Synopsis:
When a dragon finds an assassin sneaking into his lair, he tells her of his life’s work and his soon to be final chapter.
For the past thousand years, the dragon Vakandi has watched the people of Vakfored grow from a wandering band of refugees to a glorious city of art and magic. Under his protection, the city has survived monsters, floods, and wars all without building an army, dam, or even a wall. But time changes everything and now the citizens of his beloved city want him dead.
Vakandi spends his last day telling his assassin why he loves them, and why it’s his time to die.
Review:
The Sunset Sovereign is not your typical fantasy tale. In it, a dragon tells his would-be slayer his life’s story, while the slayer begins to question the history she’s been told.
The slayer, Sisal, is from the nearby city of Vakfored. Initially, she believes the dragon is a threat to the city, a thief of its wealth, and the killer of many adventurers. She doesn’t expect the dragon to end their first, short-lived battle by inviting her in for breakfast.
Vakandi lived in his mountain home long before Vakfored existed. As he tells his tale, it becomes clear that he’s the reason the city exists at all, and most of the gold in his “hoard” actually belongs to the city’s bank, who left it with him for safekeeping. He began as the city’s guardian, but ended as a villain in the peoples’ eyes.
But the story is more complex than that. Vakandi, the Vakfored, and Sisal all have their flaws, and every one of them made mistakes. By the end of the tale, I was hoping they’d come to some sort of compromise and that Vakandi and the Vakfored would make amends, rather than have Sisal kill him as planned. While the ending wasn’t what I was hoping for, it was a very fitting (and emotional) conclusion to the story.
I liked The Sunset Sovereign a lot. The notion of questioning history and seeking the truth from both sides is one I can always get behind. And it doesn’t hurt that this book features a dragon. 😊
Note: This is a derby book, in which the author was given a cover and pen name, then a deadline to complete writing a novel based solely on that. It’s an interesting concept, and for me, it would be one hell of a challenge. So, kudos to the authors who participate in the derby every year!
Leave a Reply