Here, There Be Dragons [Hardcover]

Here's some interesting news...this book has already been picked up by Warner Brothers, and Batman Begins screenwriter David Goyer and Harry Potter producer David Heyman will be the producers of this movie. Boy was that fast! There is good reason that Hollywood is interested in this, because it is a story filled with magic from the first to last page.

The story begins in 1917, and we are treated to delightful characterizations of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. (Jack) Lewis, and Charles Williams, who didn't know each other then but would later become friends and members of the famous Inklings group, a group of Christian writers and, I believe, Oxford professors who - for lack of a better phrase at this moment - hung out, smoked pipes, and talked about the writing they were working on.

I wish their identities weren't already widely known, for reasons that will be clear at the end of the book, but I doubt that many people reading this book would have been at all surprised. Three "Oxford men", all writers, all of whom possessed a strong imagination (according to their initial rescuer and guide, Bert)...who else could they possibly be?

About this book. I didn't just love it. I am amazed, breathless, and nearly speechless - I can't believe the author was brave enough to attempt such a daring undertaking and more so that he pulled it off so perfectly.

We are taken into the most marvelous of worlds, guided by the Imaginarium Geographica, a world where everything that has ever been imagined (and possibly things that are true...depends on your take) exist.

Owens guides us through all of these worlds like a skilled navigator, and time and again we run into situations, people, and physical structures that bear a remarkable similarity to what we have seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, and I'm sure much of Charles Williams writing, although I am unfamiliar with his work.

It's such a delight to see these similarities, as they act as a time traveling machine, but I will mention only one.

The main characters and their companions are at a structure that they know to be a door, but there is no discernible handle or keyhole. There is, however, some writing in Elvish that says, "Declare allegiance, and be welcomed." For anyone remotely familiar with Tolkien's work, this is immediately recognized as a scene directly out of The Fellowship of the Ring, where the nine companions are trying to gain entrance to the Mines of Moria. In FOTR, the Elvish script read, "Speak, friend, and enter." Eventually Gandalf (although in the movie I think it's Merry) realizes that one needs only to say the Elvish word for "friend" and the doors will open. They do so, and the doors open. In the scene in Here, There Be Dragons, Jack puts forth the idea that perhaps all they need to do is speak the Elvish word for "allegiance", and the door will open. John says, "That's a stupid idea." You can't help but laugh.

Gems like the one described above are all over this book, and the spell they cast over the reader (this one at least) is bewitching. Part of the page turning tension of the book comes from the actual story itself, the other half waiting to see what new "gem" you'll find on the next page.

The author also was the illustrator for the book and they brought this remarkable world and its equally remarkable characters to even greater heights of believability than Owens' *extraordinary* writing. Owens is a very, very gifted artist - here I am also of the written word, not only of the paintbrush. One picture I'm certain was directly influenced by a painting John R. Neill did for one of Baum's original Oz books. It was delightful, to again be taken back to something I so dearly loved as a child.

Orson Scott Card makes a rather powerful statement (see above in his quote). I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but I'll be extremely surprised if this book doesn't enjoy remarkable success. It's easy to tell by the quality of the book and the paper the book was printed on that Simon & Schuster will be surprised as well. This is certainly better than any other book I've read that had anything to do with dragons in quite some time. Years. Maybe a decade or two - whenever McCaffrey's first Pern book came out would be how far I'd have to go. Yet this really isn't about dragons. It's about the magic we come across every time we pick up a book and that book takes us to a wonderful place. The place doesn't need to be Oz, Prydain, Middle Earth, Narnia, or other distinct and fully imagined world, it can be our world too.

The book is marketed to Young Adults, but this should appeal to any adult who ever read fantasy when younger. You will remember why you read fantasy as a young adult, and wonder why you ever stopped.

10/11/06 - Why isn't this book selling by the tens of thousands? I'm genuinely puzzled, unless the references to Lewis's and Tolkien's works are too "old" for younger readers. But I can't imagine how. Young readers of fantasy have read (or seen)Tolkien, and most have read (or seen part of) Lewis. BUY THIS BOOK. It's truly extraordinary.

Do you have an older relative or friend - a parent, uncle, grandparent; you get the idea - that has ever regaled you with stories of their outrageous youthful escapades? I think we all have one of those relatives. Whether the stories are true or not, the stories are REAL (there IS a difference), and we love them and can hear them again and again. After all, `something' had to make that person such a great storyteller. That's what Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen is all about. Better than that, we get to see and EXPERIENCE those escapades. In Here, There Be Dragons we meet many vaguely familiar characters. To most of us, they're already friends. But they're old friends. That is; friends who are `old'. In this incredible story we get a chance to meet them at their youth. When we're first introduced to them we `think' we know who they are, but we're not sure. It's like going back in time and seeing if your old man - young and strong and much less familiar - really `did' save his entire platoon using a slingshot.

The story focuses around three young men; John, Jack and Charles. At the beginning of the story, WWI Europe, they converge, un-coincidentally, upon the death of an old Professor friend of theirs'. While contemplating this horrible incident, they meet another strangely familiar character named Bert; a funny little man who bestows on them the coolest named book in all of literature: The "Imaginarium Geographica." It's a book of maps. Maps of places that have existed only in the realm of imagination. A map of every place that was ever dreamt is in that book. Remember the place that you created yourself, when you were 7? It's in there. It's a very big and exceedingly important book. John, Jack and Charles are then given the task of saving the worlds - the real living and breathing places - that are in the book. Our "heroes" are three somewhat young and quite different men. John just served a tour of duty in WWI. He is a man of intellect, honor and character, but he's been eye-deep in hell and it left him changed. He's not so sure about life at the moment. Jack is young and impulsive. Like all young and impulsive people he makes decisions quickly, and not always with the best results. But he has such a heart. You will love him. Charles is the eldest of the three. The "level-headed" one. The one who can rattle off the funniest line in the world with the straightest possible face. He's also the most English, and I mean that in a good way. When you read it you'll know what I mean.

Once accepting the staggering onus of saving all places imaginary, John, Jack and Charles embark on an adventure in the land of imagination; the "Archipelago of Dreams." It's an adventure that would make Robert Louis Stevenson grin from ear to ear. There are ships, there are creatures of good and darkest evil, there are pirates, there are beautiful warrior women, kings, princes, knights, wizards, sorcerers, heroes, cowards and fools.

And there are Dragons.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy are there Dragons. Majestic, intelligent and resplendently powerful. You won't be disappointed by them. They are everything a Dragon should be.

Our heroes, like all good heroes, grow throughout their journey. They change and yet remain the same people that we have grown to love (after all, we already knew them before we even picked up this book). They learn things about themselves, the histories of the countless worlds they are saving and about their amazing destines as future caretakers of these worlds.

James A. Owen is being touted as a "new" talent in this arena. He's not. He's been doing this now for twenty years. And he's always been good at it. Creating stories and worlds that have won fans all over the world. He already has an award-winning modern fantasy series called "Mythworld." His comic book (yes, comic book) Starchild is acclaimed both critically and commercially as a work of significance and masterful storytelling. If this is your introduction to James A. Owen, I envy you. You get to experience all of his other, many, many great works. And the man can draw.

Did I tell you that Here, There Be Dragons is illustrated too? Not just four or five perfunctory doodles, but dozens of highly, highly, ludicrously highly detailed illustrations. In fact, the illustrations are stories themselves. Think of them as "Easter Eggs" on steroids. And, do you know who the Illustrator is? None other than the author himself. If you know anything at all of James's work, than you can appreciate the exquisiteness of his art. That cover that you're looking at; that's James. If you buy this book for the art alone, it would be worth every penny. Good for us the art is complimented by a story of such greatness.

So there you have it. Here, There Be Dragons is a mystery. It's an adventure. It's fantasy. It's reality. It even has romance. If you've ever created an imaginary place (and who hasn't), then it's safe to say that YOU'RE in this book. It is not only a `story' of the utmost quality; it is a well written story. There are no loose ends. All your questions, the ones that need answering, are answered. The characters, in every sense, are REAL. We see them - our friends - in a way we never have, but secretly always wanted to. We get to look behind the curtain. And, we get to stay there and play. I couldn't recommend this book more. Thank you James for the stories.

How will three young men settle a conflict over a book that they are thrown into the middle of when a professor dies and gives it to them? In Here, There Be Dragons, by James A. Owen, you track the paths of three men, John, Jack, and Charles, as they travel through a foreign world to solve the conflict over the Imaginarium Geographica. Owen does an incredible job showing real personalities in his characters, and does an even better job of showing the characters' growth as people. I love how the author shows both good and evil, and how easy it is to go from one to the other, and also how to stop yourself and go back. I also love how the author takes characters and ideas from other fictional stories and mixes them into Here, There Be Dragons. I believe this fantasy book is incredible, and has real ties to life, with the messages it includes. I would recommend this book to most any young adult who likes fantasy that also includes ties to life and other fantasy stories. The only way you will ever know the end of this incredible book is to read it.

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