Fandom/Canon Name: Dragon's Winter by Elizabeth A. Lynn
What's awesome about it: It's a two-book series about Karadur Atani, a canonically bisexual, shape-shifting, dragon prince. He's in love with his best friend, Azil, who is a harpist and singer with a beautiful voice. But Karadur's twin brother is super jealous of his dragon shapeshifting power and the fact that Karadur is the elder twin. So he steals his dragon power talisman and kidnaps Azil. After three years, Azil escapes and comes back to Karadur completely broken from torture and guilt. The rest of the book is about Karadur and Azil trying to figure out how to trust each other again and also going on a quest to get Karadur's dragon power talisman back.
The second book seems less well-known, but it's called Dragon's Treasure and is equally wonderful. The main conflict of the book is Karadur trying to balance his love for Azil with his need to have children and continue his line (and thus his need to find a woman who is capable of surviving dragon babies, which I guess make for a pretty tough pregnancy). There are plenty of sweet moments between Karadur and Azil though, which I just live for. These two are the absolute best.
Lynn's prose style is minimal and poetic, sort of like an ancient legend. It's beautiful and evocative. Despite a lot of the story being about Karadur (and Azil), it's largely told by secondary characters who are all equally interesting. One of the things I like most about the books is how much is implied, rather than outright told. This is especially great for fic writers, because there are so many intriguing gaps that could be filled in.
Where to find: Ebooks are available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Used copies are going pretty cheap on Amazon. I was able to get Dragon's Winter from my local library.
For more details about the series, I recommend the TV Tropes page: LINK.
Dragon's Winter
What's awesome about it: It's a two-book series about Karadur Atani, a canonically bisexual, shape-shifting, dragon prince. He's in love with his best friend, Azil, who is a harpist and singer with a beautiful voice. But Karadur's twin brother is super jealous of his dragon shapeshifting power and the fact that Karadur is the elder twin. So he steals his dragon power talisman and kidnaps Azil. After three years, Azil escapes and comes back to Karadur completely broken from torture and guilt. The rest of the book is about Karadur and Azil trying to figure out how to trust each other again and also going on a quest to get Karadur's dragon power talisman back.
The second book seems less well-known, but it's called Dragon's Treasure and is equally wonderful. The main conflict of the book is Karadur trying to balance his love for Azil with his need to have children and continue his line (and thus his need to find a woman who is capable of surviving dragon babies, which I guess make for a pretty tough pregnancy). There are plenty of sweet moments between Karadur and Azil though, which I just live for. These two are the absolute best.
Lynn's prose style is minimal and poetic, sort of like an ancient legend. It's beautiful and evocative. Despite a lot of the story being about Karadur (and Azil), it's largely told by secondary characters who are all equally interesting. One of the things I like most about the books is how much is implied, rather than outright told. This is especially great for fic writers, because there are so many intriguing gaps that could be filled in.
Where to find: Ebooks are available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Used copies are going pretty cheap on Amazon. I was able to get Dragon's Winter from my local library.
For more details about the series, I recommend the TV Tropes page: LINK.