The Dragon Waiting
core novel 1983 The Dragon Waiting
Record
| First published | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.75 (2,424 ratings, collected 2026-09-07) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780671475529 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The Dragon Waiting, published by John M. Ford in 1983, is set in an alternate fifteenth-century Europe where Christianity died out in its infancy, leaving Mithraism and older pagan traditions dominant, and where vampires and other supernatural forces are treated as an accepted, if dangerous, part of the world. Four very different travelers, a Welsh wizard mourning a personal loss, an exiled heir to the Byzantine throne, a fugitive Florentine physician, and a mercenary captain who is secretly a vampire, are drawn together by circumstance rather than choice. Their combined skills and grievances against the expansionist Byzantine Empire pull them into the tangled political struggle over the English throne, where Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and his rivals maneuver for power. The novel weaves historical fantasy, alternate history, and political intrigue as the four companions' private motives become bound up with the fate of a kingdom.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dragon Waiting
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: John M. Ford
Notes
- Standalone alternate-history fantasy novel.
Sources
← The Dragon Waiting dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.