| Genre | Gay / Fantasy / High Fantasy / Magic / Mythological Creatures / Shifters / Wizards, Witches, and Mages / Young Adult / Romance / Action/Adventure |
| Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 28-July-2016 |
Mani doesn’t know much about his powers except that he turns into a blue dragon every night. His adopted mother Allanah has told him he hatched from an egg. He’s half-human, half-dragon, and she found him after his dragon mother died.
When his best friend and crush witnesses his transformation, Mani flees to the wizard Mansion, where he finds a group of fellow creatures called the Animal Guard. They assume that Mani has also been transformed by the sorceresses, and they enlist him in their quest to find the evil women and bribe them to turn the Animal Guard back into their human forms. Mani decides to help after he falls for one of the Animal Guard’s members, a wolf-boy named Lup, but little does he know that his own blossoming powers will soon come between them. Mani must keep the sorceresses from using their greatest weapon, the North Star, while struggling to find out where he belongs in the rapidly changing world of magic.
Set about twenty years after the end of book one, this second adventure in the ‘Sun Dragon’ world is as exciting and fantastical as the first. From the moment King Roland was defeated – without his body being found – in the previous volume, I suspected he would be back in some way. Unfortunately I was right, and he continues to make life very difficult for the characters I began to love in ‘The Sun Dragon’. But the brunt of the burden is not on Allanah and Dena’s shoulders this time. Instead their adopted son, a half dragon/ half human seventeen-year-old young man named Mani, takes up the baton. With a unique set of gifts – and issues – it is up to him to save the changing world of magic, witches and wizards, newly united Igreefee, and several types of dragon.
Mani has grown up with what he thinks is a curse: he is human during the day and turns into a blue dragon at night. It sets him apart from the other children, so he grows up feeling lonely. When Allanah tells him about the Animal Guard back at the mansion that is home to the witches and wizards of this world, Mani decides to try his luck there – after all he is half an animal, in a way. But what he finds is not what he expects, and he is soon involved in a quest to help the cursed animals recover their humanity. He meets the sorceresses, more powerful versions of today’s witches and wizards, finds out the truth about his dragon mother, is told that the world of magic is changing, and has to figure out what the future will look like and what his place in it is going to be.
While the external battle rages for all to see, Mani also has to deal with his changing feelings. There is the fact that he is part dragon, yet supposed to be the next Librarian for the witches and wizards. His magic seems to work differently from everyone else he knows, he feels an overpowering need for revenge that darkens all his actions, and then there is the half wolf boy, Lup, whom Mani feels attracted to. Mani’s coming of age is not easy, but I found myself glued to the pages as I followed his discoveries, revelations, and decisions. The final confrontation is not what I expected when I began reading this book. It is brutal and epic, probably unavoidable, and opens up a whole new avenue for this series to follow. Bravo!
If you like creative worlds filled with magic and curses, witches and wizards, and various kinds of dragons, if you want to find out the secret of a half dragon, half human boy who thinks he is cursed, and if you’re looking for a grand quest and adventure full of tension, powerful villains, revelations, tough decisions, and first love, then you will probably like this novella as much as I do. It’s a great sequel to ‘The Sun Dragon’ and I can’t wait for ‘Starsong’, book three in this amazing series.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Harmony Ink Press for the purpose of a review.
| Format | ebook and print |
| Length | Novella, 180 pages/48401 words |
| Heat Level | |
| Publication Date | 28-July-2016 |
| Price | $6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback, $14.99 bundle |
| Buy Link | https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/merlins-moon-by-annabelle-jay-403-b |
