|
I've just finished reading all three of the currently available volumes of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica and enjoyed them very much. Though these stories are supposed to be for "young adults", there is much that only a knowledgeable adult will get. As in other good children's books, there are layers of meaning. I can understand that not everyone likes the metafictional aspect connecting the old myths, whether Greek, English, or Nordic, including the Christian legends, and foreshadowing those of the Inklings to come, but that's the fun part as far as I'm concerned.
I'd heard enough about these books before I bought them to know who the three Caretakers were, and of course knowing enough about the Inklings would have had me realizing that soon enough at any rate.
As far as the fiction meets actual person's lives, we can't expect everything to be biographical. The author reminds us that his characters, even when taken from real life, are fictional. This would be similar to historical novels, which aren't always accurate in details.
Anyone at all interested in history, mythology and literature - and in dragons! - is sure to find these books very entertaining. I look forward to the next one!
Here, There Be Dragons
The Search for the Red Dragon
The Indigo King
coming up this fall:
The Shadow Dragons
__________________
'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
|