The Dragon Waiting
#6963.75 adjusted 3.81 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1983 Reading commitment Low John M. Ford Last reviewed 2026-10-13
Overview
The Dragon Waiting is a single standalone alternate-history fantasy novel by John M. Ford, subtitled A Masque of History, set in a 15th-century Europe where the Byzantine Empire endures, the Medici scheme in Florence, and vampirism and sorcery move openly through the courts that lead to the Wars of the Roses. It won the 1984 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. The novel follows a small band of travelers, including a Byzantine physician, a Welsh wizard, and a vampire duke, whose paths converge on the intrigue surrounding Richard, Duke of Gloucester, reworking the historical run-up to the Wars of the Roses with sorcery and Byzantine politics woven directly into events readers may otherwise recognize from real history, without ever flattening that history into simple genre spectacle.
Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Dragon Waiting (1983) core · 3.75 (2,424 ratings); Standalone alternate-history fantasy novel.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Dragon Waiting? The Dragon Waiting's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Dragon Waiting finished? Complete (1983).
- How much reading does The Dragon Waiting take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Dragon Waiting ranked? #696 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,424 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #696?
Ranked #696 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.75 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (2,424 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.06 behind #695, The Ghost Bride.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #696 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.75 across 2,424 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Dragon Waiting (John M. Ford) accepted 2026-09-04
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-09-07
Rule: Core Canon = the single novel The Dragon Waiting (1983); no series or Expanded material exists. Admitted as a genre-boundary alternate-history fantasy on the precedent already set by Tooth and Claw, Under Heaven and the Majipoor Cycle.