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Dragon Spirits #0.5

The Citrine Key

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A stolen artefact.

An ancient dragon.

One man’s final chance.

Life-long thief Apollo Tamlin has been marked for execution. When the mage Queen Surayo offers him a pardon, he doesn’t ask questions - any task she has is better than a walk to the gallows.

Succeed, and not only will it preserve peace in his homeland, but Apollo can rebuild the life he’s ruined.

Sent to a distant continent to feed a stolen artefact to an ancient and powerful dragon spirit sounds simple, but things quickly start going wrong. His companions are not what they seem, the dragon would rather eat him, and the artefact displays its own magic - throwing the entire mission into peril.


Note: L.L. McNeil is no longer publishing under her maiden name. All upcoming works will be published under the name L.L. MacRae.

119 pages, ebook

First published December 19, 2020

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About the author

L.L. MacRae

11 books441 followers
Hello fellow book dragon! Thank you for visiting my author page. :)

My name is Lauren, I'm a fantasy author of character-driven stories and epic adventure. My books usually contain dragons, bucket-loads of magic, and are typically fun and hopeful.

I live in a tiny village in the English countryside with my boyfriend and our dog.

Physical copies of my books are available exclusively through my website and never on Amazon. All paperbacks can be signed/lined/dated and ship internationally: https://llmacrae.com/shop

Check out my website for eBooks, audiobooks, exclusive bookswag, and to find out more about my writing world: www.llmacrae.com

If you'd like to support me directly, Patreon is a great option! You'll receive early access to writing, behind-the-scenes content, the ability to vote on upcoming artwork and projects, and an exclusive story about dragons and phoenixes in a blighted world: https://www.patreon.com/llmacrae

If you send a friend request and we don't have any similar interests or books in common, I'll probably decline. Feel free to follow me, though.

I've previously published under the name L.L. McNeil (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...)

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
Profile Image for Library of a Viking.
212 reviews4,280 followers
April 3, 2022
I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS NOVELLA IS FREE

You can get this novella for free by signing up for L. L. MacRae’s newsletter here https://llmacrae.com/, and I highly recommend you do so!

I have had The Iron Crown on my tbr for more than a year, and I have kept postponing reading it. MacRae was kind enough to send me a signed copy of The Iron Crown a year ago, which has been collecting dust on my shelf for too long!

However, I finally decided to give MacRae’s stories a try, starting with The Citrine Key, a prequel novella to The Iron Crown. The Citrine Key was a pleasant surprise, and I read it in two sittings.

It is incredibly challenging to write fantasy novellas since you have to cover a lot of ground in a few pages. An author must have the ability to introduce the world, the plot and the characters while also delivering a satisfying introduction, main body and conclusion in a novella-length story. The fact that MacRae was able to get me so invested and enjoy this short story truly speaks to her ability as an author!

So what made this novella stand out? One of the main strengths of this novella is its pace. MacRae quickly introduces the main plot and its characters, and then the quest commences. I never had a moment where I felt the story dragged or felt rushed. It was paced perfectly. Secondly, MacRae achieves what you need to accomplish with a prequel novella. MacRae is able to make the reader feel interested in exploring this world more and the larger conflict brewing. Thirdly, MacRae’s prose is accessible and easy to follow, making this feel like a quick read.

While The Citrine Key has a satisfying conclusion, reading this novella left me wanting so much more from this world. I instantly picked up The Iron Crown, which I am so excited to be reading.

I would recommend everyone to give this novella a try!

5 / 5
Profile Image for Hamad.
1,111 reviews1,493 followers
November 2, 2021
Actual Rating: 7.5/ 10

You probably know I am not the biggest fan of novellas but this was pretty good. I really liked Apollo as mentioned earlier so I had to read the novella when I knew it was his story. I am glad I read it after the first book because it was more enjoyable that way. Part of me think it should have been integrated into the main story because it provided answers to some of the questions I had, I don’t know if it is really important to the rest of the series but I know it provides more context and depth to the story.
Profile Image for Michael.
292 reviews92 followers
April 21, 2022
A good novella that introduces us to the world of The Iron Crown.

You can get a free copy of this novella and others when you sign up to L.L.MacRae's newsletter.
Profile Image for Olivia.
728 reviews127 followers
April 15, 2023
Reader magnet, received via MacRae's newsletter.

An epic fantasy novella with dragons, a reluctant hero, a grumpy fisherman, and a woman who's lost almost everything.

Apollo is an interesting protagonist: a life-long thief, he is keen to finally get a clean slate and live a quiet life, but instead he's to be executed. Thankfully, the mage queen Surayo offers him a pardon if he manages to convince a powerful (and incredibly grouchy) dragon spirit to eat a magical artifact.

Spoiler alert: the dragon isn't too keen.

A great introduction to the new world MacRae is working on, and I can't wait to get my hands on the first book in this series in spring 2021!
Profile Image for Dom.
Author 1 book500 followers
March 6, 2022
I don’t really tend to read novellas, but I wanted to give The Citrine Key a try to get a feel for the writing and the world before hopping into The Iron Crown. I’m very happy that I did.

The Citrine Key manages that rarity among novellas (in my limited experience) in providing good characters, plot, and worldbuilding without any of them being sacrificed for space.

All three elements worked well and left me wanting to find out more, which is exactly what I want from a prequel novella. The world is really interesting, with the dragon spirits giving real potential for intrigue in an expanded story.

Not only do we have interesting characters, but we also get backstory for each of them, and I got invested enough to want to see more of them in The Iron Crown so I can see what else they get up to.

The plot is simple, as befits the space, but filled with worldbuilding in itself, which is the key thing that makes it great to follow.

The writing is really fluid and easy to get into, and as far as first lines go, this novella has a great one. I was hooked from that first line and stayed hooked until the end.

The Citrine Key does everything that I want a prequel novella to do. It’s enjoyable, it’s quick, it’s good in its own right, but overall, it leaves me wanting more. Not in a bad way though, but in the way that it’s a prequel novella and it’s done its job in selling me on the main series.
Profile Image for HBalikov.
1,867 reviews747 followers
January 20, 2024
"Some people were fortunate, looked upon favourably by a particular spirit, and received their blessing. Other spirits cursed those who crossed their paths. And there were plenty of corrupt spirits that wandered Tassar, too, leaving a trail of chaos, destruction, and often madness. Sometimes even death."

This is a fine introduction to the world of “dragon spirits.” Yes, you can assume from the title that there is a key that plays an important role in this yarn.

An imprisoned thief, Apollo, and two companions are off into the wilds of this world. If they succeed, the two men will have their rights restored and their slates wiped clean.
"Every step was tough, made tougher still because of the queen’s brand across his thigh. A magical touch. A curse. She knew where he was. She knew what he carried by her command. There was no disappearing into the ocean to get away from her. He should’ve been grateful she’d returned victorious from whatever distant continent she’d travelled to. His execution had been stayed while she’d been away at war, and on her return, he’d been given another chance at living instead of beheaded for his crime."


"Apollo laughed, ignoring the accusation. ‘A fisherman who can’t swim? Who ever heard of that? Anyway, Surayo’s curse would’ve killed you the moment you made it back to Porsenthia even if you could swim! No running from her.’ ‘Instead we die here. Frozen solid or,’ Yorik paused as the dragon’s taunting laughter echoed over them, half-lost in the wind, ‘Paragos eats us.’"
Paragos is the spirit dragon they seek but all we (and the adventurers) know is that they must convince this dragon to destroy what is in the box that was given to Apollo.

"Paragos could be anywhere.’ ‘Correction—he is everywhere. He’s the blizzard itself,’ Malora said. ‘How’s that?’ Yorik sniffed, glancing around disdainfully. ‘I don’t see no dragon.’ ‘If you see the blizzard, you’re seeing the spirit. Paragos will appear when he wants to. Until then, he’s watching us."

A good start for a complex world of magic and dragons but I am not impressed with the annoying names of our main characters: Apollo? Why choose the name of a god that is not involved in this world’s pantheon? Yorik? Why “alas, poor Yorik;” there’s nothing behind this literary reference. And, Malora? Why is she carrying around a bad aura?

This is an introduction that promises a complex competition among human fiefdoms and between humans and the spirit world of dragons and magic. One can only hope that the substance lives up to the promise.
3.5
Profile Image for Joel.
34 reviews
July 14, 2022
A great prequel novella available for free on the authors website. It introduces us to the lands of Tassar, some of it's history and key players and has a very awesome take on dragons (don't mess with these dragons)

The story is a quest where our characters Apollo, Malora and Yorik are tasked by a queen to deliver an artifact to a winter dragon in some frozen mountains so he can eat it and destroy it. Our characters tried to rob the queens palace while she was away at war and were caught. Instead of execution the returning queen placed a cursed mark on them to deliver her artifact to this dragon or they will waste away and die.

The strengths of this novella were the authors excellent use of setting. The frozen, snowy mountains came alive with vivid descriptions of the landscape and weather. I felt like I was in the middle of the hellish blizzards with our characters and that level of immersion to me is the sign of a fantastic author.

The overall plot and characters were okay, and there was a nice twist in the story in the second half and towards the end which really left me wanting to read more of the world so definitely a win overall.

On the critical side I found the dialogue to be a little repetitive in the first half of the book, characters kind of constantly reiterating why they were there in the first place over and over. It wasn't horribly done or anything, but I was glad when the plot moved forward after establishing our characters and snowy setting and the story really hooked me from there and didn't let go.

Overall a great sample of things to come in the series ahead I'm sure, which I am jumping into right away.
Profile Image for Shazzie.
157 reviews33 followers
May 17, 2022
I’m sorry I didn’t read this sooner.

This book is proof that self-published work can come with great pace and narrative of quality, and does everything I would expect from a fantasy novella.

I used to think that The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson was the gold standard, and reading this book has certainly changed my opinion.

The snappy pace, sufficiently done worldbuilding, and fun character backstories in this have made me resolve to pick up more of the author’s work in the near future. Do yourself a favour, and pick up this book, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

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Profile Image for Cassidy Chivers.
300 reviews2,480 followers
April 22, 2022
This novella has sold me on the rest of this series.

I'm not a huge novella fan in general, I find something always lacking and I often feel unfulfilled. So a 3.5 from me for a novella is pretty solid.

The cons for this novella for me: was we spent a decent amount of time on character backstories and for something so small I knew I wasn't going to be invested in the characters anyways so didn't really care. (I'm not a big character driven reader though, and it takes me awhile to invest)

But the rest was incredible.

The dragon spirits... TELL ME MORE

I thought this was such a unique take on dragons and am very excited to learn more about this world. In future instalments.

A pretty solid prequel novella following a decent quest plot line!

I'd recommend!!
Profile Image for TonyAntSonWil .
440 reviews13 followers
July 16, 2022
Fun, fast paced easy read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella, more so than the first book! Probably because it was more about my favourite character Apollo and a badass dragon Paragos!

There is a lot to like in this novella, it draws you in rapidly into the world and keeps you there which is hard to do with a novella, which means you could if you so wish to ( I advise you don't ) read this before the first book. DON'T DO IT though, I merely say it for reviewing purposes.

Really enjoyed this novella! Happy reading!
Profile Image for FantasyBookNerd.
384 reviews74 followers
February 22, 2021
This is a novella by L.L. Macrae and is the precursor to The Dragon Spirits series.

The story is about life long thief Apollo Tamlin, who given the choice between execution or a pardon where he could escape his life of crime by organising a journey that could end in certain death, decides on the second .

When a robbery has gone wrong in the Royal palace, Tamlin is forced to take a stolen artifact to be destroyed by the Spirit of the Eternal Blizzard by the Conqueror Queen, Suraya.

In order to complete the task he and his party, comprising of his friend Malora and cell mate Yorik.

The Citrine Key is a thrilling little story that involves dragons, mystery and long forgotten terrors.

L.L. Macrae does an excellent job of plunging you headling in to the story from the begining, doing a pretty decent job of introducing the characters and building the world immdiately so that you feel familiar with the environment and the characters.

The thing that I like about novellas in that there is no room for procrastination due to their compactness and this story works well in the confines of this format.

The characters are all solid, with enough backstory to flesh out their character without being bogged down with unnecessary exposition. I particularly found the lead character Apollo to be an interesting character that I would definitely like to see more of. He uses humour to hide his emations but he is extremely loyal to his friend Malora.

Similarly, Malora has some history. She is a spirit blessed whose power has deserted her and has fallen on hard times.

There is definitely an epic fantasy feel to the story, and I like that the characters are not your usual heroic chosen types but are flawed and have some depth to them.

One of the things that is always going to get my attention are dragons, and I really like how L.L. Macrae uses them. Each one is identified as a spirit. In this story we meet the Spirit of the Eternal Blizzard, who is an ice dragon, but we also get hints of other dragons too, such as the Spirit of Iron that belongs to the conqueror queen.

As an introduction to L. L. Marae's writing I found that this was a satisfying and enjoyable read and I will definitely be investigating the main story when it comes out, which is set five years after this story.
Profile Image for Adam Holcombe.
Author 2 books34 followers
July 19, 2022
The Citrine Key follows a condemned man who goes on a dangerous mission with two others to gain his freedom in this beautifully done snapshot into the Dragon Spirits series.

I found this snapshot into the Dragon Spirits series and excellent entry point to give you a little taste of MacRae’s abilities and what you’ll find in the next book. I enjoyed the tale quite a bit, and has only increased my excitement for The Iron Crown, which I plan to read in the near future!

This novella is free by joining L.L. MacRae’s newsletter, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is thinking of trying out the SPFBO 7 Finalist novel.

5/5 Endless Blizzards!

Read the full review here: https://bountifulbookshelf.com/the-ci...
Profile Image for Pippin Took, the Shire Hobbit.
90 reviews7 followers
August 31, 2022
“A dragon’s laughter was somehow more terrifying than its roar.

It mocked them.”


Before anything else, it is amazing that this book is free, and one can get it by signing up to the author’s newsletter at llmacrae.com and you should absolutely do it.

A prequel novella has an inherent reward- it can reel in readers and turn them into fans, and this does exactly that job for me. Novellas have a finite number of pages to introduce characters and plot and make the readers invested in the characters and progress the plot to a fulfilling conclusion. If it’s an epic fantasy prequel novella, it has the added job of setting up a world and introducing challenges that will shape the character motivations and events that will shape the world itself.

This book achieves all of this on the back of a hugely appealing story- A thief has one chance to escape his past: to destroy a stolen magical artifact by getting a dragon to eat it. Perfect pacing is accomplished by easy, accessible prose, quickly unfolding events paralleled with adequate backstories for the MCs. The imagery in the book definitely deserves its own mention, I was immediately immersed into the setting by the vivid descriptions.

I totally loved the description of the dragon, the first time our MCs came across it. It downright took me back to when I first started playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and got introduced to Alduin. For non-gamers, picture a terrifically huge dragon, so immensely powerful that he was nicknamed the World-Eater. The way the journey of our MCs is described, initially across the snowy mountains and later through a palace adds so much to the tension and makes everything feel so real.

Another factor that contributes to the story feeling so realistic is the solid character-building work, it feels very organic and natural and not forced in the slightest. All 3 MCs have their own problems and are distinct from each other. Who doesn’t love flawed MCs overcoming some of their flaws while also holding firm their other flaws.

“It had become a game between them. She’d try and teach him something, and he’d invent new ways of not paying attention. Getting her riled up had always amused him.”

The ending also masterfully sets up the next book while leaving the readers with a taste of the level of breadth and depth of the world building, an idea of the lore and general scope- putting the epic in epic fantasy. It is sufficient to say, I have enjoyed this book cover to cover and absolutely recommend it to all fantasy fans.

“Warn your queen to send no more people to my domain. If she does, I will bring my wrath to her, and even Toriaken shall feel my fury. The cold will crack iron, and he will break under my fire. The Iron Crown will shatter”
Profile Image for Jamedi.
464 reviews86 followers
October 31, 2022
Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars)
Full review: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...

The Citrine Key is a prequel novel situated on the Dragon Spirits saga, by the British author L.L. MacRae. It serves as an introduction to the world, the different actors and powers that are implicated in the story, doing a great job on all these aspects. Despite being such a short novel, it is excellent in developing characters and relationships between them, being a perfect way to set foot into the Dragon Spirits series.

We are going to follow Apollo and his mates, the enigmatic Yorick and Malora, a former spirit priestess, on a mission to make Paragos, the blizzard spirit, eat an enigmatic artifact. Seems not the best of journeys right? Well, when the other alternative is to get executed, and Queen Surayo offers to clear his past crimes, it doesn't seem a bad alternative for a thief.

For such a short novella, the amount of character-building and world-building that is done is insane. The pace is excellent even taking these two elements into account. Apollo quickly became my favourite character in the novel, being a good-hearted person whose past is just a heavy slab he's trying to run away from, and that's mostly why he accepted this dangerous mission. Clearing his past, making Malora free of debts, and for some reason, helping Yorick (later we will know more about this enigmatic character) are his only ambitions.

Let's stop a moment to talk about the concept of dragons in this novella, and by extension in this series. Being a classical creature in the genre, it is difficult sometimes to find a new twist on it, but MacRae managed to do it. In this world, the dragons are basically nature spirits, nature forces who can materialize themselves, and extremely intelligent; so, my props to her. The enigmatic Myrs are also an integral part of the plot (and at some point, my mind wondered how close they are to Phyrexians), being introduced close to the end, and setting the plot for The Iron Crown, letting so many questions to answer.

I absolutely enjoyed this novella, and I think it's an excellent introduction to the Dragon Spirits world. It's incredible the amount of building that MacRae does in such a short amount of space, and creating enough questions to hook you into reading The Iron Crown, which for sure we will be reading and reviewing soon in this blog.
Profile Image for the.bookish.designer.
92 reviews13 followers
July 18, 2022
If you are looking for the perfect example of a novella that will have you craving for more, look no further than The Citrine Key by L.L. Macrae. This novella is the prequel to her ‘Dragon Spirits’ series which by all accounts is a smash hit.

Macrae introduces her world here with a quick paced plot, full of action and incredible detail. With other novella’s I’ve found that you can end up losing some of the details and not fully understand the world you are in, but Macrae has done a marvellous job of giving just enough detail of the world, so the reader is not lost but not too much the story feels like it is coming to a stop.

The pacing here is perfect, we get a quick introduction to what is going on and we immediately jump into the short action-packed quest before moving onto a very satisfying end. I’m very interested to see how the Spirits play out in the main series, the concept feels unique to what I’ve read before and I’m defiantly intrigued.

I planned to dive straight into The Iron Crown after this anyway, but I think had I made other plans I would be changing them now because I want be fully immersed in this world.

If you have been thinking about pick up this series you can pick up this Novella on the author's website.
Profile Image for Mick.
46 reviews12 followers
August 23, 2022
4.5 / 5 stars

To give you a brief motivation to read this book:

1. It's free. Everyone loves a free book, right? Just sign up to the author newsletter.

2. It's got epic dragon spirits. Everyone loves dragons, right? Having them as spirits that manifest in different ways is such a fresh idea.

3. It's immersive. Everyone loves a story that engrosses you enough to make you feel like you're in the world as you read, right? This story takes place during a blizzard on top of a mountain. Meanwhile, I read this book while in 35°C heat, sitting on the beach. I could still feel the cold atmosphere that was described.

4. It's a short and easy story to read. Everyone loves a quick read, right? You can get through this book in a sitting or 2, which is always great for helping if you're in a reading slump or just want that sense of achievement from finishing a book.


I definitely urge people to check out this book. It takes place before the main series, and is a great entry point. I'll be picking up the audiobook for The Iron Crown (which was just released) next week, and I can't wait.
Profile Image for Philip.
54 reviews6 followers
November 5, 2023
This was an enjoyable novella that is a prequel to the main story of The Iron Crown.

We follow Apollo, Malora & Yorik as they travel to a distant snow filled land to destroy a mysterious artefact by feeding it to a magic devouring dragon spirit !!

It’s a fantastic story that ties in well with the events of the main story.

I had a vague idea of what to expect with this story as it was mentioned and discussed in the main story but there was more than enough surprises to make it a worthwhile read regardless.
I would probably say this is better to be read first before the main book but that didn’t detract too much for me.

Overall another solid entry in this series ❤️


224 reviews81 followers
April 7, 2021
Fantastic! One of the best novellas and introductions to a world I have ever read, I have never been more intrigued by a fantasy world for some time. Lauren has created a fascinating fantasy world, I sense some incredible secondary creation and I cannot wait to find out more, I have so many questions about this world and characters and a snippet of information. Easily a recommended read from me.
Profile Image for Wolfmantula.
266 reviews34 followers
December 30, 2022
Follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/wolfmantula
For more reviews, go to www.wolfmantula.com/book-reviews

MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.25/5
FORMAT: Kindle Whispersync



The cover of this book is so eye catching and gorgeous, it just pops with the contrast of the gold and the dark blue background. The cover was one of the reasons I was interested in reading this, the other is that the author sent me a copy of the audio to book 1, The Iron Crown, and I felt like I needed to read this prequel novella before I started on the main story. I’m glad I decided to start here, because this was a great way to introduce the characters and the world of Tassar. In under 100 pages, MacRae sets a great pace and tone for a bone-chilling story of adventure and survival that left me salivating for more.

MacRae does a a great job with the dynamic of the 3 characters that we follow in this story, Apollo, Malora and Yorik each bring something a little different to the table while being surrounded by a bit of mystery that leads to some nice character building.

The Citrine Key was a very exciting story that had me reeling pretty much from page one, because it had a very Skyrim-like feel to it, and at times made me think of the game and felt like it could’ve easily been a mission. There’s plenty of action that was both exhilarating and intense, dealing with a dragon spirit that reminded me a bit of an ice wraith from Skyrim. Another thing that gave me a Skyrim feels was when there was chanting, it had that eery feeling when you got close to a “word of power wall.” I think me having this connection made me enjoy this even more.
Profile Image for Esmay Rosalyne.
1,029 reviews
August 21, 2022
The Citrine Key delivers everything you'd want from a novella and does so magnificently.
In roughly 100 pages, MacRae completely hooked me on this series. We get well-developed characters, an engaging plot and a whole lot of intriguing world building that doesn't feel like a huge info dump. What more could you want?

We are thrown right into a fast-paced and high stakes story following life-long thief Apollo Tamlin, who has been saved from execution and granted one last chance at freedom. The only thing he needs to do in return? Convince a dangerous ice dragon spirit to consume a powerful ancient artefact.

While it usually takes me quite a while to connect to characters, I was completely invested in Apollo's fate from the very first chapter. He's exactly the type of sarcastic and roguish character that I love to follow. The dynamic and banter between him and his two companions on this quest was also excellent. I immediately bought into their friendships, because the author took the time to tell their backstories, without ever sacrificing the pacing of the story.
Seriously, I've read 600+ page tomes that didn't manage to get me this invested in the characters, so I am absolutely floored by the charcter work here.

Also, the amount of worldbuilding in this little novella is insane. And the fact that it never felt overwhelming is even more astonishing. The world is super interesting and the dragon spirits immediately hooked me. I have a feeling we only scratched the surface here, so I can't wait to sink my teeth into the main novels in this series and explore this magnificent world further.

Highly recommend giving this quick little novella a read, because I guarantee you it will immediately hook you and leave you hungering for more (in the best way possible).
Profile Image for Roondawg Valhalla.
22 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2022
A group of 3 prisoners are set out on a dangerous mission bound by a curse from a powerful queen. A short but fulfilling tale wrapped in a box of mystery and topped with a bow full of lore, The Citrine Key is an excellent introduction into LL MacRae’s new series. I cannot wait to explore this world more and to dive deeper when I read The Iron Crown, the first novel in the series. I am so glad I found this author, as I immediately clicked with her writing style and story telling. Lucky for me she has quite a bit of books and series already written and will be releasing more to come. An easy five stars for me!🧑‍🍳🤌
Profile Image for Brendon Lowe.
233 reviews70 followers
July 14, 2022
A novela following a three characters on a quest to return a stolen key. Its fast paced and has great characters. For such a short novel it was very enjoyable and im looking forward to starting the series now.
Profile Image for Eddie.
344 reviews16 followers
February 20, 2022
All I’m going say, is that this story struck a chord🎼 with me.
It is a refreshing,different, and pretty cool in my opinion!
I give it 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Profile Image for Cuppa Books.
156 reviews6 followers
December 20, 2020
A good introduction to a new fantasy series. I'm looking forward to learning more about the this world and its magic.

Overall rating probably a 3.75* as I didn't really get attached to any of the characters but I think that this novella set everything up really well for the series.
61 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2020
This is a great debut to what should be an incredible series. There is lots of action and adventure and some less than scrupulous characters. I’m anxious to learn what the true purpose of the Citrine Key is and the aftermath of its return. I can’t wait until the Iron Crown is released.
Profile Image for BookishBenny.
239 reviews39 followers
April 18, 2022
Enjoy fantasy and sci-fi books but no-one to talk to? Come join The SFF Oasis, an amazing book discord! We have buddy reads, trilogy reads, live author Q&As, virtual badges to collect, Dungeons & Dragons, writer's cafe and much much more! It's completely free and very welcoming. If you'd like to talk about books with future friends you can join here: http://discord.gg/c2hXSP5MsX

The Citrine Key is a FREE novella which you can also obtain by signing up to Lauren's mailing list at https://llmacrae.com/ (it's actually not the only free story you get).

Firstly I love the cover on this Novella and also the other books in this series (The Iron Crown and The Shadow Gate). I love the golden colour on the dark background and the consistent effect that the item on the covers are burning away of fading.

The Citrine Key introduces us to three characters. Apollo, Malora and Yorik. Not much is known about these characters initially but with some conversational pieces we find out that Apollo is on a mission for the queen to feed an item to an ancient spirit dragon. Malora is an on/off love interest who has agreed to help and Yorik is a bit of a mystery but came from the same prison cell as Apollo.

This feels like a mix between a character driven and plot driven story because there is the overarching plot to complete the mission but there is some stuff going on between Apollo and Malora that occurs before this story. There is also a mystery behind Yorik, why he is with them and what his story is.

I really liked the whole ancient dragon spirit in this story as it was a really different take on the whole fantasy dragon that I have read before. Making them these powerful spirits that inhabit different parts of the land is interesting because it gives them a personality, a character, rather than just being this huge flying lizard that might eat you.

Finally, and without any spoilers, I really liked the ending to this book. That last 20% where it all goes down was great and really sets up an exciting premise for The Iron Crown which I plan to read in the next 3 books on my TBR. I would really recommend you pick this novella up and get yourself a free entry into The World of Linaria.
Profile Image for Henry - The Library Of Toddy.
195 reviews1 follower
September 2, 2022
Rating: 3.5/5

The Citirine Key is an enjoyable novella giving an introduction to LL Macrae’s self-published fantasy series, The Dragon Spirits. You can also pick up the ebook of this novella for free by signing up to the author’s mailing list which I would definitely recommend you do!



This novella follows the journey of Apollo after the Mage Queen Surayo offers him a pardon from his execution in exchange for him travelling to a far off land to offer a gift of peace to a powerful dragon spirit. The story moves along at a pretty fast pace, and for a novella of this length we are given quite a bit of backstory to Apollo and his companions Malora and Yorik, providing a good amount of depth to these characters.



The different spirits seem intriguing as an idea and I would like to know more about them. Also the world-building offered in this novella left me hungry to know more about this world that Macrae has started to create. I am definitely keen to find out more about this series and to pick up the first novel in the series, The Iron Crown soon.

Profile Image for Vignesh S.
130 reviews6 followers
May 8, 2022
The book starts with 3 people Apollo, Malora and Yorik who are going on a journey to meet a Dragon Spirit and ask him to eat a small wooden box. If they make the dragon spirit eat the box, they will be free of a curse given by their queen for their mistakes. If not the dragon could eat them or they will die because of the curse. This is the plot of The Citrine Key and it was a wonderful experience to read this book.

I honestly think authors (atleast Indie authors) should consider writing a novella before their main series. In this way the readers can understand about the series, writing style of the author etc. I read this book only because its 100 pages and since i read this and enjoyed this, i want to read the series now. If there wasn't a novella, i don't know if i would have added this series to my lists too.
Profile Image for Terry Rudge.
334 reviews29 followers
September 28, 2022
This was fun!!!
I dont tend to enjoy novella's because understanding a characters choice and personality is normally the most important part of a book for me.

However as I read book 1, before this Novella I was already well connected to Apollo and instantly I was brought straight back into this world and the story that unfolded.

A really brilliant novella. And it's free if you sign up to LL's newsletter!!
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