I enjoyed this tale of four men and the magic that binds them together. Orhanis is a land of magic, though not everyone embraces it. We begin with the Counting, a time of census for the citizens, and people crowding to the city where Mahzan, one of the king's jesters is entertaining the masses. He's a cunning man with hidden magic, and the ability to soothe the tempers of many. He notices key members of the crowd, including Sule--the Captain of the North Guard, Cemal, a jokey priest, and Binhadi, last of the shadow mages in his family. Each of these men holds magic--secretly in the case of all but Binhadi.

It's not long before a fearmonger (an ancient demon) turns up and kills...most everyone in the king's hall and throughout the castle and royal city. The jester, the captain, the priest and the mage are spared by linking their magic talents, and sending the fearmonger into temporary retreat. This inadvertently binds the four into a magical oath. Over time, they discover the extent of their bond, which binds and magnifies their powers until they face and defeat the fearmonger. And, thus begins the quest.

Their travels and trials bind them ever closer, bending their partnership into physical companionship. The menage, when it comes to be, is well-developed from mutual hardships and intimacy shared. Mahzan leads the pack here, happy for companionship wherever he can find it. Sule, due to internalized transphobia from his family, is a little more reticent. They travel the country of Orhanis trying to discover the origin of the fearmonger, and uncovering the violent history of their nation and the current rulers.

Their suspicions and struggles are magnified through a mental link, part of the growing bond. This allowed each man to truly see the heart of the others, and make a real effort to support one antoher. When their battle with the fearmonger comes, they are ready to sacrifice all--and create the most fearsome magic their world has ever seen. Treachery has infiltrated Orhanis, however, and the Epilogue set into the distant future gives the reader insight into the effects of the battle. A few reviewers were frustrated about this POV switch, but for me it confirmed the evil festering in Orhanis was still present, and there was a plan to eradicate it once and for all. I enjoyed this adventure. There were issues with pacing, at times, and the many POVs was a tiny challenge, but I felt the creativity of the quest and the deep characterization outweighed the flaws in editing.

I wanted to like this book. I have liked everything I've ever read from Megan Derr. However, while there was nothing bad about this book, I found this mostly just meh. There are a couple of very contrived moments where it felt like Derr didn't quite know how to get her characters from plot point a to plot point b and so threw some massive overreaction in there for a chapter or two. It's the kind of thing where the characters don't actually grow and the plot didn't really move forward but some exposition got told. I enjoyed the characters most of the time. I thought the foursome worked really well. I saw the twist coming but I don't think it hurt the story. It does have a classic Return of the King extended DVD release three part ending though so warning for that. Saying that, I didn't mind the ending and I think it worked overall with the book.

When a terrible creature destroys the kingdom, four men are forced together in order to survive. The inadvertent magical bond that permanently connects them can only be severed by killing the creature, so they set out on a journey, only to realize that what they left behind might be even worse.

I loved the characterizations in this story. Mahzan, Sule, Cemal, and Binhadi were each their own unique person with individual quirks and traits that meant I could tell them apart very easily. How they interacted with each other was also different between each one. For example, how Mahzan interacted with Sule was completely different from how he interacted with Cemal. They are what made this story interesting to read and are why I finished this book.

The plot in this story was the weakest one Derr has released in a very long time. It rambled and stalled at unpredictable moments, dragged on at times in ways that bored me, and overall just wasn't very interesting. This story could easily have been half the length and would have still conveyed all the important plot points. I also thought the ending was a bit of a cop out written almost as if Derr was planning a sequel instead of this being a stand alone novel.

3.5* rounded up.

I love Megan Derr's book, but this one wasn't quite as cup of tea as usual.
The book has interesting plot and several truly surprising plot twist (at least one which left me with my mouth open), but I had troubles connecting to characters sometimes.

There is lot of joking around in the book about Mahzan, one of the main heroes, being annoying and... well, he really felt annoying. Some parts of the book were great but in some parts I was close to shouting "if you would just act like reasonable adults, but noooo, you must be shouty drama queens".
I do understand that was often the point author was trying to make (since the characters themselves admit they are overdramatic QUITE often), but it wasn't fun for me to read, more like frustrating. However, I would chalk this up more to my reading preferences than to overall quality of the book.

Its still a good read, kudos for diversity and surpring plot twist. I am giving 3.5* because of the above mentioned frustration and because the ending didn't leave me wanting for more about this setting and its people, as most Megan Derr books usually do.

Gosh, this is very slow build but once we get there (to all the smexy), it is hot! It is heavy! And there's four of us all to negotiate with the feelings, and the touching.

But because Derr does such a good job of setting up the characters and the relationships, there is lots of connection already established.

I liked that initially the mystery, the politics, the characters took centre stage, so we got to know all the four protagonists' fears and insecurities as well as their strengths and loyalties. If I did have a niggle, it was that some of this was a bit repetitive. Yes yes we know Mazhan's first reaction is always anger, yes, Bindi is closed off, and so on. But they are so adorable when they try to protect each other, it was ok.

Once the four began exploring their physical relationships, the story lost a bit of momentum, and I found the ending a little anti-climatic. But also a bit clever. so, that's an interesting conundrum, from my point of view.

I always love this author's style and writing, so you'll enjoy it too if you are a fan. Thanks Netgalley for advanced copy. Was released yesterday on the 28th of March.

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Four strangers. A shared moment long forgotten. A bond forged in desperation.

On the first day of the Festival of Counting, the beginning of the royal census that takes place every ten years, the royal city is filled to overflowing. Everyone is happy, excited, and proud to be counted amongst those who live in the glorious kingdom of Orhanis.

Then a demon strikes, killing thousands in mere seconds and leveling the city. As the royal castle burns, only four men remain to drive the demon away—and in their desperation, accidentally bind themselves together in a legendary Oath, unable to part ways until they find and kill the demon once and for all.

Mahzan, the King's Jester, an orphan who clawed his way to the top and hides a fearsome magic… Sule, the notorious North Captain, who sacrificed everything to live as a strong, capable, highly respected man… Cemal, a priest who traveled the continent bent on revenge and now lives lost… and Binhadi, the mercurial shadow mage with a dark history and bloody ties to the throne…

Four men used to standing apart, standing alone, who must learn to stand together if they hope to save themselves and all of Orhanis.

When it comes to fantasy, Megan Derr is  one of my go to authors.  I love her marvelous ability to transport me out of the mundane and into realms where dragons soar,  wounded mage's seek reparation and love, and unique bands of warriors go forth on sagas that have continued to live on in my heart and mind long past those words...The End in book after book.

In Dragon Magic Megan Derr brings together another unusual band of mages.  This time, they will form not only a working relationship but a romantic one between the four of them.  Not something of a norm in her stories. Or in the stories I normally read because I haven't found many authors that make a  polyamorous relationship work within a storyline to my tastes.  Here, among four strong mages, who fight the bonds between them from the beginning, watching the emotional ties form, along with the lust and love feels natural.  It helps that they can "feel" each others thoughts and emotions, so the instinctual walls  others erect start breaking down or are broken between the four of them from the start, laying their "secrets" out before the others.

Derr switches the story back and forth between the emotional vulnerability and revelations that is happening between the four as they become a true "family" and the perilous state they find themselves in while searching out the demons and those responsible for the destruction of the Capitol.  I expected to "like" one of the characters more than the rest, maybe Mahzan or Sule, but each mages here is a little broken each in their own way.  Each strong as well.  Turned out I loved them equally.  Semal and Binahdi  no less than Mahzan and Sule.  What great characters all.

The only thing that kept this from a 5 stars story was the odd little out of timeline break at the end.  I understand why the author did it but it still felt jarring.  And honestly asked more questions than it answered.  I didn't need it.  And in my opinion the story didn't either.  But that's just me.

Either way, if you are a lover of high fantasy, Megan Derr or both,  Dragon Magic is a book you won't want to miss.  And yes, once again she has created some wonderful demons for our mages to fight against.  Can't miss out on those either!  Put this and this wonderful band of mages on your TBR list today!  I highly recommend it!

Cover art:Phillip Lloyd Simpson.  It's colorful.  Don't know that it's my favorite of Megan Derr's covers.

I’ve long been fan of Megan Derr’s writing and this book is another to my collection of my favorites. I admit I was curious how she’ll handle four protagonists all falling in love, but it was magical.

The story was compelling, with it’s seemingly simple goal that took twists and turns. It felt like I was playing an RPG and I loved it, even if I saw some of the plot twists coming, I still enjoyed the ride immensely.

I adored all four of the protagonists, always looking forward to the next chapter and switching of povs. I usually have no trouble chosing a favorite in an ensemble, but here I did. All of them had their own strengths and weaknesses, with different needs and goals. Four characters also give a large number of different group dynamics with various relationships. There was Mahzan and Sule’s bickering with the underlying sexual tension. There was Binhadi and Cemal’s quiet and calm banter full of admiration. Mahzan and Cemal’s openly flirtatious banter was a joy. Plus there was the mind-link, which added the possibility of unwanted thoughts, but also flirting and bickering. All emotions ran high and it was magnificent. I also loved the casual trans, demi and bi representation, but Derr excels at those, so I wasn’t surprised.

This is a combination of a fantasy political adventure with an interesting romance between 4 men, who are all very different people. I loved the overall story, and the angst was spot on. I would definitely be interested in reading more in this universe!

Dragon Magic by Megan Derr is a fantastic epic tale about four strangers who are brought together in battle they never saw coming.

A warlock, a jester, a solider, and a priest are the unlikeliest of allies, but when a monster strikes their beloved city, they must honor the oath they forged in battle by not only destroying the beast that killed thousands of their fellow citizens but also the one who sent the beast in the first place.

The quest to seek justice for their home is not an easy one, but a surprising twist to the four men's relationship could be the thing they need in order to defeat their foes.