The Consumption of Magic

Utter perfection.

The Consumption of Magic is the third book in The Tales Of Verania series by TJ Klune. It is the sequel to Destiny of Dragons and can not be listened to as a stand-alone. This story is a hysterically funny, heartbreakingly sad, utterly riveting, beautifully written, fantasy saga. It is a story of love and loyalty, brotherhood and friendship, honour and selflessness; contrasted against the worst kind of betrayal and evil imaginable. It will make you laugh so hard you’ll have to push pause to breathe and later you’ll be devastated, and/or sob crying. I truly don’t know how Michael Lesley kept it together to voice parts of this story.

Michael Lesley is Oscar worthy in his performance of the huge array of characters in this epic masterpiece. From our hero Sam, his Knight Deliciousface, Justin, the members of the court, Dragons of varying ages and attitudes, a sassy unicorn and a half giant to the woodland fairies and so many more characters, Michael provides unique voices that perfectly match TJ’s vision. He could provide masterclasses in voice acting and probably should!

This is the best audiobook I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and I’ll eagerly await the final book in the series being voiced by Michael. Highly recommended and SO much more than a usual five star audiobook.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Total Heart Boner!

True to form- TJ Klune & Michael Lesley deliver above and beyond what is expected. This is the third installment of The Tales From Verania Series which should ALL be declared a National Treasure! As usual, You will laugh, you will cry (unless you are a total dick-bag), and you might just pee yourself a little! I can’t say enough good things about TJ Klune’s work, and Michael’s range is as wide and wonderful as the voices in your head! Get These Books! Wonderfully Done- 5 out of 5 hearts!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Another amazing episode!

TJ Klune’s epic series continues with The Consumption of Magic. The third installment of Tales From Verania is an emotional and bittersweet experience that left my heart aching. It’s not the first time I’ve cursed this author and I’m sure it won’t be the last; truly no one can weave a story like TJ Klune. I’ll do my best not to spoil anything, but fans of this series know what’s coming and what we have to get through before we reach the end of Sam’s quest.

I continue to recommend this series in audio, and Michael Lesley delivers yet another flawless performance. He breathes life into these characters and adds nuances to the story that you just can’t get from reading alone. That he continues to create new and completely unique voices for all the characters TJ Klune dreams up is a testament to his incredible talent.

A good portion of The Consumption of Magic is simply setting the stage for the next phase of the journey. Sam hones his skills with a visit to Castle “Freeze Your Ass Off” where there are some great scenes with Randall that are almost too good to be true. (Seriously, so funny.) Sam also continues to add interesting and colorful characters to his support team. I’m looking forward to great things to come as they continue in their quest to fulfill their destinies.

This amazing series has it all: action, mystery, magic, passion, sex…. And speaking of sex, the opening scene is without question the hottest, dirtiest, most erotic (and maybe the most romantic) thing I’ve ever known TJ Klune to write. Just to whet your curiosity, the guys are in Mama’s brothel and have access to some *ahem* inspirational toys. I’ll just say that Sam is definitely inspired. Wow!

Of course this episode has everything I love about the Tales From Verania: the wonderful banter, the humor, the love and friendship, but Sam has a job to do and we know it’s not going to be pretty. Myrin’s message at the end of A Destiny of Dragons leaves no doubt what has to go down, and casts a bit of a shadow over the whole book for me. The stress of waiting for what I know is going to happen, and wondering who it will happen to, is hard to endure. (I’m shaking my fist at you TJ Klune!)

There are a number of bittersweet trips down memory lane which clarify some events from the past. While I understand the need for the recapping, and it serves to move the plot forward, revisiting some of those memories is incredibly stressful. It just compounded the emotional experience and left me wrung out. It was intense, but so worth it!

After all this time I’ve become so invested in this series that it’s hard to be objective. There is one thing I know for sure, TJ Klune is a master at storytelling and whatever’s to come it’s going to be one heck of a wild ride.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

🧙‍♂️🐉🦄⚡️💔🎧😍

I'm not even going to lie, I have listened to this multiple times since I bought it approximately six minutes after it went live on Audible. I'm not even a little bit sorry. I'm actually on my fourth listen right now.

And yes, I have cried at the end every. single. time.

Michael Lesley - you're a genius and a truly gifted performer. Kudos and bravo, sir! (And, can I just say Pat and Leslie - brilliant!)

TJ Klune has long hinted that we would be mad at him by the end of this book. There is a lot that happens to build off where we've been in The Lightning-Struck Heart and A Destiny of Dragons and, because it's the penultimate in Sam's trilogy (quadrilogy?), it brings the reader much closer to what seems to be building toward the inevitable ending.

Never fear, there are no spoilers here. Which is so hard - you don't even know. BUT SO NECESSARY. I wouldn't have wanted someone to warn more about what happens in The Consumption of Magic, because, even though it damn near killed me, it fits so brilliantly into this story.

So what can I tell you? Well, I can give you hints TJ himself has let slip -

* I can tell you Prince Justin is back with the group in a major way and he's redeemed a lot (in my opinion)...

* I can tell you that Consumption has some of the biggest action scenes from the series...

* I can tell you the mated Northern Dragons are everything you could hope they'll be and more...

* I can tell you it has the longest sex scene TJ's ever written...

* I can tell you it has some twists that you won't see coming.

* And I can tell you by the time you finish you will have run through an entire gamut of emotions: You will laugh, gasp, hope, and suffer from Wookiee Cry Face.

This was my initial reaction after reading the book -
I'm having a hard time processing my feelings for this. I'm absolutely heartbroken. I know they are just characters, but I have read and listened to the stories in this series so often I could recite whole chapters verbatim. And I love these characters, okay? I love them. And this...I thought I could see it coming. I thought I knew what was going to happen. I didn't. Not at all. And my heart. is. broken.

5 devastated stars

This series is phenomenal, no lie, but the audio elevates this to a whole other level. This is NOT a standalone. BUY THIS SERIES. Read this. LISTEN TO THIS. RECOMMENDED.

"A warning. All of you will not survive until the end. There will be loss, Sam. And it will burn like nothing has ever burned before. You must remember to keep in the light, even when the dark begins to curl around your feet."

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

The adventure continues....

Sam, Ryan, Tiggy and Gary......and Kevin continue their battle against the forces of evil.

Just like the first two books in this series, this one is funny, heart warming, frustrating and so well written. During the first book, I laughed and laughed and laughed. During this one I laughed and laughed and cried. Each book tackles very serious and emotional issues with humor and ridiculous characters and situations. However, this one was much darker and very heart wrenching.

Sam, a wizard's apprentice, is trying to thwart his destiny and save everyone he cares about. He is the most accepting and loving character I have ever read. He loves unicorns, dragons, giants, arrogant princes and even madams. But he can't save everyone. In this book he has to face some harsh realities and do a bit of maturing.

Without giving away spoilers, I will say this book is worth the read. But please read the other two first, or this one won't make sense.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amazing

TJ is a gifted and historical writer.
He weaves an story that is fun, interesting and beautiful.
I love how he reveals new details while he reflects on the past situations from the first two books
This series is a MUST listen.
Please make this a Netflix series!!!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Make sure you have a box of tissue with this one.

I need the next book out on audio right now. Michael Lesley brings the characters and the entire world to life. That ending tore me to shreds, just like everyone else. I cried some very ugly tears.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Best one yet

I use to warn the ladies in the office. I am listening to the hornless gay unicorn...if I burst out laughing just ignore me.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

don't bother reading the end

yet again I have tried to give the offer a chance to regain the awesomeness the first book in the series had. the ending of this book is the biggest disappointment of any book I have ever read. the second book was worse, only managing to pull it out of the fire when we meet zero. the third book overall was better then the second but the final few chapters have made me potentially give up on the author. why? why would you take such a wonderfully light-hearted and happy set of characters then progressively just go down this grindingly dark hurtful path. I fell in love with the first book because, despite being a little angsty between the main love interest, it was a fun light-hearted adventure that literally locked and laughed in the face of all the bad stuff. TJ klune has spent plenty of time in other books being overly angsty and dark, I really wish he wouldn't take out that kind of writing on these characters. awful, just awful.
that being said I love the characters and enjoyed what development was able to happen, but the direction the author is choosing to take is terrible in my opinion. I'm torn, part of me would like to have never subjected myself to the second and third books.. Zero, Leslie and Pat have been remarkable. I would be hard-pressed not to put myself through this torture again if it meant never meeting them particularly Zero.
maybe I can have a different opinion of all this if I hadn't just finished the end of the third book. but it was just so disappointing. purchase at your own risk.

6 of 9 people found this review helpful

Great story and its loveable characters!

Story and characters by TJ Klune are amazing.
Michael Lesley does a fantastic job at narrating.

I thought the sound effects were clunky in this one.