
TEST
This is really an odd book, and it’s hard to even begin to know how to explain it. Named of the Dragon is really straight fiction, but it has paranormal and suspense elements and slight – very slight – romance elements as well. I enjoyed much of the book, but the plot changed direction rapidly at the end, taking a turn that made little sense in light of the heavy-handed foreshadowing liberally sprinkled through most of the book.
Lyn Ravenshaw is a literary agent with a tragic past. Shortly after her husband died, she gave birth to a stillborn son. Five years later she still has nightmares that her baby is screaming and she can’t save him. When Bridget, one of the authors Lyn represents, invites her to spend the Christmas holiday in Wales, Lyn accepts, figuring she needs a change of scene. Wales becomes all the more alluring when Bridget mentions that James Swift, an author Lyn greatly admires, will be there.
When Lyn arrives in Wales, she is introduced to the occupants of the house. James Swift is there, along with his look-alike brother Christopher. A woman named Elen lives in an adjoining home with her infant son. Elen is an odd woman whom many think of as slightly mad because she fears that her son will be taken by a dragon. She is watched over by Gareth Gwyn Morgan, a reclusive playwright initially rude to Lyn because he thinks she has come to Wales to try to sign him as a client.
Like Lyn, Elen is a widow, and soon the two seem to be sharing other similarities. Her first night in Wales, Lyn dreams of a woman in blue who asks her to care for her son. Each night the dream recurs, with the woman, whose name is Margaret, growing more insistent each successive night. When Lyn meets Elen on the street and saves her son Stevie from falling from his carriage, Elen reveals that she has been having similar dreams. She believes that Stevie is the baby in need of protection and that Lyn is the woman who will save him. Matters are further complicated when Lyn does some reading on Welsh Arthurian legends about dragons. She comes to believe that perhaps Stevie is truly in danger and that her dreams have major significance.
This all sounds pretty exciting, but it builds toward a climax that never arrives. I kept expecting some grand paranormal twist involving Lyn’s dead baby, Elen’s baby, and Arthurian mythology. Instead the ending is surprisingly prosaic and completely at odds with the everything that had come before. Sometimes it’s nice to get an ending that’s unexpected, but in this case it’s a real let down. I ended up wondering what exactly the book had been about anyway.
The romance, which is more or less between Lyn and Gareth the playwright, is rather underdeveloped. Their relationship is just beginning to blossom at the book’s end, and I couldn’t help feeling that I had been cheated out of one of the best parts of the story.
I wouldn’t call Named of the Dragon a complete waste of time, however. It definitely has a sense of place, and I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful Welsh setting. Homes, scenery, and history are all lovingly described; the reader gets an unusually vivid picture of the surroundings. Avid Anglophiles may find that this more than makes up for the disappointing end. In my opinion, it’s a toss up.
Buy it at Amazon/iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo
Grade: C
Book Type: Fiction
Sensuality: N/A
Review Date: 30/09/99
Publication Date: 1999
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.