John M. Ford

From a snowbound inn, high in the Alps, four unlikely allies will turn against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him Richard III. A noble Byzantine mercenary. A female Florentine physician. An ageless Welsh wizard. And Sforza, an uncanny duke. Together, they will alter the fate of millions . . . Available for the first time in nearly two decades, with a new introduction by New York Times-bestselling author Scott Lynch, The Dragon Waiting is a masterpiece of blood and magic. * * * * * * * * * 'Had [John M. Ford] taken The Dragon Waiting and written a sequence of five books based in that world, with that power, he would've been George R.R. Martin' Neil Gaiman 'The best mingling of histroy with historical magic that I have ever seen' Gene Wolfe

The Dragon Waiting

Janice Hopper

Read for our SF/F book club.

I'd known of John M. Ford for some time, but hadn't read much by him. Part of it was the reputation of his books being difficult reads. I prepared for this by having a page open to the Draco Concordans page. I had the audiobook as well as the ebook. Following the words with my eyes while I hear the story with my ears sometimes helps ME with challenging texts.

Well, honestly, I'd probably have been okay without all that. The Draco Concordans DOES give some additional info and insight, especially about the history of the time. (Most history is a closed book to me.) A few additional glosses on the texts helped, but not as much as I expected it to, TBH.

As the introduction says, if you've read the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian, you should probably be ok with following the text. I always read introductions last. By the time I read the intro to this book, I'd already decided that yes, Mr. Ford writes a lot like O'Brian. (Also, apparently, like Dorothy Dunnett, who I haven't yet read. But she's on my list.)

I quite liked the writing, and the audiobook narrator was quite good too. The characters are memorable. I expect they'll float around in my brain for a while.

Good stuff. Maybe I'll try another John M. Ford book now, besides How Much for Just the Planet? :)

The Dragon Waiting

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