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Dragon's Dilemma #1
A Sovereign’s Scorn
Typhoeus is a dragon. To the humans hunting him, he is nothing more than a monster. A mindless beast to be killed for levels and glory. To him, adventurers are not that much better.
Exiled from his home due to a trait on his status, and so very tired of killing adventurers on a near daily basis, Typhoeus decides to seek refuge hidden amongst the cowed remnants of humanity that populate this world. Armed with a millennium of mystical knowledge, and a powerful new skill that lets him take on the guise of a completely average human woman, the dragon must decide if he can be more than just the words on his status as he is flung headfirst into a life of romance and adventure.
This is his story.
A QUEER ROMANTIC FANTASY / EPIC ACTION & ADVENTURE / LITRPG GENRE MASHUP!
Exiled from his home due to a trait on his status, and so very tired of killing adventurers on a near daily basis, Typhoeus decides to seek refuge hidden amongst the cowed remnants of humanity that populate this world. Armed with a millennium of mystical knowledge, and a powerful new skill that lets him take on the guise of a completely average human woman, the dragon must decide if he can be more than just the words on his status as he is flung headfirst into a life of romance and adventure.
This is his story.
A QUEER ROMANTIC FANTASY / EPIC ACTION & ADVENTURE / LITRPG GENRE MASHUP!
538 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2022
98 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 1, 2022
This was a fun story that blended elements of LitRPG, old school adventure fantasy, and romance to excellent effect. The writing was engaging, the characters fun, and the story was interesting!
The premise of the story was a fun one. Typheous is a sovereign dragon but due to a birth defect he is very much an outcast among his own kind due to his perceived physical weaknesses. Driven out of the mountains and forced to live close the the human settlements is proving problematic for Typheous. Sure he has been killing and eating the wave after wave of human adventures that plague his new home with the intent of killing him but the trouble is each batch of adventures seems more powerful than the last. When one such group badly injures him and he senses another group on the way he is forced to dip into his magical bag of tricks to stay alive. Luckily Typheous has the perfect disguise that could keep him alive. The ability to change his form to that of a simple human!
The story was as much fun as it sounds. After the transformation Typh is promptly rescued from the dragon cave by the next human adventuring party and taken back to the closest human city where he intended to blend in with the humans and learn their ways. Of course it soon becomes apparent that Typh might not understand the humans as much as he thought he did when he came up with his back-up plan to morph his body to one of them. Turns out that book he thought was an anatomy journal that he looted from a previous adventurer was actually a salacious book of erotic art for lonely travellers! Now Typh is stuck as a very attractive human female and all the negative attention that brings with it. Not great for a soul trying to keep a low profile!
The whole tale was a ton of fun. Typh was surprisingly easy to root for and it was easy to get sucked into his/her story as she tried to learn more about being human and all the complications that came along with that.
The world was a good one. It was old school fantasy with a magic system that was exactly like the typical RPG game. The world was real and so were the folks in it but they could level up and gain skills as players in any game could. I loved this use of the LitRPG concept. It had all the fun elements of LitRPG with none of the usual drawbacks of the genre. Because the world was real and everyone in it a real person all they happenings had consequence and meaning!
The story started out as fairly typical adventure fantasy but as it went on we learned a bit more about the politics of the human kingdom and then later about some wider magical issues that will be important going forward in the story. I felt that gave the tale decent depth.
The characters were a fun bunch. Typh soon picked up a friend in Arilla, a fellow low lever starting adventurer, to help her on her adventuring and that deepened into a romantic relationship. It worked well for me as Arilla had a personality and agency of her own and felt like more than just a prop for Typh.
All in all this was a fun tale. I get it might have been tailored towards me more than the mainstream as I like fantasy, adventure, and romance tales and have a definite soft spot for body-swapping and fish out of water tales but niche or not this was the sort of engaging story that keeps me picking up so many indie books!
If there was a flaw in the story it was that the stats readouts were a tad long in the audio format. It was more of a minor nuisance than a flaw.
Rating: 4.5 stars. I’ll round up to 5 stars here on Goodreads.
Audio Note: Heather Wilds did a great job with the audio. She sounded suitably aristocratic in her voicing of Typh but also managed to capture the emotional depth of the story and the humour when it was called for. A very good performance.
The premise of the story was a fun one. Typheous is a sovereign dragon but due to a birth defect he is very much an outcast among his own kind due to his perceived physical weaknesses. Driven out of the mountains and forced to live close the the human settlements is proving problematic for Typheous. Sure he has been killing and eating the wave after wave of human adventures that plague his new home with the intent of killing him but the trouble is each batch of adventures seems more powerful than the last. When one such group badly injures him and he senses another group on the way he is forced to dip into his magical bag of tricks to stay alive. Luckily Typheous has the perfect disguise that could keep him alive. The ability to change his form to that of a simple human!
The story was as much fun as it sounds. After the transformation Typh is promptly rescued from the dragon cave by the next human adventuring party and taken back to the closest human city where he intended to blend in with the humans and learn their ways. Of course it soon becomes apparent that Typh might not understand the humans as much as he thought he did when he came up with his back-up plan to morph his body to one of them. Turns out that book he thought was an anatomy journal that he looted from a previous adventurer was actually a salacious book of erotic art for lonely travellers! Now Typh is stuck as a very attractive human female and all the negative attention that brings with it. Not great for a soul trying to keep a low profile!
The whole tale was a ton of fun. Typh was surprisingly easy to root for and it was easy to get sucked into his/her story as she tried to learn more about being human and all the complications that came along with that.
The world was a good one. It was old school fantasy with a magic system that was exactly like the typical RPG game. The world was real and so were the folks in it but they could level up and gain skills as players in any game could. I loved this use of the LitRPG concept. It had all the fun elements of LitRPG with none of the usual drawbacks of the genre. Because the world was real and everyone in it a real person all they happenings had consequence and meaning!
The story started out as fairly typical adventure fantasy but as it went on we learned a bit more about the politics of the human kingdom and then later about some wider magical issues that will be important going forward in the story. I felt that gave the tale decent depth.
The characters were a fun bunch. Typh soon picked up a friend in Arilla, a fellow low lever starting adventurer, to help her on her adventuring and that deepened into a romantic relationship. It worked well for me as Arilla had a personality and agency of her own and felt like more than just a prop for Typh.
All in all this was a fun tale. I get it might have been tailored towards me more than the mainstream as I like fantasy, adventure, and romance tales and have a definite soft spot for body-swapping and fish out of water tales but niche or not this was the sort of engaging story that keeps me picking up so many indie books!
If there was a flaw in the story it was that the stats readouts were a tad long in the audio format. It was more of a minor nuisance than a flaw.
Rating: 4.5 stars. I’ll round up to 5 stars here on Goodreads.
Audio Note: Heather Wilds did a great job with the audio. She sounded suitably aristocratic in her voicing of Typh but also managed to capture the emotional depth of the story and the humour when it was called for. A very good performance.
August 15, 2022
A male dragon, transforming himself to a human woman (for reasons that are quite comedic, in a good way), hiding, gaining strength, and falling in love with another woman...
Not going to lie, I was truly hesitant on trying this series. I'm all for queer and transgendered love, but STRONGLY prefer reading books where the main character is heterosexual and usually male (just being honest). Still this book was so entertaining I instantly bought book 2.
The characters are really the selling point of this series. The MC trying (and failing) to act like a woman is exacerbated with the fact that he doesn't know how to act like a human, which causes a lot of humorous moments and problems. At the same time there is the love-interest's journey in growing out of her weakness and ignorance. The villains, while not unique or complex, display levels of cruelty that are designed for you to hate.
While the drama between the characters lays at the forefront of the book, the undertones regarding the upcoming cataclysmic event is going to be what decides if this series stays great. The history of the world, magic, and haunting future are well written so far.
Only negative that I can say so far about the series, is the unfairness that is targeted at one of the characters that, arguably, did all the wrong things for all the right reasons. Hopefully it's rectified in book 2.
Overall, this series is a hidden gem. Worth gambling on and experiencing something truly different and entertaining.
Not going to lie, I was truly hesitant on trying this series. I'm all for queer and transgendered love, but STRONGLY prefer reading books where the main character is heterosexual and usually male (just being honest). Still this book was so entertaining I instantly bought book 2.
The characters are really the selling point of this series. The MC trying (and failing) to act like a woman is exacerbated with the fact that he doesn't know how to act like a human, which causes a lot of humorous moments and problems. At the same time there is the love-interest's journey in growing out of her weakness and ignorance. The villains, while not unique or complex, display levels of cruelty that are designed for you to hate.
While the drama between the characters lays at the forefront of the book, the undertones regarding the upcoming cataclysmic event is going to be what decides if this series stays great. The history of the world, magic, and haunting future are well written so far.
Only negative that I can say so far about the series, is the unfairness that is targeted at one of the characters that, arguably, did all the wrong things for all the right reasons. Hopefully it's rectified in book 2.
Overall, this series is a hidden gem. Worth gambling on and experiencing something truly different and entertaining.
February 1, 2022
You can tell the author, Luke W. Logan put a lot of work into this book and indeed it is well thought out and very well done. It is the story of Typhoeus the dragon told through a literary role playing game format (LitRPG) which actually is quite unique. There is a lot of non-stop action, lots of magic, lots of blood, lots of guts....lots and lots of blood and guts. The book is marketed as a queer romantic fantasy and uses the term sapphic love. But the dragon is a male dragon who has the human form of a woman but remains a male, so.... I am not really sure what that would be because gender is not particularly relevant in the story. What IS relevant is that a dragon is living in an alternate form and learns that humans are not necessarily appetizers. As he lives as a human he begins to understand what humans think and how they feel and even what this whole love thing is all about. So there is definitely a love story woven into the story of the adventures of Typhoeus. What some readers might not like is that this is not a happily-ever-after story, or even a happy-for-now story. That said, again it is very well done. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 26, 2022
Great book
Great book overall, the only bad thing about it I think, other than a couple young adult tropes that you just can't get away from in a romance genre, is the incredibly obvious unwillingness of any character to ever talk about the ward. That just constantly stuck out. And not in a good way where you're like oh what is this, but more in a way where as a reader it just pulls me out of the story, because I'm thinking to myself, this is so obviously not ever going to actually be discussed in this book. It's just kind of annoying they keep bringing it up
You want to point out, I don't think that's bad. The trope itself, which is pretty standard fantasy, and it's a great thing when you properly, and it looks like it's going to be used properly. It's just kind of annoying whenever it's very clearly not going to have anything done with it yet. So it's just going to be brought up, and then not talked about again. And then brought up and not talked about it again over and over
Great book though honestly
Great book overall, the only bad thing about it I think, other than a couple young adult tropes that you just can't get away from in a romance genre, is the incredibly obvious unwillingness of any character to ever talk about the ward. That just constantly stuck out. And not in a good way where you're like oh what is this, but more in a way where as a reader it just pulls me out of the story, because I'm thinking to myself, this is so obviously not ever going to actually be discussed in this book. It's just kind of annoying they keep bringing it up
You want to point out, I don't think that's bad. The trope itself, which is pretty standard fantasy, and it's a great thing when you properly, and it looks like it's going to be used properly. It's just kind of annoying whenever it's very clearly not going to have anything done with it yet. So it's just going to be brought up, and then not talked about again. And then brought up and not talked about it again over and over
Great book though honestly
January 9, 2022
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Sovereign's Scorn by Luke W. Logan has most definitely caught me by surprise. The author was previously unknown to me, and the description provided caused me to categorize this book as another in the already crowded Paranormal Romance Genre. It is very significantly more than that. It's the kind of book that once I actually got started with it, I didn't want to put down until I finished it. It really is that entertaining and engaging.
For a better description, I would classify A Sovereign's Scorn as a cross between the aforementioned paranormal romance, and a light novel of the Japanese animation variety. The world building has many of the hallmarks of light novels in regard to the world's systems and structures. However it has the depth and breadth of one of the better full paranormal romance novels.
I am very glad to have spent my time reading this book. Absolutely worth your time.
A Sovereign's Scorn by Luke W. Logan has most definitely caught me by surprise. The author was previously unknown to me, and the description provided caused me to categorize this book as another in the already crowded Paranormal Romance Genre. It is very significantly more than that. It's the kind of book that once I actually got started with it, I didn't want to put down until I finished it. It really is that entertaining and engaging.
For a better description, I would classify A Sovereign's Scorn as a cross between the aforementioned paranormal romance, and a light novel of the Japanese animation variety. The world building has many of the hallmarks of light novels in regard to the world's systems and structures. However it has the depth and breadth of one of the better full paranormal romance novels.
I am very glad to have spent my time reading this book. Absolutely worth your time.
January 12, 2023
Overall I was really surprised with the quality of this work, interesting characters, excellent world building and a comprehensive magic system with nice integration of litrpg elements.
While this story has so much going for it, there is sadly an irritating focus on childish relationship drama and poorly developed antagonists rather than focusing on the strong elements of this fantasy setting.
Not only did these irritants make me dislike the stories love interest and certain situations that felt entirely avoidable or overly dramatic but it also feels as if much of this drama is left unresolved and will continue to drag the story down in the sequel. I hope that’s not the case and the sequel avoids these pitfalls as there is much to love about this story beyond the confines of the love interests immaturity and entitlement but whether or not these shackles are removed remains to be seen.
While this story has so much going for it, there is sadly an irritating focus on childish relationship drama and poorly developed antagonists rather than focusing on the strong elements of this fantasy setting.
Not only did these irritants make me dislike the stories love interest and certain situations that felt entirely avoidable or overly dramatic but it also feels as if much of this drama is left unresolved and will continue to drag the story down in the sequel. I hope that’s not the case and the sequel avoids these pitfalls as there is much to love about this story beyond the confines of the love interests immaturity and entitlement but whether or not these shackles are removed remains to be seen.
August 5, 2025
An enjoyable and engaging story with an interesting world. The focus is very strongly on two central characters, and that's clearly an intentional choice that drives the narrative.
However, despite the very strong start, the book suffers from a few flaws; primarily the uneven pacing, and the author's penchant for avoiding writing certain difficult conversations. Most conversations are handled with skill and wit, and are a pleasure to read; but periodically the author appears to be unable to handle a particular interaction, and so just skips over it, continuing the narrative after it already happened with characters vaguely referencing how it went without any specifics.
It's truly a shame. There's some absolute gold in this book, and were it not for the periodic use of the narrative panic button, it has the potential yo be a truly excellent novel. If you think you can handle that, it might even be worth reading anyway.
However, despite the very strong start, the book suffers from a few flaws; primarily the uneven pacing, and the author's penchant for avoiding writing certain difficult conversations. Most conversations are handled with skill and wit, and are a pleasure to read; but periodically the author appears to be unable to handle a particular interaction, and so just skips over it, continuing the narrative after it already happened with characters vaguely referencing how it went without any specifics.
It's truly a shame. There's some absolute gold in this book, and were it not for the periodic use of the narrative panic button, it has the potential yo be a truly excellent novel. If you think you can handle that, it might even be worth reading anyway.
May 18, 2023
The good and the ugly
This is no doubt one of the best written books I've read in a while, however it's been an experience I'm not entirely happy.
No fault to the author mind you, this is a question of my personal tastes.
The book is doubtlessly interesting, the main character treads a tightrope between being overpowered and in life threatening danger. The characters are fun and convincing, and the events are highly compelling.
But the book is also fairly gritty at times, humanity displays their worst aspects much more often than I am personally comfortable with.
It is not a story of wish fulfillment, merely a person trying to make their way in a world where those at the top stand upon the broken backs of those below them.
Take what you will from that knowledge, but to all those brave enough I highly recommended this book.
This is no doubt one of the best written books I've read in a while, however it's been an experience I'm not entirely happy.
No fault to the author mind you, this is a question of my personal tastes.
The book is doubtlessly interesting, the main character treads a tightrope between being overpowered and in life threatening danger. The characters are fun and convincing, and the events are highly compelling.
But the book is also fairly gritty at times, humanity displays their worst aspects much more often than I am personally comfortable with.
It is not a story of wish fulfillment, merely a person trying to make their way in a world where those at the top stand upon the broken backs of those below them.
Take what you will from that knowledge, but to all those brave enough I highly recommended this book.
February 2, 2022
Relationships are hard when you’re a dragon
Typhoeus is an interesting character, despite being an immensely powerful dragon, he’s a total weakling by his races standards. Which makes his decision to hide out among humans much more sensible. His choice to masquerade as a human woman leads to some very interesting consequences. And of course there’s the human who he picks up to help with his disguise that turns into something more. This book was a fun read, with some very interesting relational dynamics, an interesting class and skil system, and an intriguing world. My only note for readers is that this book also includes very descriptive sex scenes, which could be an issue for some readers.
Typhoeus is an interesting character, despite being an immensely powerful dragon, he’s a total weakling by his races standards. Which makes his decision to hide out among humans much more sensible. His choice to masquerade as a human woman leads to some very interesting consequences. And of course there’s the human who he picks up to help with his disguise that turns into something more. This book was a fun read, with some very interesting relational dynamics, an interesting class and skil system, and an intriguing world. My only note for readers is that this book also includes very descriptive sex scenes, which could be an issue for some readers.
April 16, 2022
The most interesting new plot concept I've seen in several years. Generally well written and enjoyable. Ending was a bit abrupt and setup for next volume a bit too mysterious as a result.
Repetitive lit RPG statistics elements were a bit heavy handed and not always necessary. But this is typical for the Genre. As is typical with the genre I'd prefer the author spent more time on plot, character development, world building and scene detail. This is one of the really good Lit RPG reads that could do just as well without that element due to its unique plot elements and good character development.
(Spoiler alert: IF you have some objection to female on female explicit sex scenes not your cup of tea)
Repetitive lit RPG statistics elements were a bit heavy handed and not always necessary. But this is typical for the Genre. As is typical with the genre I'd prefer the author spent more time on plot, character development, world building and scene detail. This is one of the really good Lit RPG reads that could do just as well without that element due to its unique plot elements and good character development.
(Spoiler alert: IF you have some objection to female on female explicit sex scenes not your cup of tea)
May 26, 2024
A really fun, erotic adventure that delves into the darker side of adventuring and societies in general. The irony of the perspective of a dragon seeing humans behave like monsters was excellent. The romance was very well written, especially for the litrpg genre. All of the characters, including most of the antagonists felt incredibly real. And finally, it is impossible to ignore the trans perspective of the main character which I felt was what brought this story to 5 stars for me personally.
I do recommend this for people that like litrpg, lesbian romances, and are confortable with darker stories.
Below are the content warnings:
extensive gore descriptions, very erotic sex scenes, and 2 attempted rape scenes.
I do recommend this for people that like litrpg, lesbian romances, and are confortable with darker stories.
Below are the content warnings:
extensive gore descriptions, very erotic sex scenes, and 2 attempted rape scenes.
August 18, 2024
Interesting story with some surprises
I found the story to be engaging. The setting has the trappings of the LitRPG genre, and the way things work make sense. The story almost takes a philosophical view of the "system" at points, and includes some in-text history about it, giving it a firm grounding in the world.
The main characters get decent development and change in ways that kept me wanting to see what they would become. Unfortunately, that development leads me to my complaint: the ending is very disappointing. While the way the character reacts is realistic, it isn't narratively satisfying. After that I wasn't interested in continuing the series.
I found the story to be engaging. The setting has the trappings of the LitRPG genre, and the way things work make sense. The story almost takes a philosophical view of the "system" at points, and includes some in-text history about it, giving it a firm grounding in the world.
The main characters get decent development and change in ways that kept me wanting to see what they would become. Unfortunately, that development leads me to my complaint: the ending is very disappointing. While the way the character reacts is realistic, it isn't narratively satisfying. After that I wasn't interested in continuing the series.
January 28, 2022
A Pleasure to Read
I did not expect to enjoy the book quite as much as I did. My first experience with a RPG was not good, back in the early 80's. I never repeated it until this book. The thing is a pleasure to read and I can see myself playing the game. FYI, it was the original Dragons and Dungeon game, but making a player into a dragon would have astounded those people. Making the dragon a part of the game, a major player would have thrilled them. Now he must score more, but with humans. I can't wait until the next book.
I did not expect to enjoy the book quite as much as I did. My first experience with a RPG was not good, back in the early 80's. I never repeated it until this book. The thing is a pleasure to read and I can see myself playing the game. FYI, it was the original Dragons and Dungeon game, but making a player into a dragon would have astounded those people. Making the dragon a part of the game, a major player would have thrilled them. Now he must score more, but with humans. I can't wait until the next book.
December 31, 2022
It started strong before losing speed
So this book started quite well and I was really interested to see how the two MCs relationships grow. However the progress plateaued after a while. They stopped developing and just sort of went back and forth over the secret between them. I got bored about 70% in waiting for the MC to grow a spine and tell her his secret. I ended up skipping towards the end just to see how long it took and honestly don't feel I missed anything for skipping a hundred or so pages.
So this book started quite well and I was really interested to see how the two MCs relationships grow. However the progress plateaued after a while. They stopped developing and just sort of went back and forth over the secret between them. I got bored about 70% in waiting for the MC to grow a spine and tell her his secret. I ended up skipping towards the end just to see how long it took and honestly don't feel I missed anything for skipping a hundred or so pages.
March 2, 2022
Couldn't connect with the main character
The story has an interesting premise but 50% through the book and I never warmed up to the main character. Unfortunately it would be a spoiler to get into that. For me I need to develop some sympathy for the main character to enjoy a book. The secrets the MC is keeping from the sidekick/love interest are obviously leading to heartbreak which I don't care for as a plot device.
The story has an interesting premise but 50% through the book and I never warmed up to the main character. Unfortunately it would be a spoiler to get into that. For me I need to develop some sympathy for the main character to enjoy a book. The secrets the MC is keeping from the sidekick/love interest are obviously leading to heartbreak which I don't care for as a plot device.
August 10, 2022
Excellent
It's not immediately clear why its called a sovereigns scorn but the book is excellent I has good twist and turns while being well thought out. It has the best world building I have read for a very long time. It has very interesting things to say about gender
It's not immediately clear why its called a sovereigns scorn but the book is excellent I has good twist and turns while being well thought out. It has the best world building I have read for a very long time. It has very interesting things to say about gender
December 17, 2022
Excellent!
I liked the concept of a dragon pretending to be a human and then what happens? Good story, written well enough that I hope that there is more stories about these characters.
I liked the concept of a dragon pretending to be a human and then what happens? Good story, written well enough that I hope that there is more stories about these characters.
September 26, 2022
good debut
I picked this book up on whim and was pleasantly surprised. Definitely an interesting and different take on the litrpg and dragon genre.
I picked this book up on whim and was pleasantly surprised. Definitely an interesting and different take on the litrpg and dragon genre.
December 11, 2023
Dragon themed porno
The premise sounded fun. But ultimately just turned out to be low level garbage. I wish this genre wasn't full of porn addicted authors.
The premise sounded fun. But ultimately just turned out to be low level garbage. I wish this genre wasn't full of porn addicted authors.
July 11, 2025
enemies to lovers to enemies(?) to ???
binged this in 1 day during work. loved it.
binged this in 1 day during work. loved it.
January 15, 2023
DNF-ed after the second extremely detailed wlw sex scene that felt like it was written by a horny teenager. Your tastes may vary, but I couldn't continue. Anyway, the draconic MC was interesting otherwise.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews