Customer Reviews

Dragon Waiting: A Masque of History

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2 star:		(1)
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A dark and gritty fantasy/alternate-history/vampire novel of remarkable psychological and political complexity (even unravelling the web of betrayal, intrigue and back-stabbing that forms the background to the main plot requires considerable thought), giving a panoramic sweep of a 15th-century Europe soaked in blood and magic.

Ford makes a few elegant changes in the course of history (which are never spelled out, the reader being flung in at the deep end and left to work it out for themselves), and then develops the logical consequences of these changes with uncompromising realism (and considerable wit - merely as a matter of incidental detail, for example, we discover that Christianity never took root and is now a minor and largely-forgotten heresy). Life is as nasty, brutal and short as it presumably was in the real 15th-century, and the protagonists are complicated, messed-up, and thoroughly believable human beings (the book even includes that rarity, a female leading character who isn't terminally bland), despite or because of which the book is hugely enjoyable and great fun.

Definitely not for those looking for another slice of pseudo-Tolkien questing, but highly recommended for anyone interested in something a little more challenging. It demands more thought than the average fantasy, but richly rewards the effort. A real treat.

I read this book, more or less by accident, not particularly famous and was dazzled. Wow. Can't think of what to say, but will try.

The novel is set in an alternate history Europe, where either Constantine never converted to Christianity or Julian established the equality of all faiths, and the Byzantine Empire never declined, but in fact by the middle of the XVth century controls most of Eastern Europe and is trying to get as much of the West as possible. And magic works, and vampires exist also. I don't usually like alternate history, the real historical characters usually look unlikely next to the alternate bits, but this novel handled it perfectly, and the real historical characters of the XVth century (Richard III of England, his mother, and brothers, the Earl Rivers, Louis XI of France, the Medicci, the Duke of Urbino) are a joy to read about if you have met them before.

Great novel, deserving of a far better review than this one.

One of my favourite books,The Dragon Waiting, is a superb blend of history and fantasy. Mixing historical characters from the 15th century and captivating fictional heroes, this is a book that is both engrossing and enjoyable. John M Ford, a much underated author, succeeds in combining in-depth research with a vivid imagination and tweaks history to create a vision of europe where conspiracies lurk behind shady motives and dark characters, vampirism is a spreadable disease and magic a burden to the magician. A truly marvellous book, that deserves reprinting.

The adventures of four different characters -- an emperor-in-exile, a native-prince-of-Wales in exile, a German vampire and an Italian woman doctor -- in a very alternate fifteenth century Europe.

Ford's alternative history concepts are fascinating. At times, his writing is beautiful and many of the individual scenes are full of action and imagery.

However, the book reads to me like something the author wrote for himself, without considering (or perhaps without caring) if readers could follow along. Characters' motivations are opaque, as are some of the events in the plot; a major antagonist only comes into existence near the end of the book and is never developed. Whole scenes descend into a kind of oblique vagueness; characters react, sometimes with great emotional intensity, but it is not always clear to the reader what caused the reaction. That Dragon Waiting held my interest despite this is a tribute to Ford's writing, but it's hard not to think that a tremendous story was lost in the shadows of this book.

With the same brilliant wordsmithing as in his poetry, the late John M. Ford spins a layered tale of dynastic intrigue in his World Fantasy Award-winning _The Dragon Waiting_. His paranormal, alternate-history 15th century Europe includes vampires, wizards, and a pagan Byzantine Empire that extends westward into France. Aside from one typo in the Historical Notes (the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople in 1204, not 1404), this setting is ingeniously precise and thought-provoking, although it never seems vital to the plot.

Ford's prose drips with emotion through a languorous, sometimes even distant tone that ignores common writing techniques, such as avoiding the verb "to be", in favor of a lyrical voice that sweeps the reader along. This vivid prose and the historical detail of the setting often intersect in perfect word choices: historical terms that succinctly communicate both era and detail, like the bronze "saker" (a type of medieval cannon) that Gregory sees on the walls of York.

Unfortunately the organization of the novel feels contrary to the main plot. Three of the four main characters are introduced separately in long solo chapters that cover more than a quarter of the book. Even after they come together, the main conflict does not begin until after forty more pages of a tangential murder mystery; and the seemingly titular character, Richard of Gloucester, doesn't appear until forty pages after that. Although these chapters are vividly detailed and effusive with character, they offer an extremely slow entrée into the plot.

And that plot then creeps ahead without clear stakes or motivation. Factions scheme for the throne of England, but it's never apparent what masters these usurpers serve or why they take these actions. The protagonists fight against it, again for reasons never explained. The traitors are discovered, then a new challenger attacks with an army for no seeming reason other than to parallel true history. Ford rightfully ends with the protagonists, the true core of this novel, but they don't seem changed for their journey.

_The Dragon Waiting_ features exceptional writing and a fascinating setting, but the plot never coalesces into comparable brilliance. Despite well-illumined characters, the novel feels gorgeous but ultimately lacking.

This book is a delight to read. The story unfolds in a re-working of history, and being up on your history will bring even more savor to your enjoyment of the novel, but you needn't be an expert to experience the shivers of excitement and fear that it effortlessly brings on. It is not true historical fiction, since magic and vampires have been added to the world, but I didn't find them gratuitous. I first heard of it in Neil Gaiman's web-journal, and have not regretted looking it up afterwards.

Imagine Europe in the 1480s, in a world very much like our own but also with some big differences. Christianity remains a minor Jewish heresy and Islam never happened. Most people still worship the formalized Roman gods, with those who want emotion in their religion turning to the mysteries of Mithraism. Constantine XI, instead of dying on the ramparts of his falling capital in 1453, rules a Byzantine Empire that totally controls the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and the southern half of France (the northern half belongs to the English Plantagenets, with a mad Capet "king" occupying a buffer state of a few miles around Paris), and Byzantium is working its way up the Italian peninsula nipping off the Italian Renaissance states one by one. Oh, and magic works and vampires exist - as the result of a contagious blood disease, not as suave Eastern Europeans in black tie and tails.

This is the stage John Ford created for one of the greatest alternate history novels of the century (and I say this as an admirer of Harry Turtledove and other writers in this genre). Over a half century, his characters weave the threads of their own lives across the continent until they all come together in what seems a hopeless effort to keep England's good King Richard III from being toppled by the Byzantine-backed black magician Henry Tudor. This is a book that once I got well into it (and its one fault is that it does start slowly), I was unable to put it down until I finished. Alternate history is harder to write than it looks, since once you change one thing in history, it changes others in a widening cascade. But Ford paid attention to these consequences, and as a result produced an engrossing work of fiction.

This is an excellent fantsy novel from my early years. It is well written, with rich historical detail and cutting suspense. The book I recieved was of good quality, and first edition paperback. I would recommend this book to anyone with a taste for historical novels and fantasy. Fans of Parke Godwin, Morgan Llewellyn and more recently Jim Butcher should enjoy this work.

As a fan of historical fiction and fantasy I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I was dissapointed. The storyline is choppy and the characters are poorly developed. It is often difficult to figure out who is talking and the character motivation is questionable. In addition, the medicine is just plain wrong (ie. looking for a femoral pulse in a calf). If you want a great historical fiction version of the War of the Roses, I would suggest starting with The Sunne in Splendor by SK Penman. (although there is no magic) This falls very short of the mark in all cases.

This book tells a complex story within a richly and well researched history. Don't expect your basic vampire/sorcerer horror tale. The references to the supernatural are minor to the story at hand. My one criticism is that the story sometimes gets a bit too convoluted.