Dragonslayer

Twitterlight #1

by Matthew Lang

Kill the dragon, marry the princess, and rule the kingdom. It’s a fantasy come true… if you’re straight.

Adam is a chemistry student and martial artist, active in his local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism. But none of that prepares him to be the savior of a faraway land locked in perpetual dusk.

In a world of shape-shifters, necromancy, and religious politics, Adam is fated to slay the golden dragon, Khalivibra, and defeat its mind-controlling sorcery to help Princess Esmeralda of Aergon retake her city. Tradition dictates he’ll rule by her side—but Adam is much more interested in Duin, a warrior who changes to beast form in the light of the sun… or fire.

Adam hopes he and Duin might end up together when their ordeal ends. But first, the reluctant hero, the spell-casting heir to the throne, the beast-shifting object of Adam’s desire, a six-legged cave lizard, and any allies they can gather must do the impossible… and live to celebrate their victory.

Genres: Fantasy, M M Romance, Magic, Dragons, LGBT, Romance, Fiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2018

About the author

Matthew Lang writes behind a desk, in the park, on the tram and sometimes backstage at amateur theatre productions. He has been known to sing and dance in public, analyse the plots of movies and TV shows, and is a confessed Masterchef addict. Over the years he has dabbled in marketing, advertising, event management and the sale of light fittings, but his first love is and has always been that of the written word and is rarely too far from a good book. He likes his men hot and spunky, his mysteries fantastical, his fantasies real and his vampires to combust when exposed to sunlight. Other than that he’s pretty normal. One day we may even take him out of the straight jacket.

web: www.matthew-lang.com
twitter: @mattlangwrites
facebook: Matthew Lang on Facebook

Reviews

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Hearts

Bear with me here. I had trouble writing this review because this story is complicated and intricate and a lot happens, so I was wracking my brain as to how to entice a reader as to what they needed to know to make an informed decision.

First, pretty much all the points go toward the very detailed, rich world building steeped in legend and lore, that never once felt contrived or felt like being lectured at.

This starts off with Adam, a young man living his life in present day Australia, who suddenly finds himself somehow transported to an unknown realm of hostile danger. Adam soon meets up with a princess traveling with her small entourage. She’s on a quest to find a lost mythological weapon needed to slay an evil dragon who’s perpetuated a longstanding curse forcing the world into “twitterlight” - a time where neither the sun nor the moon are present, a constant state that’s not light nor dark.

Here, humanity has been starkly divided. On one side is where the princess is from, whose people were forced underground to avoid the terrible rule of the dragon. The others are “cursed” shapeshifters and banished to live above amongst the uncompromising wild of the surface. Both groups wish to live in harmony but can old prejudices and current cultural roadblocks be overcome in order to defeat a common foe??

For a chance at returning back to Earth, Adam agrees to help the princess find this powerful weapon. Along for the ride is also Duin, a shapeshifter who’s grudgingly brought on board for his knowledge of the aboveground dangers that lurk in every corner.

One can imagine the many trials and fearsome creatures that these characters face, all of which were tense and action filled. In and amongst trying to accomplish the impossible while desperately trying to stay alive, Adam slowly falls for the sweet resourceful Duin.

Overall, I was entertained and impressed with the smart writing. I admit, stories about contemporary reality colliding with fantastical realms in other dimensions aren't typically my thing, but I was continuously pleasantly surprised with the plot and the sweet (with some steam) romance that was delivered here. This ends with a good conclusion but obviously sets up some other threads. I look forward to more stories to come!

Thank you to the author/publisher for a copy in exchange for a honest review

[BWT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy Fantasy, and when I first read the blurb I was really excited, but, for some reason, the story just didn't resonate with me. It was a struggle to read and get through...but I think that's because I'm not the right fantasy reader for this.

I believe anyone who likes Dungeons and Dragons, or that sort of fantasy RPG, will enjoy this book. Full of action, humor, emotional hope, and growing feelings of love between Adam and Duin, Dragonslayer felt like an homage to D&D and eighties fantasy movies where the hero of the story (Adam) is sucked into an alternate universe or other plane and is tested, becomes a hero, falls in love, defeats his foes, nearly loses everything, and comes out forever changed on the other side.

There are a lot of characters and moving parts to Dragonslayer. There are promises made and throughout the action of the story there are no guarantees there will be a happy ending (spoiler alert: there is a happy ending.
P.S. - the quote below is not from the ending, but it is one of my favorite parts of the entire book and I wanted to put it in my review.).

“I am going to take you home to a place where we can be together like this and no one will care—at least, no one who matters. And when we get there, I’m going to hold you close and you’re not going to need to pull away.”
“Is that a promise?” Duin asked, his voice so quiet it was barely discernible.
“That’s a promise,” Adam whispered, pulling Duin closer to him. “That’s definitely a promise.”

While there were parts I liked, it didn't strike my fancy overall, maybe there were too many moving parts for me, or too much repetition, and certain parts of the story where I would have preferred it to be more fleshed out, or maybe because I'm not into fantasy RPGs...but I can see how it will be entertaining for the right fantasy-lover reader.

2.5 Stars

Advanced Review Galley copy of Dragonslayer provided by DSP Publications in exchange of an honest review.

This review has been cross-posted at Gay Book Reviews.

[Serena Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traditional fairy tales, as mentioned in the blurb, have some basic rules we are all aware of, and a definite pattern they follow – but despite the fact that ‘Dragonslayer’ contains all the traditional elements of a fairy tale (and then some), it is anything but conventional. The combination of ideas and the composition of the world and its various societies is unusual, if not completely unique. In this world, dragons caused the destruction of the day/night cycle and annihilated the peaceful feudal society on the surface that previously existed. Various factions are now trying to restore their way of life but need the help of a hero to succeed. This is the story of the initially rather unwilling man they pick to fulfill this role, and his journey from skepticism to acceptance of a role he never asked for.


Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

2.75 stars

This is one of those reviews that is going to be a bit complicated. It took me weeks to finish Dragonslayer because I disliked it almost from the first page. And that opinion never changed. Yet, despite this, the book has a solid, if somewhat tired plot line and enough adventure to make some readers quite happy. So it’s always a conundrum to figure out if I don’t like a book because it has serious issues or because the issues are mine alone. And with Dragonslayer, I’m not really sure if I figured out the answer.

The plot to Dragonslayer isn’t exactly fresh, but the author handles it all right, at least in an ordinary sort of way. There are some pretty big plot holes, which I found frustrating, but the main points get made. It felt quite flat and boring to me, which I think stems from my inability to connect with either the characters or their plight. There is a fair bit of world building here and while I never found it immersive, I appreciate the efforts put forth by the author to create something unique.

Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.

[DebbieReadsBooks]

Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Adam, a student, is pulled into a world, a fight, he knows nothing about. A fight involving a sword and a dragon and hero that it seems he is! Faced with four armed beasts, flying lizards, magic and sorcery, fur sprouting lovers, and many more challenging things, Adam must kill the dragon, and return home, or die trying.

I don't know about you, but I read a lot, a LOT, a lot. And much of that reading is within the same genres and I'm happy to be doing all that reading, don't get me wrong. It's just much of the same. And I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but I'm fairly certain I saw the word dragon in the blurb and that did it for me.

This book, right here?? Totally way out of my comfort zone, and it is high fantasy at its very best! I freaking LOVED this book, bar one teeny tiny thing, but I'll come back to that. So bloody good!

Adam is pulled into the twitterlight world, where there is no sun, nor moon, and the world is bathed in this half light. A princess, a warrior, and a child cast out from his people find Adam, and immediately bring him into their quest. And Adam is like " oh, ok, lets get to it then!" He literally just jumps straight in and I loved that he did not question much in the beginning; more so, once he realised that HE was the one meant to kill the dragon, but still, he was mostly " yeah ok!"

Duin, the child cast out from his people but a child no more, creeps into Adam heart, much as he does his bed, and I loved that, while fully aware that such things are not the norm in this twitterlight world, Duin can't keep away from Adam.

I LOVED the twist at the end, I really did not see that one coming!

Which brings me to why I knocked a whole star off, even though I loved this book.

Single
Person
Point
Of
View.

Only Adam gets a voice! And I wanted, no I desperately NEEDED to hear from Duin, I really did! There were to many to mention points along the way that Duin needed to be heard and he wasn't. And that really pissed me off, even though I did LOVE this book! Oh, don't get me wrong, it's a bloody great book, even without Duin's voice, but I WANTED his voice, you know?? It would really have made this a stand out of the year book, for me!

It's billed as Twitterlight book one, but I can't see anything pertaining to future books. I don't know if they will be about Adam and Duin future adventures, or if they will be about other people we have met here. I don't care, I want to read them. This is the first I've read of Matthew Lang, and he is firmly in my crosshairs.

So, ONLY because Duin doesn't get a say

4 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

[J.F.R. Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overall solid story with some interesting characters. Plays with a few of the fantasy tropes and cliches, especially regarding the destined love plot between the main character and the princess. Some of these attempted subversions fall a bit flat, but mostly they work well for the story.
One issue I found was that because of the style of the plot - main character is transported to a fantasy world - the worldbuilding felt very erratic. Usually the narrative voice helps explain the world, but this narrator knew as much as the reader going in. It's a limitation with this narrative style, and can't be helped.
An enjoyable read - and I don't feel like you need to be gay to appreciate it (just maybe skim over the more... heated sections).

[Lila Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words.

ARC provided by DSP Publications in exchange for an honest review.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is epic fantasy stuff, like John Carter. The blurb you can read for yourself. The descriptions of the world of twitterlight is engaging and so very real. There's some actual science thrown in to make it seem even more realistic, and the story is fun and dramatic. I didn't get the connection between Duin and Adam at first, but they grew on me. The sex scenes aren't thrown in randomly, they make sense for each situation, but it's not a love story, either. I liked how the author tied Adam's real-life experiences into the story and made them work. It was a little odd to read the beginning of the story again later in the book, but I can see why it was done. The story and dialogue are rich and there's enough in there that I could probably read the book a dozen more times and find something new to enjoy each time. Not sure of this being a series, guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Ng · Rating 2 out of 5]

This blurb was super interesting. It was full of adventure, magic, dragons, fight, princess and everything you could ask for in a fantasy.

But I don't think this is a book I would want to re-read or think about much. It certainly was an interesting world but there was something missing. Adam was too perfect. whatever little difficulty he faced, you never felt for Adam. Things happen to him, around him all at perfect timing. This is a fast read if you want one. But if one wants to read a book with great world building and deep characters with development this is not the one.

[Wax · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to explain what I didn't like so much about the story. I think that there was some world-building, but at other times I wanted more explanation. Also, I have an issue with the ending that is purely my own but ruined what otherwise would have been a HFN ending.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was gonna read it, but over 5€ for not even 300 pages just seemed too expensive.

[Daniel Mitton]

(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews.)

Review to follow.