Podcast Review of Dragon's Reign and Ever Dark

After diving into The Two Princes fiction podcast on Spotify, I decided to search for other podcasts in that vein. Long-time readers of my blog will know I love LGBTQ+ romance as much as heterosexual romance—I don't care about the gender identity or sexuality of the people involved, or even the number of people. Just gimmie the romance!

In my search, I found a podcast I am loving! There are only sixteen episodes out now, but I have been eagerly awaiting each episode after binging the ones already available. It's Dragon's Reign by Raythe Reign, available on Spotify, YouTube, and her website. There is an older version on her YouTube channel, and likely her website, available in full. This new version has professional voice actors, so she is re-releasing it.

At the same time, I found another podcast with over one hundred released episodes for me to binge, which I am also loving. Funnily enough, it's also by Raythe Reign. It's called Ever Dark, and boy am I having fun binging! It's available on Spotify, YouTube, and her website.

Photo by Adriano Merinho

Both serial novels are completely written and well over a hundred chapters each. Raythe Reign has been releasing weekly episodes of Ever Dark for two years, and Dragon's Reign will likely take at least that long. So much to look forward to! I'm absolutely thrilled.

The characters Raythe Reign creates are interesting from the very beginning. She gives them a solid introduction and organically provides the landscape of the personality of the characters. As each episode progresses, the reader discovers more about the person—their history, values, thoughts and emotions, and how they view the world. I love that each episode dives deeper, even during intense action sequences and their aftermath.

My only criticism so far, and I'm less than twenty episodes into each story, is that Raythe Reign uses the cliche and tired method of describing a character's appearance—looking in the mirror and noting how they appear. People don't do that, at least not your average person. When getting ready for an important or special occasion sure, but only to note how everything is arranged, not the color and texture of our hair, what color our eyes are, how full our lips are, and what our skin tone is. Most writers will advise against this method unless the character's appearance is crucial.

In both Dragon's Reign and Ever Dark, Raythe Reign almost immediately tossed the newly introduced main characters into danger, drawing the reader in immediately. Hook, line, and sinker in under twenty minutes for both stories, at least for me.

For anyone who has a love for gay romance with shifters or vampires, I highly recommend these podcasts, even at less than twenty episodes in!