Julius trying to keep his clan together, we had Marci and Amelia supposedly dead, and we had the Chinese dragons and Algonquin simultaneously trying to take over the world. Sounds like it couldn't possibly go wrong, right?
Hey, that's what I thought.
I guess one of the most obvious mistakes was the world-building. Not the world-building in and of itself - that was awesome, and I always love that - it was the way it was built. Rachel Aaron's explanations bordered on the dreaded info-dumping. Half the time what she was explaining barely made sense, it was so run-on and complex. My reactions generally went something like this: "Ah, I see. Yes, that would make sense, wouldn't it? Hmmm, that's dangerous. Oh, yes, of course you're right. Wait. What are we talking about?"
Secondly, I felt like it was all a suspense builder - nothing more. There were no dynamic plot twists that I didn't see coming (Seriously, Julius? Are you just now figuring the Chelsie thing out? I figured that out a book and a half ago) and there were no impressive changes or new players introduced that turned everything on it's head.
Nope, we pretty much ended up exactly where we all wanted to, and then the cliffhanger.
Which, by the way, was entirely too expected, and a little too familiar. (Does anyone else see the similarities between Heartstrikers and Eli Monpress? The fact that there's an otherworldly female bad guy who's a little bit crazy, and the fact that everyone keeps surmounting obstacles that should be entirely insurmountable, and the total lack of severe, overwhelming consequences? Don't get me wrong, I loved Eli Monpress, but I object to repeating plot lines and/or character actions. Just my opinion.)
I thought this would be the last book, the final battle, the epic, heart-wrenching conclusion and instead I got a couple hundred pages of suspense and world-building and then we FINALLY got where we should have gotten a while ago.
But, really, I can deal with all that. I would have really liked this book if it hadn't been for the second-to-last chapter.
*Spoiler alert*
The one where Marci and Julius get together in his bedroom WHILE THE WORLD IS ENDING AND PEOPLE ARE DYING no less, and we have a scene.
That was what really ruined the book for me.
Firstly because they're doing this NOW, at an absolutely inappropriate time when they should be racking their brains for a way to save their world, but more importantly because they're using this as an end in and of itself. Which it most decidedly isn't. They're acting like this is what their whole relationship is about, what it leads up to, and where it culminates. Like there's no other point, no other reason, to do this.
And that made them drop a few notches in my estimation. Scratch that, a lot of notches.
I'm so disappointed, and I really loved their romance up to now.
And I really wanted to love this book.
*sobs*
Still not sure if I'm going to read the next one. (Honestly, I probably will, but don't tell anyone.)
March 17, 2021
4.5 stars
Probably the most INTENSE installment in the series!
The second half was pure adrenaline and the stakes were higher than ever.
Probably the most INTENSE installment in the series!
The second half was pure adrenaline and the stakes were higher than ever.
July 30, 2017
I love this series and pre-ordered this book ages ago. The book is still pleasing as an experience, but the series is becoming long-winded, without much surprise. It remains one of the best urban fantasy reads as just fantasy and has dragons series in a while...but it could have been condensed and told in 3 excellent books instead of one great and 4 descending into mediocrity books.
I'll still buy the next one right away, but my sense of excitement is fading and there's starting to be more of the junk food this feeds my desire RIGHT NOW feel to the books instead of the genuine delight and joy I felt in the first book!
I'll still buy the next one right away, but my sense of excitement is fading and there's starting to be more of the junk food this feeds my desire RIGHT NOW feel to the books instead of the genuine delight and joy I felt in the first book!
January 3, 2024
4.5 stars, rounding up.
July 31, 2017
The parts that were really good (the dragons) didn't quite make up for the parts that were merely tolerable (the whole spirit magic system). And boy do these characters talk and talk and talk--and not in snappy dialogue either.
Also, somehow I thought this was the last book, so the ending took me by surprise, but the author's note quickly explained there will be one more. I hope it focuses more on dragon/Heartstriker politics than anything else. And that the characters stop talking so much and doing more.
There is a fantasy here that if your intentions are good enough and you want something badly enough, you can be impassioned and talk people into seeing things your way. It's not quite as Pollyanna as all that, but still. I just couldn't lose myself in this fantasy of how people act and react to Julius and?? Wow already forgot heroine's name and I only finished an hour ago (hers was the boring spirit magic part of the book.)
Also, somehow I thought this was the last book, so the ending took me by surprise, but the author's note quickly explained there will be one more. I hope it focuses more on dragon/Heartstriker politics than anything else. And that the characters stop talking so much and doing more.
There is a fantasy here that if your intentions are good enough and you want something badly enough, you can be impassioned and talk people into seeing things your way. It's not quite as Pollyanna as all that, but still. I just couldn't lose myself in this fantasy of how people act and react to Julius and?? Wow already forgot heroine's name and I only finished an hour ago (hers was the boring spirit magic part of the book.)
April 2, 2018
Still a great book but could've been shorter. I loved the first two books and was disappointed by the third. The fourth book was good but not up to the first books' awesomeness.
If/when I reread I'll skim Marcy's parts because they were way too drawn out. I love world building but something still needs to happen!
My favorites are all side characters! Bob was hardly seen at all and Chelsie needed more time since her romance is central to the plot. Fredrick was great though and
Huge cliffhanger alert!
Minor rant about ending.
If/when I reread I'll skim Marcy's parts because they were way too drawn out. I love world building but something still needs to happen!
My favorites are all side characters! Bob was hardly seen at all and Chelsie needed more time since her romance is central to the plot. Fredrick was great though and
Huge cliffhanger alert!
Minor rant about ending.
August 24, 2017
The last book ended with a series of seemingly bad events and I was so eager to find out how things will work out. But then when the release day came and I started reading ADOADC I just couldn't get into it. I struggled for quite some time with it before I finally got my head into the game somewhere around the middle of the book. After that it was a breeze! Just pooh! and I was done.
There were two storylines that I was particularly interested in - Mercy's journey to becoming the First (of the new) Merlin and Chelsie's history with the Golden Emperor. Mercy's story had it's moments but for the first part it dragged. Chelsie's story on the other hand turned out to be a lot more complicated than I expected and more than a little heartbreaking. Out of all the Heartstrikers she seems to have had the worst luck and
Two other plotlines caught my attention and managed to make it easier for me to read the first part of the book - Amelia's and Leviathan's parts. Not surprisingly the crafty and almost never sober snake managed to cheat death but I didn't expect her to have such overreaching ambition. ANd now that she's I can't help but be excited for what her role will be in the last book.
Since the beginning Leviathan has been in the shadows, only mentioned as Algonquin's pet monster. As I result I was really curious as to what he is and what his role in all of this is. And now I know. And I'm terrified. Especially since
So here I am again in the same mental space as I was when I finished the previous book - wondering how things can work out after all those little and not so little disasters and eagerly anticipating the release of the final book.
There were two storylines that I was particularly interested in - Mercy's journey to becoming the First (of the new) Merlin and Chelsie's history with the Golden Emperor. Mercy's story had it's moments but for the first part it dragged. Chelsie's story on the other hand turned out to be a lot more complicated than I expected and more than a little heartbreaking. Out of all the Heartstrikers she seems to have had the worst luck and
Two other plotlines caught my attention and managed to make it easier for me to read the first part of the book - Amelia's and Leviathan's parts. Not surprisingly the crafty and almost never sober snake managed to cheat death but I didn't expect her to have such overreaching ambition. ANd now that she's I can't help but be excited for what her role will be in the last book.
Since the beginning Leviathan has been in the shadows, only mentioned as Algonquin's pet monster. As I result I was really curious as to what he is and what his role in all of this is. And now I know. And I'm terrified. Especially since
So here I am again in the same mental space as I was when I finished the previous book - wondering how things can work out after all those little and not so little disasters and eagerly anticipating the release of the final book.
January 1, 2020
This deep in a plot-heavy series it's pretty much impossible to give a meaningful blurb without spoiling previous books. I will say that the implications of the cover, that Julius and Marcy are separated and have their own challenges to overcome is the heart of this book. Parallel, but intertwined plots that take the Heartsrikers and other dragons forward while Marcy deals with magic, spirits and Merlins.
These aren't small books, and if you've made it this far, you probably know what to expect and you most likely enjoy it. This one delivers on the promise of earlier books, pays off on numerous earlier plotlines and sets up the final conflict of this series for the last book.
These aren't small books, and if you've made it this far, you probably know what to expect and you most likely enjoy it. This one delivers on the promise of earlier books, pays off on numerous earlier plotlines and sets up the final conflict of this series for the last book.
December 30, 2021
Now I know what this series is. It took me four books, but I've finally got it.
It's a fiction manual for peacemakers and conflict mediators. It comes up with one unequal power struggle after another, and it illustrates the greatest power of all: that of negotiation born of the wish to make things right. For everyone.
That alone would earn this Dragon five amazing stars. But there's more. See for yourselves:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
It's a fiction manual for peacemakers and conflict mediators. It comes up with one unequal power struggle after another, and it illustrates the greatest power of all: that of negotiation born of the wish to make things right. For everyone.
That alone would earn this Dragon five amazing stars. But there's more. See for yourselves:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
November 22, 2017
This series is back on solid ground with three stars. The plot moved at a good pace, even with the constant switching between story lines. The continuation of the world building was interesting, and the relationship between the MCs, as fraught with separation as it was in this book, was just too sweet. This series continued to be completely clean and safe reading, which I appreciate so much. The H wasn't a manwhore at all , and there was absolutely no ow/om drama, miscommunication, or big secret.
My only issue with this story is Chelsie who continued to annoy me. If you hate it when characters "solve" their problems by avoiding them, you will not like her story one bit. Her lover boy wasn't any better, since he didn't use his brain at all, and let his harpy of a mother pull his strings for centuries. The secret Chelsie was hiding was a bit too obvious and it took too long for it be brought out into the open. All the other story lines were well paced, but this one dragged on and on.
While this was a bit on the long side, the changing povs helped move things along quite nicely. And what can I say? Rachel Aaron's writing style is engaging and easy to read. I'm looking forward to how she resolves everything going on in this interesting and fun world.
My only issue with this story is Chelsie who continued to annoy me. If you hate it when characters "solve" their problems by avoiding them, you will not like her story one bit. Her lover boy wasn't any better, since he didn't use his brain at all, and let his harpy of a mother pull his strings for centuries. The secret Chelsie was hiding was a bit too obvious and it took too long for it be brought out into the open. All the other story lines were well paced, but this one dragged on and on.
While this was a bit on the long side, the changing povs helped move things along quite nicely. And what can I say? Rachel Aaron's writing style is engaging and easy to read. I'm looking forward to how she resolves everything going on in this interesting and fun world.
March 26, 2021
**4.5 stars**
Holy Cannoli this was good!
This is one of those books that you can't review without spoiling anything. Just know that it was awesome, full of actions, heartbreak and REVELATIONS!! And Julius ROCKED!! (I'll steal from myself and just use the gifs from my original read in 2017.)
The Golden Emperor arrives (and yes, we find out what happened in China!)
Marcy - Worst part of the plot. Too complicated!!
Chelsie & Fredrick
The Quilin - "I want to be happy again. I want...you. Only you. Always."
Live look at the Quilin when he finds out the truth. (Chelsie was sooo right!!)
Julius to the rescue with his superpower. Talking!!
This series is SO WORTHY, specially in audio. Vikas, you're a genius!!
Holy Cannoli this was good!
This is one of those books that you can't review without spoiling anything. Just know that it was awesome, full of actions, heartbreak and REVELATIONS!! And Julius ROCKED!! (I'll steal from myself and just use the gifs from my original read in 2017.)
The Golden Emperor arrives (and yes, we find out what happened in China!)
Marcy - Worst part of the plot. Too complicated!!
Chelsie & Fredrick
The Quilin - "I want to be happy again. I want...you. Only you. Always."
Live look at the Quilin when he finds out the truth. (Chelsie was sooo right!!)
Julius to the rescue with his superpower. Talking!!
This series is SO WORTHY, specially in audio. Vikas, you're a genius!!
September 28, 2017
Jednu stvar koju moram da priznam gospojici Aaron je da voli da stalno baca nove tvistove. Ovde bukvalno se ne moze znati sta ce se desiti sledece. Iskreno na momente ovo skoro da smetapostona pola knjige se pocne navikavati na to pa postane jasno otprilike kako ce se kniga zavrsiti pa ostaje nagadjanje kako stici do toga.
Sem toga knjiga je veoma tecna (ko i sve njene ostale) sa tempom koji je furiozan od pocetka do kraja. Iskreno dok zavrsite knjigu imacete osecaj da ste optrcali maraton.
Sem toga nemam sta reci, ako ste citali prethodne kvalitet likova i sveta je na istom nivou sa povecanom tenzijom. Ko je vole prethodne knjige ovde dobija upravo ono sto je ocekivao i to je vise nego OK. Meni se svidela :)
Sem toga knjiga je veoma tecna (ko i sve njene ostale) sa tempom koji je furiozan od pocetka do kraja. Iskreno dok zavrsite knjigu imacete osecaj da ste optrcali maraton.
Sem toga nemam sta reci, ako ste citali prethodne kvalitet likova i sveta je na istom nivou sa povecanom tenzijom. Ko je vole prethodne knjige ovde dobija upravo ono sto je ocekivao i to je vise nego OK. Meni se svidela :)
July 30, 2017
7/30/17
It's hard to review the second to last book in a series without spoiling the series. So I'm not going to try. I love this series so so much. Go get book one right now and read it. It's my favorite urban fantasy book. And I've read a lot of urban fantasy.
The only complaint about this one is for the fourth book there was a lot of info dumping. I get that it's setting up for the grand finale. And the ending didn't break me like book three.
Favorite dark horse character - Frederick. God I loved his story.
4.5 stars
5/26 l love the cover. Can't wait to read this one!
It's hard to review the second to last book in a series without spoiling the series. So I'm not going to try. I love this series so so much. Go get book one right now and read it. It's my favorite urban fantasy book. And I've read a lot of urban fantasy.
The only complaint about this one is for the fourth book there was a lot of info dumping. I get that it's setting up for the grand finale. And the ending didn't break me like book three.
Favorite dark horse character - Frederick. God I loved his story.
4.5 stars
5/26 l love the cover. Can't wait to read this one!
May 22, 2018
Wow, what a rollercoaster. For a book that cover such a small time frame in character's lives, A Dragon of a Different Color is unputdownable.
My only regret is that Bob does not appear much. I missed his quirky behavior and his cute pigeon.
This series is so addicting, that I just clicked trough and continued reading the next part. Thank God they are all published. I don't know what would have I done, if I had to wait a year for the sequel!
My only regret is that Bob does not appear much. I missed his quirky behavior and his cute pigeon.
This series is so addicting, that I just clicked trough and continued reading the next part. Thank God they are all published. I don't know what would have I done, if I had to wait a year for the sequel!
April 17, 2023
Less talking, more action please... Can't wait for the last book next year (altho I'll be sad to see it end).
2023 Re-read: still kinda agree that this is the only book in the series that drags a bit, for me...
2023 Re-read: still kinda agree that this is the only book in the series that drags a bit, for me...
August 1, 2017
Nothing happenned in the book. The entire book seems like less than one day of time. They just talked a lot about morality.
Not enough movement for me. There is no culmination in this book. This is just filler. Please finish the series!
Not enough movement for me. There is no culmination in this book. This is just filler. Please finish the series!
January 30, 2018
4.5
The writing in this series is intricate and amazing. I was happy for Cheslie and Frederick and Shien etc. I’m curious to know how life changes for F Clutch, Bathesda, the Emptess and even Svena.
The writing in this series is intricate and amazing. I was happy for Cheslie and Frederick and Shien etc. I’m curious to know how life changes for F Clutch, Bathesda, the Emptess and even Svena.
July 31, 2017
Bit too much philosophizing for my tastes, though it picks up nicely at the end. At any rate, certainly going to be reading the finale when it comes out.
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