review 1: As the prompter I am naturally biased towards enjoying the story my prompt inspired. However that bias does not detract from the fact that this was one wonderfully fulfilling story with great characters, nice world building and a plot that was both interesting and intriguing. I just hope that Andrew takes this world and writes more stories set in it as I would love to read more about the dragon mages and Brill.p.s. I love the line 'That meant I owed my position to my skills as an actor because I was one loud noise away from soiling my britches.' it sums up the subtle humour threaded throughout the story that made me love it even more. review 2: 3.5 rounded upWonderful story with great characters. I especially loved Thane, he pushed this to four stars for me. ... moreMy thoughts are kind of jumbled right now, so I'll try to write more later.ETA: I'm having a difficult time putting my impressions down in words. The story started off so strong for me, in the 4.5 star range. I loved the buildup, the world building, the characters. The story was exciting, but also tender and sweet. Something happened, though, and the story started to lose me. I can't really say why, other than some of the details felt glossed over, and magic seemed to be used too easily to take care of everything. I enjoyed the story of the phoenix, though, and I loved him and Thane together. less
