So I just finished reading this book which you guys may have seen,
Here, There Be Dragons, and commenting to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
coppervale (the author, James A. Owen) about how much I liked it.
Now, I'm going to be honest with you here. Before I picked it up, and while I first started reading it, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I'd heard some rumors about it, and, well... I'd been spoiled as to the identity of the three main characters. So I Doubted. And I Questioned. I was lost, so lost, childrennnnnnnnnnnn.
Weirdly, what saved the book for me was that I knew who those three main characters were! Every time James pulled something that looked suspiciously like--I'm sorry to say--the rather newbie-writer thing to do of copying popular mid-20th-century fantasy, I squirmed because I wanted to like the book, I did, but that sort of thing is, well, wrong... but then I remembered--"No. No, shit. Shit, he has an EXCUSE. A really GOOD excuse! The only excuse that you could possibly get away with! Is he going to get away with it?" and so for the first half of the book or so, that was a great source of cognitive dissonance, because even while the stern, cruel-hearted Inner Editor disapproved of it, the wide-eyed, eager-to-learn Inner Writer kind of admired him for:
A) Thinking up the only, ONLY good excuse for reviving the
cliches old standbys, and
B) Having the guts and bravery to do it. I wouldn't have, and for that, I forgive him.
Then I got over it, and kicked my Inner Editor in the face when she tried to manipulate my feelings and guilt-trip me by crying, and about that time, the Inner English Major had it dawn on her that there were TEN QUINTILLION PUCKILLION literary references in this book and...
she was catching them all.
It was kind of amazing. I remember being younger and reading books which supposedly had literary references in them, and boring to boot, and being sad and disappointed when they flew right over my head. It sort of made up for all of that childhood sorrow.
And it's FUN! Oh my goodness it's such a fun little novel! Charles! I love Charles! Bug! I love Bug *SO MUCH*. John and Jack are pretty cool, too, but I don't have the great affection for them that I do for Charles. And Bug, especially in terms of how the Three-Who-Are-One gave him knightly training and swimming lessons (<--a favorite part of the book).
In conclusion: You should read this book! And buy it, because the author is a cool guy. Especially read it if:
1. You are English. (The three main characters are all Oxford men!)
2. You are not offended if Cambridge University is insulted and belittled. (The three main characters are all Oxford men!)
3. You've ever read any literature of the fantastic: Tolkien, CS Lewis, HG Wells, Lewis Carrol, Jules Verne (eeeeeee), Shakespeare, Dante, Poe, Doyle, and any and all fairy tales.
4. You spent your childhood with your nose in a book, esp. Narnia. If you liked Narnia, you will luuuurve this book: More English people sent on wild adventures to fictional places! During the War! Yay! We love those sorts of books!
Also, there are BEAUTIFUL full-page arts at the beginning of every chapter, drawn by the artist himself! (For samples, check out his livejournal,
coppervale. He makes art posts every once in a while.)
PS. Off topic, but also relating to lit: I will be writing more in the coming semester! Stay tuned for rants about the latest problem in the novel!
INSANE WITH LOVE
