This is the story of how Max and Charlie became best friends. How two boys from very different backgrounds can become life long friends, brothers from other mothers… I love the mischief they are able to conjure!
A great read!
Thank you Katie for introducing us to these two exceptional boys!

Depending on when you have read anything about Maximillion ( you should start with the Dragon master trilogy) you may have determined he is hard to understand and obnoxious. Yet once you read about young Max and Charlie, how they grew up and their lives intertwined together you will see a very different person. Many of us only look at the outside of people and judge them by their "cover" when the real person has so many layers that one seldom knows the real person. This is one of those times that digging deeper and having an open mind gives you insight into the real (as real as any book can be to help us understand people around us). This book was something that brought incites into the why's these characters were the way they are. I came away loving every minute of reading and finding I had mis-judged not just one character but many. I totally loved this book. As Paul Harvey used to say "the rest of the story" adds insight into a great many things both things in the past and in the future.

Oh, this book brought me so much joy. You get to see how Max and Charlie met and the journeys they took to get to where they were in the Dragonmaster Trilogy was very rewarding. And of course, there is more Max and Isa. You discover how Maximillion discovers Isadora as well as his viewpoint throughout their relationship.

There is SO MUCH to unpack in this epic story!! Charlie and Max start out as childhood friends that the magic brought together. They couldn't be any more opposite the other and it works beautifully for them. For his whole life Charlie is the only one Max has let into his circle until he finally meets Isadora. Charlie learns to navigate his double life as himself and the bumbling Charles. Together they make quite a force to be reckoned with. Tears of happiness, sadness and frustration...your emotions will run the gamut with this book and you will love every minute of it!

This is a must have book - the story of Charlie (Charles) and Max (Maximillian). What happens to shape the lives of two young boys and how those two shape the world of Alkarra. You will love Max in a new way, as you understand his background. Reading the Dragonmaster Series is needed before reading The Advocate to fully understand the characters. Katie continues to enthrall us with each new book, don’t miss this one.