My taste for fantasy was developed in adolescence by inspirational classics of the genre, from the humor of T.H. White’s THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING, through the majestic tradition of Malory’s LE MORTE D’ARTHUR, the charm and possibilities of Hugh Lofting’s DR. DOOLITTLE series, the pomp and piety of Katharine Kurtz’s CHRONICLES OF THE DERYNI and Mervyn Peake’s gloriously poetic THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY. All of these fueled the imagination, quickened the blood and made one yearn to live in the time of castles and kings, dragons and magic.
If I were going to give such a book as a present (and since everyone I know has already been bored to death with my raving about the above titles), I would give a copy of James M. Ward’s new novel, MIDSHIPWIZARD HALCYON BLITHE. We can’t get too far out of control here and place it directly in the pantheon of classics, but this brief tale of warfare conducted on vast, dragon-based seagoing ships has a great vibe to it: a Boys’ Own mix of Patrick O’Brian and Harry Potter.
The Arcanian Navy uses regular ships of the line, but it also has sea dragons under their command, specially fitted with a ship-like “shell” that allows humans to mount the dragon and command it in battle. They face the formidable Maleen, a group of immensely strong and ruthless fighters who are adept at conquering other lands. Into this walks young Midshipwizard Fifth Class Halcyon Blithe. He’s new to his magical skills, but what he has is of great strength and usefulness, for he can talk to rope and determine its fitness for the upcoming task, and he is beginning to learn to speak to the dragon.
Blithe’s newness to the Navy and to magic is explored in depth. The book spends much time discussing Blithe’s training in magic and combat, and we learn more of the Arcanian way as Blithe goes through boot camp. But Blithe’s inexperience eventually ends up costing the ship dearly, and he must work hard to win the respect of his fellow crewmates. It’s a fairly standard sea adventure story, except for the marvelous descriptions of magical effects and the presence of dragons. While I’m a sucker for books on dragons, I don’t quite get Ward’s ecology of the beasts as he describes it here. It seems at some point they have exposed internal organs, which seems unlikely in the least. In all, dragon lore isn’t handled nearly as well as in Naomi Novik’s HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON.
Aside from that, the mixed-gender group of Midshipwizards that befriend Blithe seem to be a likable gang, life on board the ship is adequately portrayed, and there’s some intriguing room for development in Blithe’s relationship with the dragon. So all the pieces are in place to continue the series of adventures, and let’s hope Ward does so (DRAGONFRIGATE WIZARD HALCYON BLITHE is due to ship in November), because this is the kind of book that could spark an interest in genre fiction, and open a world of adventure and excitement to young adult readers (though this older adult enjoyed it as well). –Mark Rose
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This older adult fan of both fantasy fiction and nautical fiction enjoyed this series as well. I did find it, of course, slightly less detailed than would normally satisfy but it contained enough mystery, descriptive action and intrigue to make me hope for more. James Ward is more known for his involvement in the RPG world than of the world of writers in this genre. He has done some Forgotten Realms novels but I never really got into that series too much. Unfortunately Ward does not have any kind of website or blog and thus is impossible to communicate with. I’d really like to know if any more Halcyon Blithe novels are forthcoming.