Review: Emberclaw

Emberclaw by L.R. Lam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

L.R. Lam returns to the world of Dragonfall for the concluding entry of their duology. I think they were planning to make a trilogy at first, but for many personal reasons, they decided to conclude the series in this book instead. I don’t blame them - they took it very hard when the first book struggled at first in the face of poor online ratings, especially from people who couldn’t accept that book in its unorthodox, multi-POV, queer-normative glory. Luckily B&N picked the book last year as a monthly fantasy selection, and I’m hoping that helped not only Dragonfall find its audience more than ever, but Emberclaw here as well.

This book does feel like a compression of two books into one - particularly since the first half is heavily centered on Arcady entering a university tournament of magic. It’s become surprisingly common in recent years to see second books in fantasy series be the tournament arc - other examples including The Mime Order, A Gathering of Shadows, and Godsgrave. The second half of the book, however, is more focused on the grandest of grand stakes, compounded by Everen and Arcady’s strengthening bond (dear God are they ever shippable.) Between the tournament arc and the romance arc, Lam brings what could have easily been a rush job in a lesser writer’s hands to a strong, yet still open, ending.

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