I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons
By Peter S. Beagle
Review by Mida
An infestation of dragons could spell disaster if they get out of hand. Fear not, Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (Or Robert, as he’d rather be called) is here to help. But after being roped in to rid an entire castle of the little beasties, Robert gets swept up in a fairy tale that isn’t quite the dragon-slaying story you’re expecting.
What an experience! I first fell in love with Beagle’s writing with the iconic The Last Unicorn and I am so glad his newest adventure lived up to my expectations. His books are a love letter to fairy tales, treating iconic tropes in the same way as we treat the laws of physics. If a character seems to be the heroic type, they MUST go slay a dragon to make their father proud; and even if they do everything in their power to wriggle out of this fate, the story bends around them to make their trope come true.
This is such a wonderful read. The setting is vibrant and gleaming with charm, and Beagle’s characters are just so damn likeable that you find yourself rooting for them – I even loved the villain, a true moustache-twirling evil wizard out of classic fantasy. If I have one bone to pick with it, it is that this book feels like a small glimpse of a world I wish we had more time to explore.
Give this a read if you are a fan of Terry Pratchett or have read The Last Unicorn and have been yearning to visit this particular flavour of fantasy ever since.
