The Dragon Waiting: A Masque of History Book

The Dragon Waiting, like many of the best fantasies, is about something more than the magic, sudden perils and daring adventures that dominate its plot. It is about more than the fortunes of the group of variously flawed and charming individuals who come together in its central enterprise. John M Ford is discussing with us the historical process and the ethical considerations involved in taking a hand in it. He has created a Late Middle Ages subtly different from the ones we know--the failure of Christianity to become more than an outlaw faith has as its consequence a far more powerful rump of the Roman Empire in Byzantium. The politics of England and Italy are much as we know them--but the wars of the condottieres and the Roses have become part of a Byzantine master-plan of universal control and empire. An exiled prince, a one-eyed magician, a vampire artillery expert and a woman doctor with a side-line in assassination all come together to prevent this. Ford does battle scenes, the smell of markets and the terror midnight rituals so well that at times it is hard to remember that this is not at all how things were. This is a book which, even though it was written as recently as 1983, deserves the title of Fantasy Masterwork. --Roz KaveneyRead More