Publication Date: May 14, 2024
Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (just call him Robert) is a dragon exterminator who hates his job. His dream is to work for a prince as his valet and he’s burdened with the incredible guilt of killing dragons which, in his home kingdom of Bellemontagne, infest homes like vermin. He trained with his father and now 18-year-old Robert has his own apprentice. When Robert is called by the King to exterminate the dragons in the walls of the castle, Robert is thrust into an adventure which will either be the end of him or the beginning of a new life.
Back in July, I stopped in at River Bookshop, my local indie bookstore, and asked the young person working the till for a book recommendation telling them that I am a big fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett and am always looking for authors like them. They recommended I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. While technically falling into the YA category, this book is spot on to the whimsical spirit of Pratchett. This is why you patronize your local Indie booksellers’ folks; I never would have picked up this book without the recommendation.
Continue reading I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
In Revelations: Book One of the Merlin Chronicles by Daniel Diehl, Jason Carpenter, a grad student in England from Canal Fulton, Ohio, finds a crystalline sphere in the layers of the earth under a medieval outhouse. The mystical sphere seems to be alive and is a mystery as the technology to make such a sphere wasn’t available in the time period from which is must have come. Jason soon starts to have terrifying dreams featuring an older man with a white beard and when that man appears to him in the flesh and tells Jason that he is Merlin of the Arthurian legend, Jason is sure he’s going crazy. Merlin is on a quest and he needs Jason’s help to stop an old and very dangerous enemy. An enemy set to destroy and then dominate the modern world. Can they work together and save mankind?
The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey is the first book of a young adult series, David Rain, a 20-year-old college student, rents a room from Liz Pennykettle and her 10-year-old daughter, Lucy. Liz and her daughter make odd clay dragons that they sell, and Lucy makes a special dragon for David. Inspired by the dragon, David begins to write a story for Lucy finding that what he writes seems to happen.