If you’re a fan of slightly irreverent fantasy (that happens to be written by a priest) and like your stories filled with griffins, vampires and, of course, dragons, do I have a book review for you.
Last Christmas I participated in a 12 days of Christmas book buying event to support Indie authors set up by Rose Montague (you can check out reviews for a few of the other books here and here). For each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas, I agreed to buy a book by one of the participating authors. Because I’m a slow reader (and have had some other books land in my lap), I’m still working by way through. I should be done by next Christmas…
The latest book I finished is Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons by Chrys Cymri. In her other life, Cymri is a priest – I assume in the Church of England – so it’s not a complete surprise that her main character is also a female priest. One of the things I really enjoyed in this book, as a double PK (uh oh), is the realistic portrayal of the person who’s vocation is being a priest – she likes fantasy and science fiction, she quotes Dr. Who, she has all the Buffy DVDs. In other words, she’s a real person, not a saint. I also liked the balanced view of what it’s like to be a minister. I know from my parents that, although it can be rewarding, there are also some very challenging aspects to it.
Bishop Nigel smiled at me. ‘Holy water doesn’t harm vampires. Which is just as well, as it would make it impossible to baptise them.’
From Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons
The story itself was well written. The plot was solid and drew me along – it’s almost as much mystery as fantasy, except for the dragons, griffins and vampires, oh my. There was a point where it could have in a direction that I would have been disappointed, but the ending left me both satisfied and wanting more. All around, the characters felt very real – and I loved Clyde!
If you’re looking for a fun, engaging story with dragons and other mythical creatures (and, no, I’m not referring to female priests), check out Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons.