Alderson really has done it again with another LGBTQ+ book that makes the reader feel like reading a MM romance is the normal and not some fetish and subgenre. This book exceeded most expectations I had due to this and the way fantasy especially including romance can come across as boring and glaringly predictable. The slow-burn was immaculate whilst including a love triangle at moments where you had no idea which way the plot would turn. The fantasy and world building only exacerbated a story which focused on Max and what he deals with. I would definitely recommend this book and if enjoyed the backlog is just as riveting.

A breathtaking and gripping emotional rollercoaster. Definitely Alderson’s best novel yet!

Heir to Thorn and Flame marks the start of the Court of Broken Bonds series, and tells the story of Maximus Oaken when a brutal encounter in the woods opens him up to a world of magic, royalty, secrets, distress, deceit, and betrayal. An adventure that not even the Dryads could have prepared him for…

After killing crowned prince Julian Gathrax, Maximus is forced to assume his identity and play the King’s game. King Gathrax is a cruel and callous man, and cares not for the death of his only son, especially now that he has discovered a mage in his midst. After being forced into an arranged marriage to the devilishly handsome Prince Camron, he must decide between a life of royalty in the South, or to go with his best friend Beatrice and her dragon-riding brother, Simion, to the North, to discover the truth of his life.

Alderson’s writing is phenomenal. Shocking and sexy, with an added addictive flair which had me reading for hours on end. The masterfully written tension and emotion drew visceral reactions. I was so immersed in the mysterious and mystical world of Aldian, that at times I forgot I was reading. Aldian felt alive with its lengthy lore ingrained brilliantly across the map. From the Gathrax Estate, to Galloway Forest, and stories of the treacherous North, each locale felt distinct with Alderson’s vibrant worldbuilding skills shining brilliantly. The pacing is also superb, each chapter satisfying my curiosity and growing need to read more, leaving the novel without a single lull in its plot.

Maximus is a likeable and somewhat relatable character, who is prone to acts of emotion. His journey from servant, to mage, and beyond, is an emotional rollercoaster and makes for a very enjoyable read. The love interests both feel different and sexy in their own way, which makes it all the more entertaining to see Max caught between the two, and will ultimately have readers pondering one question.

Team Camron, or Team Simion?

With extraordinary world building, and a savage fast-paced plot, Heir to Thorn and Flame is easily one of the best books of 2023!

I can’t wait to see what Alderson has next in store for Max’s journey.

I enjoyed that this book was LGBTQIA+ but the mm relationship wasn’t a big deal. It all played out the same as mf would have.
I really enjoyed the concept of the story. A world where magic used to exist but no longer does until an unknowing mage has their power awakened.
The abuse was a bit hard to read sometimes but I understand it was crucial to the story. I would have liked to see a bit more world building as well as leaving some room for the readers to work through what may happen next. It was all literally black and white. No room to try to guess what will happen.

I find it difficult to rate this book. On the one hand, I must say that it is a good story. I liked it, and it kept me on the edge of a precipice of emotions almost 100% of the reading.

The author delivers what he promises, and that must have been a hint for me of what was to come: it is, certainly, a mix between Merlin and The House of the Dragon… That means everyone lies, everyone has ulterior motives, and you shouldn't trust anyone. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. There are no bad or good people (except Julian y Jonathan Gathrax, they are definitely bad, full-fledged sons of a b****); only people who have plans and purposes that they want to accomplish.

And on the other hand, there is the fact that I hate love triangles with all my heart, and that must have been another sign to me that this book would not be entirely to my liking… Not because it's a bad book, but because one of the important aspects of it is not to my taste.

So this is an honest and unbiased review, almost…

There is Max, who has lived all his life believing that he is the son of mere servants in the house of one of the rulers of the Southern territory.

The first chapters briefly explain the political division of the territory and the existing dispute between the South and the North (it would have been nice to have a map. I mean, what fantasy book worth its salt doesn't have a map?) We learn about the existence of mages, dryads, and dragons… So far, so good.

Things happen, and we find out that Max is a mage, which is supposed to be impossible since the magic source of the South was destroyed by the North… And thus begin the misadventures of Maximus Oaken (I found it curious and almost impossible to believe that nobody wondered why Max bears the last name Oaken, like Heart Oaken. A fact that nobody has paid attention to, and I wonder why).

Misadventures in which Max is abused, threatened, used for the purposes of others, forced to do things against his will, and made commitments that only death can undo (or perhaps not even death can set him free). Shortly after, our love interests Simion (who in my head I changed the name to Simon) and Camron appear. It is assumed that Max feels an undeniable attraction towards both of them and they in turn towards him, but that remains on paper… I didn't feel like it was really intense…

Max is kidnapped and/or held captive by one character or another, and although he always breaks “free”, he is never really free, he comes out of someone's captivity to be in someone else's.

The fact that everyone has a piece of the truth about what's going on, but no one wanted to talk about it had me desperate. And that in the end Max does the same and instead of revealing his conversation with the Queen he decides to keep quiet… that made me much more angry.

I don't know how to feel about being right about Beatrice. I liked that I didn't have to wait until the end of the book for Max to have his revenge, but I didn't like the ending itself.

This is supposed to be the first book in a trilogy or series. So I guess we will have to wait for the next books to know the whole truth and see how everything is solved.

Thanks to Netgally and Second Sky for this ARC.

This is one of those books which starts off well, with an interesting premise, but then gets buried under the layers and layers of extra stuff the author piles on - unfortunately, the characterisations suffer because of the amount of focus on the extraneous details of the world-building and the desperate need to tell us how our protagonist feels about things.

The basic premise of the story is that our main character (Maximus... yes, that was a bit of an odd choice) is a servant in a kingdom where there used to be magic. He's harassed and sexually assaulted by the local prince, only to tap into unexpected magic in his own defence. When this is discovered, the king decides the best way forward is to make Maximus pretend to be said prince, as there's an important marriage coming up and also it's really great that they can then pretend the prince was a magic user all along.

It's during the preparation to make this semi-believable that Maximus meets the guy who is clearly going to be Instalove Man #1, while Instalove Man #2 is of course the man he's going to be marrying. Can I tell you more about these characters other than that they're handsome? Not particularly. It's all a bit unconvincing to my mind and this is one of those books where I wouldn't have actually read to the end if I hadn't been reviewing it.
Don't worry though, there's going to be just So Much Going On in this, the first of a series apparently, that the lack of actual defining features for two parts of the love triangle aren't going to matter. A week or so past reading this, I think one of them was dark haired and the other is blond?

Anyway, all a bit of a disappointment though, for me anyway. *shrugs* Each to their own, clearly some people love this book from the glowing reviews but there you go... Not a writer I'll be picking up anything else from.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

I think the 5 stars says it all. This was amazing. I devoured the book. I need MORE. Book 2 when? I won't give spoilers but the emotional rollercoaster this book had me on! The twists were sublime and the world Ben has built is wonderful. Brutal, but wonderful. Maximus is a great protagonist and I loved the other characters, the relationships and plots. The tension as well THE TENSION. Oof. I can't wait to follow Max on the rest of his journey. Make sure you get a copy and fangirl with me!

In the meantime. I have another Ben Alderson on my TBR shelf that is getting devoured ASAP.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book, but it really fell short of me. First of all, it was longggg; which for an epic fantasy is usually fine. But I felt a lot of it was filler and meaningless chitchat between characters; towards the end of the book I found myself skipping over whole pages whilst still being able to understand the story.

I also didn’t feel particularly close to any of the characters - Max is 25 but acts like he is about 16. A lot of other reviewers have mentioned about how the book feels YA and I completely agree - the main character is constantly being manipulated and doesn’t seem to have any of his own thoughts or opinions. He goes along with whoever is dangling a threat above his head. I thought the love interest(s) didn’t really have a decent connection with Max… both seemed to fall insta-love with him for no real reason. I enjoyed the ‘forced marriage bond’ vibes between Max and Camron, but even that didn’t have the spark that that trope usually has. And Simion just felt like another side character; 0 chemistry.

Another issue that bugged me was none of the characters give a straight answer; Simion and Bea talk in riddles. The only really straight talking character is Camron, and even then we doubt his motives as it seems convenient that the man chosen to be Max’s marriage of convenience is actually in love with him. Which turns out to be a valid concern later in the book.

For the positives, I liked the start of the book - I thought the world building was strong and the premise was good. I also liked Camron’s mum - she’s mean and sassy. But overall, I just felt that this one felt a bit flat; and it may simply have been that I didn’t like Max as a character and that ruined the rest.

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!

Heir To Thorn And Flame starts like wildfire and doesn't extinguish, even after the last chapter. I think readers everywhere are going to go absolutely feral over this story. I certainly did.

This story follows Max, our protagonist, whose life is not currently his to control. He is under the thumb of Gathrax Family and that means oppression and depression for him mostly. Then one night the heir to the Gathrax name makes an attempt on his life and from here the story begins a rollercoaster of finding oneself and discovering the power within oneself.

I absolutely loved this story. It is chock full of romance, mystery, magic, mayhem, and mythical creatures. What more could you ask for? I devoured this story as even though it is over 450 pages, it flies by. I think this also speaks to Alderson's writing style. It is just excellently done and I connected with it so well. I think readers everywhere are going to connect with him and this story and fall in love.

Go read this book. You absolutely adore it and then we can both eagerly be awaiting a sequel!!!

A very intense and unique story!

When Max accidently kills the heir to the throne with a magic he didn't know he posessed, the king forces him to take his son's place as heir. Which includes an arranged marriage to the dangerous Prince Camron. Forced to live a lie to save his parents' life, Max can't trust anyone for his safety. Not even Simion, a dragon-riding spy who seems determined to test his loyalty. As power and desire mix in his heart, Max will have to keep his secrets burried inside if he wants to survive.

This book was very exciting. Even if some parts were a bit slow during the story, it was overall a very fun and enjoyable read. The author kept me on my toes with the plotline full of twists and turns and the intense love-triangle that surprised me several times. What I loved most about this book was that I never knew what was going to happen. It was full of action, magic and danger, which I really enjoyed. I did think however that dragons would play a bigger part in the story. But since the world in itself was very interesting and intriguing, it didn't bother me that much. The characters were very good as well, well-written and with growths that made the story all the more interesting. Max is a very determined young man who fights for the people he loves, which I quite liked about him. The writing was pleasant and addictive, with chapters that were sometimes short and fast-paced, making everything move forward quite nicely. I'm excited to see how it all develops in the sequel.

I recommend if you enjoy gay fantasy romance with magic and danger!

"Something unfamiliar sparked in my chest. It was hope."

TW: violence, death, murder, blood, gore, assault, abuse (emotional and physical), war

2 stars

I started reading this one a few weeks ago and the story just didn't grabbed me but then I was lucky enough to get the Advance copy for the audiobook and that was the reason I could finish this.
I wish for a different pacing with this book because it the author let the story breath, it would have been a better book now knowing this is (at least a duology with book 2 being announced) it's even more frustrating that a lot of the things and plot felt so rushed, especially the romance or love triangle in this felt unfinished.
I did enjoy some of the fantasy elements, and the setting was great, but the execution was so so, which in the end took a lot of the enjoyment for me.
Still, I'm intrigued about book 2 (especially after that epilogue), so I'll possibly be picking it up when it comes out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

**2.5
I went into this book not knowing what to expect and I won't say the book necessarily disappoints me, but I was expecting a bit more action from the blurb. The plot was pretty interesting but for the most part, I found myself losing interest because there was a lot narrating the story and. a little less action for a fantasy book that contains war and magic. One thing I enjoyed was the romance and the friendship.

I originally gave this book 2 stars, but then I realized that I would probably read the next in the series because I really want to know what happens, so I bumped it up to 3, but this book is not great. I'm into it despite it's flaws.

What I liked about this book:
-super gay and unapologetically so, but it's not like a big deal at all...it's lovely
-the story is interesting and, despite what I say below, I want to know what happens to Max and Simion...that is one relationship I started to buy into toward to end

What I thought was less than stellar:
-this novel is the opposite of "tell, don't show." Just a lot of telling us what's happening and how everyone feels and showing us NOTHING. No thought needed for this book as everything little thing is just there. Reading between the lines? Metaphor? Simmering feelings? None of those.
-related, but the relationships are crap. Because the writing is without depth none of the relationships feel lived in and real. Every relationship feels like it just happened and we're supposed to care...it was hard when nothing seemed real.
-This story moves way too quickly. It jumps from major plot point to major plot point with nothing meaningful in between
-Maximus missing key plot points to move the story along sucks....we see it and he doesn't but it takes forever to actually come back to it
-the lack of world building made me sad. I need world building to place myself in a story, but having the random world building elements dropped in throughout led to confusion and murky understandings. I never felt like I found my footing in this world. There were new elements every chapter.
-I got tired of people being "shattered" and things "breaking me" or saying it "broke me" and the word "gore" was used way too much.
-

Heir to Thorn and Flame put me through the dang ringer, but that's be expected from any of Ben's books!

The story follows Max, who has accidentally murdered the heir to throne, and is now forced to assume the heir's identity and live his life as a royal.

There were so many twist and turns while Max navigated his new life and figured out who he could and could not trust. I am so hooked & can't wait for more of this series!

This book was unfortunately a little bit of let down for me for two major reasons. The world building is a bit too convoluted and the love triangle was just not it.

That being said, i think it has set up an interesting beginning to a fantasy series and I will be reading the next book. I feel this book might have simply suffered from trying to set up the world and premise and the plot itself got lost in the sauce.

The magic system was super interesting and while I didn't love Max as a main character, he seems like a character that will grow and evolve in a very realistic way that makes you adore him as time goes on and I actually prefer that!

In Heir to Thorn and Flame, we follow Max who has worked as a servant in the palace for years in a kingdom where magic has been lost. Max discovers that he has magic after being attacked by the prince and killing him. Forced to take on the prince’s name and identity by the king, Max is then forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Camron. The king holds Max’s parents hostage, and also holds his wand hostage which prevents him from using his magic.

Overall, this book was not for me. It seemed like it was going to be a fantasy romance type of book from the description and the cover. However, there was barely any romance, and the fantasy part of it was convoluted and not that interesting. Our main character Max also seems to make no choices, and everything is just kind of forced upon him, which doesn’t make for a very good read.

I probably should’ve stopped reading this book after Max was forced into becoming the prince. As part of that forced transformation, his skin was chemically lightened against his will. This horrific scene is never really brought up again, and we never really hear about it from Max. To have such a traumatizing event at the beginning of the story, and then just completely ignore it is wild and I didn’t like it at all. I’m not going to be reading the rest of the series.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy that as much I had hoped. I was really looking forward to it based on the description. I love MM and love fantasy but this didn’t do it for me sadly. I wanted to be able to root for the main character but he just took so long to try and make things better for himself. I did like the fantasy elements. I was hoping for some more romance or spice, but since there really wasn’t, this felt more YA for me.

Unfortunately, the writing here is extremely clunky and amateurish, the plot a one note (everyone wants to abuse or rape our main character (and I do mean every one)), and the main character is a milquetoast who just wants to be rescued. In many regards, this reads like a YA romance since we have the 'too stupid to live' unique snowflake who has powers to save the world but no one to teach him how (cue quest to find out how to use his superpower that he can't control).

Story: Maxiumus is a servant in the castle of a cruel King and his spoiled son. The son loves to torment/rape Maximus and at one point when attempting to torture the servant to death, Max accidentally kills the son. This sets into motion a series of events that will propel Maximus to take the son's place and wed another prince in a marriage of convenience. But if Maximus can't even save himself, how can he protect his precious family and those he loves?

This is the type of book where the Marty Stu wants our hero to be desired by every single male in the book but also to put him through a lot of masochistic pain: being around him means being murdered, tortured, imprisoned so that we have angst for Max). It all felt like contrived plot devices specific to the author's personal fantasy rather than the creation of a genuine, organic, nuanced, story.

The magic system is fairly unexplained (it is supposedly very rare, hence Max's unique snowflakeness) and the worldbuilding lazy and odd. E.g., the male names of those going after Max all end in the -on sound: Justin, Simian, Camron, etc. It got really weird - even the King's name ended in that sound. I got the impression that it was an author tic that he found sexy so he named all his characters that way. The courts of various countries were jokes and the politics were laughable - no country could exist as they were written that way.

All the main characters were thoroughly unlikable. Max is a milquetoast 'damsel' in distress waiting to be saved by the hunky guys around him. Camron is vapid, Simion a blank, Justin a caricature moustache twirling villain, and even the self-serving evil King is ridiculously stupid. I found I didn't have a reason to root for any of the characters and certain any romance was fueled by lust over a hard body rather than actual like of the whole person. The whole unique snowflake main character getting a super power to save the world but no one is around to teach him (or is willing to teach him) is getting old - could we please have a different trope in these types of books already?

There wasn't a lot to like here. The writing is very amateurish, the story meanders and is a one-trick of "let's rape or torture Max," the characters are cardboard and one dimensional, and it is an exceedingly dreary and monotonous book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Heir to Thorn and Flame is an interesting departure from Ben Alderson's previous stories that proves to be a creative, promising beginning to a new fantasy series. If you're familiar with his writings from his Darkmourn universe, this is very much not that. While it has its issues, I am excited to see where Alderson goes with the series in the future and eagerly await the next book.

A horrifying attack by the heir to the Gathrax throne on a servant results in an unexpected burst of lethal magic. Unexpected, because magic is no longer believed to exist in the South. It's enough to save Maximus Oaken's life, but in exchange he must take on the identity of the boy he killed and try to survive being a pawn in a dangerous game as those around him hunger to restart the war that nearly wiped out their kingdoms before. And then he ends up unwillingly bound to Prince Camron, who swears he's on his side... But so does dragon-rider Simion, the magic-wielding spy from the North and his best friend's brother...


Pros:
- A creative, unique world and mythos that leaves you guessing from one chapter to the next, complete with narrative about who gets to tell and pass on the "truth."
- Interesting love interests with forced proximity, mistaken identity, and daring rescues.
- Dragons and magic.
- It's fun watching Maximus grow into his powers and I'm all for more morally gray Max in future installments.

Cons:
- For all that Maximus talked about taking control of his own life, it took way too long into the story for him to actually have any sense of agency. It felt like a lot of the events were just happening to him rather than him having any true impact on the story around him.
- It's hard to get attached to any characters when "they're all terrible!" is the name of the game. I gave up on caring about anyone because I figured the next double cross was coming.
- The narrative often falls back on a simplistic, surface-level style of telling us rather than showing us how characters are feeling. I never quite believed Maximus had any feelings for either of the love interests or even cared for his best friend because I was only told that he did.

Again, I'm super curious to see where the series goes from here. I think it shows promise and has the potential to be a great high fantasy tale with a little bit of fixing!

This one is a SLOW BURN. I didn’t realize when I started it that it was a continuous series featuring the same couple. There was zero smutty times and very little romance.

But the writing is pretty good. The world-building is developed well. It has beasts and magic and betrayal and mystery.

I’m giving it four stars because I love this author and I didn’t realize the cliffhanger was so harsh.

⭐️ 3.5 stars! ⭐️

Heir to Thorn and Flame is an MM fantasy romance focusing on Maximus Oaken's discovery and journey of being a Mage. There is an enemies to lovers triangle with Camron and Simion, but the romances between Max and these characters felt a bit rushed. I did really enjoy Max's story, however I felt like this book's pacing was a bit off. It was simultaneously moving slowly but had a bit too much going on for my preference. It was broken up into 3 parts and truly almost felt like 3 separate novels.

Overall, I'd recommend this book if you're looking for a fantasy with a fairly complicated world building background. There're plenty of dragons, magic, and woodland creatures throughout. I'm not entirely sure I'll pick up any future books in this series though.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ben Alderson, and Second Sky for the ARC! All reviews and opinions are my own.