Book Review: Sinister Magic

About the Book

When magical bad guys hurt people, I take care of them. Permanently. 

This doesn’t make me popular with the rest of the magical community — as you can tell from the numerous break-ins and assassination attempts I’ve endured over the years. But thanks to my half-elven blood, a powerful sword named Chopper, and a telepathic tiger with an attitude, I’ve always been able to handle my problems with aplomb. Maybe some cursing and swearing, too, but definitely aplomb. 

That changes when my boss is afflicted with a mysterious disease, a government agent starts investigating me, and a godforsaken dragon shows up in the middle of my latest job. 

I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, and ogres, but dragons are way, way more powerful. And it doesn’t look like this one is going to like me. 

Worse than that, he wants to use his magic to compel me to do his bidding, as if I’m some weak-minded minion. 

That’s not going to happen. I’d die before being some dragon’s slave. 

But if I can’t figure out a way to avoid him, save my boss, and get rid of the government spook, I’m screwed. Or dead. Or screwed and dead. And that’s never comfortable. 

Purchase Links:

Amazon/Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Sinister-Magic-Fantasy-Dragon-Dragons/

Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/eye-of-truth-by-lindsay-buroker

My Review

I listened to the audiobook of Sinster Magic, book 1 in Lyndsay Buroker’s Death Before Dragons series, narrated by Vivienne Leheny. Although I have listened to many of Buroker’s Science epic fantasy stories, this was the first urban fantasy by her that I had read. It has Buroker’s usual snark, which I love, and Leheny does a beautiful job with the narration as always, portraying a full cast of dwarves, vampires, dragons, and other dimensional tigers, as well as other supernatural beings and humans alike.

I listened to Buroker on the Six Figure Author podcast because she is a multi-genre author, and I enjoyed hearing how she handled the marketing for books of different genres. Buroker keeps her mailing lists seperate, because she believes that the readers of one genre wouldn’t be interested in reading her works in a different genre. Her co-host Adrienne Pearson does the same with her genres of fantasy and romance, too. In theory, that makes a lot of sense, but I have to say that I enjoyed this urban fantasy story just as much as I have the epic fantasy stories I have heard by her. Of course, I’m a multi-genre author, as well as a multi-genre reader, so perhaps I do not fall within the norms.

Delightfully distinctive characters and the Buroker snark makes for quite an entertaining urban fantasy story. I give Sinister Magic five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.