Dragon Spawn (A Novel of the Lupi)

I just finished Dragon Spawn. I've read and given star reviews to all of Ms. Wilks' novels, but this will be the first written review I've posted. This novel was AMAZING! If you've read the other reviews on here, you know that it ends in a cliffhanger. If you aren't a fantasy reader, you probably won't understand. Not every book of a series has to have the plot lines tidied up at the end so that it makes it easy for you to pick up a random installment and read it, or you can bridge two novels with a novella. Fantasy ends in cliffhangers. If you've read Martin, Jordan, Goodkind, Brooks, Salvatore, or Butcher, or any other fantasy author, you know that cliffhangers are the name of the game in a fantasy series. We are 13 books into an epic fantasy series. You're lucky that there hasn't been a major cliffhanger before this point. The tone of this series has moved away from Romance genre writing and into Fantasy genre. If you don't like the format, maybe you should move back to some of her other tidy plot line novels in Romance. I don't understand where some reviewers talk about the theme of bullying or "religion and politics", as I didn't come across any of those ideas in the novel. This idea that she did it for the money is absolutely absurd. The plot line of the series is at a SERIOUS arc in the story. Those arcs are the prime times for authors to give you a cliffhanger. I'm baffled by these "critical reviews" and wonder exactly why these people don't understand the genre they've been reading for 13 books and 5+ novellas.

I think the story line is starting to get boring. I very much enjoyed the series in the beginning now not so much. She did leave the story on a very high climax. I plan to read it to the end of the series just because I am like that.

Nothing really happens or gets resolved in this book. One of my least favorite of the series. This is one of the few series that I've stuck with and considering how long we typically have to wait for the next book, this one was a disappointment...

I love her writing & world but this book reads like she was writing a story three times as long and just cut off the first third to make the book. No resolutions of anything. I understand that the story arc is of a war but she should at least end a campaign. This didnt even end the battle. I'd wait for at least the next in the series before reading this one.

I am disappointed. I pre-ordered this book months ago, having enjoyed this series very much. The ending on a cliff-hanger is a poor marketing ploy which backfired. I have loved this series and looked forward before to each installment,.In each of the previous books, we reached a resolution of the main issue and also got hints as to what was to come. The ending on this one was a complete letdown.

Now I'm not sure if I will continue investing my time and money on it. If you want to read it, wait until the next book is published.

I pre-ordered this book and now I will reconsider pre-ordering books and waiting to read the reviews. Disappointing in the extreme! As others have already said, this is only half a novel. I think calling it a cliffhanger gives too much credit. It just stops. I thought the download had failed at first. Very annoying!

I never write reviews but felt compelled to write one for this half a book. I couldn't find the paper back copy of this book so I paid more and got it on Kindle. I was so disappointed in the ending that I doubt I will be the reading of the last part of this book.( the next book.) I too feel like it is a way to make money. No thought was given to the faithful readers. I have always bought her books so I never thought it would end unfinished. I hope Eileen Wilks and publishing house take note of the reviews but I doubt it will make a difference to them as it looks like they don't care about faithful readers anymore.

Cliffhanger. Do not buy until the next book comes out! They took one story and split it in two to make more money. I'll probably purchase the next book when it first comes out to finish the story. After that I won't be buying any more new releases from this author.

There is so much political and social commentary and gnashing of teeth in the media today that when I read for entertainment, the last thing I want is more of the same. Yet, in the very first chapter of this book, the author chooses to highlight a current social issue that gets a lot of attention in the media. I don't disagree that bullying is a bad thing but evidently I can't even read an escapist novel about a fantasy world that can never exist without being schooled on what a dreadful thing bullying is. If I want to read about social ills, politics or religion, I choose a non-fiction book not a fantasy novel. I really resent today's political and societal issues being pulled into the escapist fantasy genre. It jerks me right back into the world I want to escape from for a little while.

I really, really enjoy the Tales of the Lupi novels. Eileen Wilks has built a fascinating world full of interesting magic and characters who grow and change, even though most of the peripheral ones remain two-dimensional because there are so many of them. The main characters and the secondary characters are all interesting and captivating.
I like the fact that there is a series-spanning premise of an unseen war with a millennia-old, recurring enemy happening behind the scenes, while both day-to-day living and new, big concerns arise to challenge our heroes in each novel.
That being said, I am growing disillusioned with this author and this series. This novel is Strike 3 for me.

The story is still good, the characters are still compelling. However in this particular 313-page novel in the Tales of the Lupi series, you can get through nearly 200 pages of it before the story advances. When you get to the end, you realize why. It's because there needed to be a lot of filler in order to get this book over the 300-page mark and still create an excuse to cut the story in half and leave a cliffhanger.

Basically, this is about a third of a book with the front skillfully fleshed-out to make it longer. Ms. Wilkes is a very good writer, so this is no middle school term paper with contractions removed and a ton of wordy sentences added in to pad the word count. It is well-written filler, and the undiscerning reader might not notice that nothing is happening, I guess. I cannot imagine an undiscerning reader being interested in the sophisticated and slightly convoluted Tales of the Lupi in the first place, though.

Anyway, I'm finding it very frustrating to write this because I respect and enjoy this writer's work, generally speaking, and I am tiptoeing around trying to be polite and not just come out and say, what the hell?! I know she can do better than this. I feel manipulated and taken advantage of.
I feel that this was at best a half-assed effort that an author I trusted disrespectfully foisted off on her loyal readers, thinking we were too stupid to notice that for more than the first half of the book, nothing was actually happening. You keep reading, because you know she's a good writer, and you know that this is a good story in a good series, so you're thinking that there *must* be a reason that things are moving slowly, there *must* be a reason that the plot is not going forward, and that at some point she's going to spring it on you and you will ask yourself how you missed it---but it never happens. It is as though she wrote a short novel and her publisher told her she could not publish a novelette at this time and needed an additional book ASAP, and to go back and cut the story in half and end it on a cliffhanger, then go back and make what you have there at least 300 pages long so that we can charge regular price for both halves
As if that wasn't bad enough, this is not the first time she's done this. It's just the most blatant in this series. I am very disappointed in this author and I think she has done a disservice to herself and her readers by either succumbing to time pressure, greed, or that urge that seems to take over many of the new, inexperienced, self-published Kindle authors (who *perhaps* don't know any better) when they put out what can only be called a short story or an excerpt, and sell it as a novel.
Extremely disappointing. Absolutely nothing was resolved, which means the story isn't over. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. This book is incomplete. Even though the series has an overarching story, the questions raised in this individual book should be settled in this individual book, and frankly, those questions were barely raised in the first third of the book, not really addressed for the middle hundred pages while the characters basically just worried, and then when the story actually started moving, the book ended.

Eileen Wilks, you are better than this. I don't know what has persuaded you to introduce this tactic and escalate it to this level, but if it was a person, they are not your friend. You do not have to let anyone convince you to be less than your best, whether it's for a schedule, or money, or some other pressure.

Much like this particular novel, I could have skipped all of that explanatory filler above and just said "What the hell?!"

I enjoyed this 13th installment of the Lupi Books. It wasn't quite as strong as Mind Magic, but it still was a solid Lily and Rune book. The biggest problem I had was that the ending wasn't really an ending it all. I couldn't even honestly call it a cliffhanger. The book just stopped. And that's not cool.

The story picks up right on the heels of the last one. Lily and Rune are finally back home, but they don't have much of an opportunity to relax. Her old nemesis, Tom Weng, is back and he is working for the Lupi's great enemy. She Who Shall Not Be Named has a new plan and it involves targeting the valuable children of various clans. Including Toby.

The story follows Lily and Rule as they try to figure out what happened to the children and work to get them back. There is plenty of action. And the dragons feature prominently along with Grandmother, which is always a treat. The dragons are one of my favorite things about this series. They are so foreign and arrogant, and they have so many interesting secrets and layers.

We also get to travel to another dimension again, which is cool. And longtime readers will enjoy how many threads from earlier in the series come back around here.

Really, my only complaint is that ending. I mean, it's not the most emotional installment of the series, but I liked it. It just feels completely… incomplete. If I had known, I would've waited to read this when the next book comes out. But I still would have read it. And enjoyed it.

Though up to now I bought this series with anticipation as an automatic purchase, I looked at the reviews this time. I did this after another author I used to buy disappointed me. Now I never plan to buy this series in future. Authors and publishers, please take note. Readers are networking. Readers only remain loyal if the author's writing and ability to craft excellent books remains constant. Publishers are responsible for editing manuscripts whether the author is a-list or not. A publisher who allows an author to publish crap because of "who" they are makes a HUGE mistake. In every book series, there comes a time when the author gets tired - and that is when the author needs to take a long break and plan a final book to elegantly end the series. Don't ruin the author's career by publishing bad books just to make a few dollars off the readers. Readers will turn on the author.

(RabidReads.com)3.5/5 stars I discovered this series on my own a few years ago. I loved the world, the characters, and just about everything about it, and I ended up reading the first three. Then I got involved in too many other series and just never went back until Mind Magic, the book just previous to this one. Of course I wanted to jump in and read this one as soon as I saw it offered on Net Galley. And while it was good, it just didn’t live up to how good Mind Magic was-at least for me anyway.

Lily, FBI special agent, and her Alpha wolf husband, Rule, are back for this installment, along with magical couple, Cynna and Cullen. I love all these characters and always enjoy catching up with them and seeing what new plight has befallen them each time. And this time, there’s two problems going on. First, Rule is being challenged to the death by a dominant newcomer that has just enough blood in him from one of the two packs that Rule leads/is heir to. The dominance in him demands that he challenge Rule. On Rule’s part, he understands, but really doesn’t want to kill the young man. Second, all hell is breaking out in different places in the country. Attacks, and that is all I am saying due to spoilers. Suffice it to say that the characters end up in the middle of all the problems when it hits close to home for them.

Mind Magic. I couldn’t put it down, and it more than earned 5 stars from me. Dragon Spawn. It took me entirely too long to read it, since I kept putting it down and reading other things, and that has never really happened to me while reading anything else by this author. Way too much description, way too much time spent by the characters waiting to do things that needed doing, and although things do happen, there was not enough going on to keep me fully engaged, at times. I kept waiting for it to take off and get some non-stop action as in Mind Magic, and that didn’t exactly happen. And when it does start to get interesting, there was a horrible cliffhanger. And by horrible I mean, that none of the story line threads really got wrapped up. And it also stopped at a very crucial point. One good thing is that there is an excerpt of the next book included, and I was able to get a bit of closure from that. Thankfully!

Now, all that being said, I loved the characters as usual. The villains were truly evil and there was even some new types of demons introduced. And speaking of demons, little demon Gan is back as well, and I enjoyed her character a lot.She’s the demon that was male and is now female. So funny when she starts trying to female bond with Lily. The story threads were exciting to a point, but as I mentioned, I expected at least one of them to be wrapped up. There’s another visit to Dis(hell) on tap for most of the group as well. Not my favorite place for the action, but it was very necessary to the plot. And I do have to mention that there are DRAGONS! And not the shapeshifter kind. These dragons are arrogant, intelligent, and know things that humans couldn’t even fathom. And they mind speak! So all in all, this was not a bad addition to this series whatsoever. Fans of this series will probably not be disappointed and hopefully will not have the same experience I had with trying to finish the book in a timely manner.

Recommended to adult UF fans. I would start with book one as the stories do go in order.

If Lily and Rule thought things were intense during their last adventure, the old enemies step up the game and push them to desperation when Rule's son and other Lupi children are taken. Attacks on multiple fronts and a complex plan still in the works has everyone scrambling to meet the new threat.

The World of the Lupi series is thirteen books strong and still leaving me groaning with frustration (in a good way) for the release of the next book. Again, I've said it in previous reviews, but this series must be read in order.

In the midst of learning from Sam the black dragon about a dark secret of dragon lore- the existence of dragon spawn- and Rule getting challenged to the death for his place as Rho for his pack, Rule, Lily, Cullen and Cyenna are dealt a hard blow. Not only is dragon spawn Tom Weng alive, but he has take their Toby and little Ryder. A team comes together for the rescue. Lily swore she'd never go back to Dis (a hell realm), but now they must. In the meantime, their enemies are forming alliances under the guidance of their most powerful enemy who is determined to wreck havoc on earth.

Lily and Rule are still learning to work as a team and both discover that the more deep their love and commitment, the deeper their fear of losing each other, too. They must trust in each other's skills and strengths if they are to succeed.

This one was so intense and exciting that I nearly devoured it in one sitting. There were a few surprises and this one ended on a bit of a cliffie with things still very much in the air. I will restrict my observations so I don't spoiler for anyone though fans of the series are seriously in for an exciting time of it.

As usual, there is a mission and in this case it's personal, but there is also some inner conflicts. I mentioned Lily and Rule's new level of vulnerability toward each other, but there is also their first moment of figuring out how Lily's step-mom status to Toby is regarded by both since Lupi don't have a designation for what she is (as Lupi don't marry) and Lily herself never thought much about it. I found it an interesting dynamic.

So, definitely this was a fantastic installment of the series and I can't push this series enough toward Urban Fantasy fans.

I received a free copy

I've been dragging my feet about reviewing this book. Why? Because I was so dreadfully disappointed. This book had one flaw, but it was a HUGE one. What was that flaw? Well, the book is not complete. The story line of the book is completely unresolved. I was shocked at the ending. I turned the page expecting at least 30 more pages and... there was nothing.

I can't even tell you how irritated I was at that. I almost threw the thing against a wall... but it was on my ipad.

Now we have to wait another year for what is really the next HALF of this book.... not a new book.

Disappointing, and not at all what I would expect from this Ms. Wilks. I would NOT recommend this book. I would recommend you wait till next year then read it with the resolution.

Wow, this book was intense!! Lily and Rule get put to the test when Toby and other children are kidnapped by the Great B*tch. They have to return to Dis to find them. This author is a wonderful world builder. With each book in this series, I am enthralled from the first page to the end.

This book does end on a cliffhanger and I have seen that a lot of readers are angry about that. I really don't understand why. I usually like a HEA but this is a continuing story so I have come to expect cliffhangers. I'm glad for them because I know that the series isn't finished. I am so looking forward to the next book!!

This is not a Typical cliffhanger. I think the author didn't know how to end the book or did not want to edit the book. WAIT! The book plodded around mostly. The fights were good but too long. And the book just stopped. And it got little weird-- "how is she ending this mess?! " She did not bother to tie the story. It is like the author got tired . If the next book is another terribly written cliffhanger, you lose me as a reader.

Dragon Spawn is the 13th (!!) book in the World of Lupi, an urban fantasy series that I can't get enough of. The series follows Lily, an agent for the FBI's magical crimes division, and Rule, her fated mate and lupi extraordinaire.

The stakes are higher than ever in Dragon Spawn. Rule is challenged (fight to the death for clan rights) by a high dominant, and to make matters worse, chaos ensues as their enemies ally to kidnap several clan heirs and launch world-changing attacks. This high stakes page-turner is a solid installment to the series. Wilks never fails to captivate me with every book.

I highly recommend the World of Lupi series if you enjoy memorable diverse characters, ever-expanding world building, dragon lore, alternate realms, strange magic, and danger and intrigue!

Only half a story. As others have said, this book leaves you right in the middle of the current crisis. There is absolutely no resolution. Cheap trick and very disrespectful of readers. I have enjoyed this series, but the disappointment and disgust for this book colors my perception now and I don't know if I'll bother with the next in case the same situation is repeated.

Seriously, people are not kidding about the way this story stops. This is not a cliffhanger, it is a flat out termination. It is as if the word count reached a magic number and the the screen shut down, the cursor froze and the reader had their electricity cut off. Sad part is that the story was interesting and I was enjoying reading it and then, and then, it ended. It was a slap in the face. I have looked for information about a next book and found nothing. This is not the way to keep readers interested in a series but it is a way to show them that the author no longer cares about the story and is in it for more money. Sorry, not from me. Time to go explore some new authors.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is only half a book. Nothing gets resolved here, not even a tiny small piece of the plot. Let's make it clear that I'm not expecting a HEA or that all plot lines will be resolved, but something needed to happen that was not just setup. I would have much preferred to wait until the entire story was completed before publishing.

Other than that (huge) issue, I greatly enjoy Eileen Wilks' writing and world building. Occasionally, I'm annoyed by Lily's fixation on how relationships and events affect her and only her, but in general I appreciate that 13 books later, Rule and Lily are still understanding new things about themselves and their relationship.

My recommendation is to wait until book 14 is published before reading this one. In the end, you'll have to wait to read a while story anyway.

Lily Yu, one of my favorite female protagonists in the paranormal genre, once again shows that you do not need magic or werewolf strength to kick ass. Her kick assness mainly comes from logically analyzing and proceeding in the best manner possible. In Dragon Spawn we see a different side of Lily. Normally, she fills the role of friend, lover, and investigator, but when the children of the werewolf population falls in harms way we see her softer, maternal side. For me, this was something that was always kind of lacking in her nature. Another of her friends becomes pregnant and we see a kind of regret from Lily. She is not normally a soft character, although she plays a more submissive role in her romantic relationship to alpha male Rule. I like this hopefulness to be a mother, and I hope Ms. Wilkes writes her in that role at some point.

Dragon Spawn continues the story of the evil Bitch who is out to conquer the world, but there is a difference in that she is attacking humanity, and not just Lily's personal world. It seems that the Bitch is now after world domination, and not just the elimination of those she feels is standing in the way of attaining her entry into our world. This is a giant step in this continuing storyline, and hopefully means that we'll be coming to some sort of resolution to that plotline soon.

As with all of the novels in this series, Eileen Wilkes does an amazing job allowing her characters to grow, helping to move the plot line forward. However, I felt like Dragon Spawn was only one part of a larger novel. I was left feeling dissatisfied at what I thought was a "to be continued" ending. Will we have to wait long for the next novel to get that conclusion? I hope not!

ARC provided for an honest review through NetGalley.

Man, sometimes I hate cliffhangers and this is one of those times. What happened to the (view spoiler) The next book in the series is out but I have 3 other books that are due now that I need to read first. UGH!!!

I've read this series from the beginning and loved it. But this is so disappointing I think I might be done. Nothing in the story was resolved and the cliffhanger ending? What???? I expected much more from Ms. Wilks than this.

The 13th book of the Lupi series, things get turned upside down for the cast.

There are more secrets and revelations than ever before.

The good vs bad girls that pull the good guys and the bad guys in different directions for more epic adventures.

You definitely want to read the previous books in this series if you haven't picked it up yet. Don't jump into the middle it won't be easy to pick up and follow along.

Dragon Spawn has a lot of twists and a lot of emotional scenes and a lot of trying to figure out how to deal with Ginger and Tom - so much that I kept skipping forward because I was so anxious to know what was going to happen next. I cheated a teeny bit. Yes, I'm guilty but its a good guilty.

The Lupi series only gets better the further in we (the readers) get. Wondering what's going to happen with all the kidnappings, the possessions and the emotional turmoil just adds to the excitement.

If you haven't discovered this series try it out it only gets better the further in you get.

Like this author; she writes a satisfying story and have been following this series from the beginning. Usually a series gets tedious a few books in (and I drop the series and sometimes the author) but this one has remained engaging.

The basic story is interesting. I enjoy Rule and Lilly's world. But if I had had known this was half a story I would have waited for the rest. What is it with authors? Do the stop in the middle os a story and publish it so they can call it two books?