Be Specific About Books In Favor Of The Dragon Waiting
| Original Title: | The Dragon Waiting |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Richard III of England |
| Literary Awards: | World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (1984) |
John M. Ford
Paperback | Pages: 368 pages Rating: 3.8 | 1041 Users | 105 Reviews
Narrative As Books The Dragon Waiting
alt cover for ISBN 9780575073784The Wars of the Roses have put Edward IV on the throne of England, Lorenzo de' Medici's court shines brilliantly, and Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza plots in Milan. But this is a changed world, and medieval Europe is dominated by the threat from the Byzantine Empire. Sforza, the Vampire Duke, marshals his forces for his long-planned attack on Florence, and Byzantium is on the march. A mercenary, the exiled heir to the Byzantine throne, a young woman physician forced to flee Florence, and a Welsh wizard, the nephew of Owain Gly Dwr, seem to have no common goals but together they wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium, striving to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him Richard III.
Details Out Of Books The Dragon Waiting
| Title | : | The Dragon Waiting |
| Author | : | John M. Ford |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Fantasy Masterworks #29 |
| Pages | : | Pages: 368 pages |
| Published | : | May 9th 2002 by Gollancz (first published 1983) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Alternate History. Historical. Historical Fiction. Paranormal. Vampires |
Rating Out Of Books The Dragon Waiting
Ratings: 3.8 From 1041 Users | 105 ReviewsEvaluation Out Of Books The Dragon Waiting
Wonderful! I loved the historical and literary references scattered and embroidered all over the text. It really makes you pay attention while reading! And I loved how the book made me go back and reread some paragraphs.This is not an easy fantasy reading and it is fantasy at its best.I will definitely read it one more time to pick up at least some of the zillion details that I missed while reading it for the first time :)This is a good book, but its not a great one and somehow, that leaves me more frustrated than I would have been if it had just been bad.John M. Ford treats history like a dog trained to do tricks for him, he plays with words and allusions in a way that would make Hemingway jealous and he somehow gets away with having Richard III quote Gildor from "The Lord of the Rings". It seems the only thing he cant do is write a coherent plot. This book contains multitudes. Its fantasy, in a historical
I stayed up until 2 AM to finish this, and it was worth it.
At times The Dragon Waiting reminded me of The Lymond Chronicles, as it features very complicated spy machinations with few concessions to the reader unfamiliar with the period in question. There is no omniscient smartarse like Lymond for events to revolve around, though. Instead, magic and vampires! I found the pacing initially rather a challenge, as the four main characters are introduced separately at length then the plot accelerates very rapidly once theyre thrown together. Ford also used
Fantasy Masterwork indeed!
"The Dragon Waiting" is set in a late mediaeval Europe which is mostly ruled by the Byzantine Empire, and in which Christianity and Islam never became the dominant religions that they were in our world at that time. I had to look up the dates of various historical characters in Wikipedia in order to guesstimate when the events of this novel were taking place, since there were a multitude of different dating systems in use. The Byzantines impose their laws on the lands they conquer but not their
This has never been my favorite John M. (Mike) Ford book, but someone on my friends list here just raved about it, and that put it on my re-read stack. I hadn't looked at it in many years.My complaint when I read it decades ago was that I just didn't want there to be vampires. On this reading, I can see why the vampires are important to the worldbuilding, and how fascinatingly different they are from most fictional vampires ... and I still don't want there to be vampires. It would work better
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