031825

Lee, Mary Soon, 2025 (illustrated print edition), The Sign of the Dragon, JABberwocky, ISBN 978-1-625674-91-3, 580 p.

“Holy bat burgers,” said Robin, “the whole is indeed more than the sum of its parts!”

The Sign of the Dragon is a true novel in verse. It is a narrative of breathtaking scope recorded as a series of poems ranging in length from a few lines to a couple of pages each. Each poem is more or less equivalent to a short chapter in a prose novel. The Sign of the Dragon is high fantasy. There are knights, warriors with unusual powers, dragons, and monsters. The story follows Xau, the young king of Meqing, a small country that strongly resembles medieval China in its culture. Neighboring countries are barbarians of various sorts, and bear resemblances to other cultures of Earth's past. Over the course of the narrative, Xau has to contend first with a dragon, who determines whether he is fit to rule. Next, with his youth and inexperience as he takes the throne of Meqing (his father and older brothers all having died). He then has to face a powerful neighbor in war. He successfully deals with this threat through the force of his personality, the loyalty of his men, and through the application of a supernatural power (he is, in essence, a horse whisperer). Other challenges include dealing with natural disasters, and threats of war with another neighboring country. Ultimately, Xau is challenged by an implacable foe of all humanity, a monster to rival the creations of Lovecraft in appearance, if not in philosophy.

The Sign of the Dragon is high-octane adventure, but good is ultimately victorious, although not without cost. Xau rises to each challenge because of his inner strength of will, and with this support of his loyal men (and horses). Even though the ultimate outcome is never in doubt, the journey is much more than half the fun in this far-reaching and uplifting fantasy adventure.

This volume was illustrated by Gary McCluskey, who provided both the color cover and black-and-white interior drawings. The art is very well done, but I think in most cases the illustrations don't really add much to the book. They illustrate what you've read, but don't show anything more than that. One exception is the illustration showing the dragon and the young prince, late in the book. The dragon really isn't described anywhere, which makes McCluskey's beautiful illustration a nice addition.

I had read some of these poems before, because many were published first in various periodicals, and the first part of the saga was previously published in book form. I enjoyed reading them whenever I found them, but the poems on their own lack the grandeur of the overarching story that they compose. I was astonished at how much fun this book was to read. Lee's work is known to me and I have long respected her ability, but here she has transcended everything else I have seen from her. She is a worthy successor to the high fantasists of previous generations. If you like high fantasy or dragons then you owe this book to yourself.