The Dragon Waiting
Oct. 16th, 2006 05:23 pmJohn M. Ford, The Dragon Waiting
Alternate-history, set in roughly 1470-1485 CE (except for the first chapter, around 1430ish), with a lot of different religions and a lot of Byzantines running around. The book primarily takes place in England. Those of you with some knowledge of history may recognise 1485 as the end of the War of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. Heh. Heh.
It's broken up into four parts. The first part devotes a chapter apiece to three of the protagonists: a young Welsh wizard and nephew of Owain Glyn Dwr, a Byzantine soldier and potential heir to the Empire, and a Florentine physician to Lorenzo de' Medici. All three of them have various horrible things happen, that cause them to flee their homes and families.
Part the second involves a locked-room murder mystery and gathers our three friends (along with a fourth, a German vampire and artillerist) in a tavern. Deduction and character development (and the occasional hijink) ensue. They then travel to England, stopping in France to attempt to foil a plot against the Duke of Clarence. (Successfully but irrelevantly, as it happens.)
The rest of the book takes place in Britain, primarily in the company of the Duke of Gloucester, Richard Plantagenet. In the real world ('this most well-documented of all possible worlds'), Richard is mostly famous for killing babies and offering to swap England for a horse. Here he's an actual character, rather than a fun caricature; the focal point of any number of intrigues, yes, but also a devoted husband and patriot.
None of which describes the sheer exhiliration one gets from reading the book. It is, as you might expect, absolutely brilliant. The plot twists and turns, the characters grow in ways surprising and consistent (except, possibly, the wizard), the prose flows beautifully. It was just so much /fun/ to read.
The ending comes up rather abruptly. I've reread the last twenty pages twice and am still not certain I picked up on everything.
(Should you care (and slightly spoilery): the 'hinge points' Ford uses for his alternate history are the success of Julian the Apostate at stamping out Christianity and the success of Justinian I at consolidating his empire in the west. Plus, you know, that whole 'magic' thing.)
Alternate-history, set in roughly 1470-1485 CE (except for the first chapter, around 1430ish), with a lot of different religions and a lot of Byzantines running around. The book primarily takes place in England. Those of you with some knowledge of history may recognise 1485 as the end of the War of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. Heh. Heh.
It's broken up into four parts. The first part devotes a chapter apiece to three of the protagonists: a young Welsh wizard and nephew of Owain Glyn Dwr, a Byzantine soldier and potential heir to the Empire, and a Florentine physician to Lorenzo de' Medici. All three of them have various horrible things happen, that cause them to flee their homes and families.
Part the second involves a locked-room murder mystery and gathers our three friends (along with a fourth, a German vampire and artillerist) in a tavern. Deduction and character development (and the occasional hijink) ensue. They then travel to England, stopping in France to attempt to foil a plot against the Duke of Clarence. (Successfully but irrelevantly, as it happens.)
The rest of the book takes place in Britain, primarily in the company of the Duke of Gloucester, Richard Plantagenet. In the real world ('this most well-documented of all possible worlds'), Richard is mostly famous for killing babies and offering to swap England for a horse. Here he's an actual character, rather than a fun caricature; the focal point of any number of intrigues, yes, but also a devoted husband and patriot.
None of which describes the sheer exhiliration one gets from reading the book. It is, as you might expect, absolutely brilliant. The plot twists and turns, the characters grow in ways surprising and consistent (except, possibly, the wizard), the prose flows beautifully. It was just so much /fun/ to read.
The ending comes up rather abruptly. I've reread the last twenty pages twice and am still not certain I picked up on everything.
(Should you care (and slightly spoilery): the 'hinge points' Ford uses for his alternate history are the success of Julian the Apostate at stamping out Christianity and the success of Justinian I at consolidating his empire in the west. Plus, you know, that whole 'magic' thing.)