Here There be Dragons

ragons! Fire-breathing, treasure-stealing, bewinged creatures of glorious colour and history! Monday morning I started reading The Dragon Book anthology (featuring Diana Gabaldon and Samuel Sykes, among many others) and have recently reread (Tolkien alert!) The Hobbit, so dragons are back in the forefront of my imagination. I wonder how Kedi would fare against an old Norse dragon?

In other dragon news, Dragon Island has a new post, and How To Write Badly Well’s last example features a dragon!

Also, Monday was Saint Andrew’s Day (a holiday if you live in Scotland, which I do in spirit), approximately six months on the other side of Saint George’s Day (he of the dragon), and yesterday marked the release of (Tolkien alert!) Born of Hope, a story that takes place in the Third Age of Middle-earth, at a time when dragons were still to be feared.

Today, meanwhile is the 205th anniversary of Napoleon's coronation of himself as Emperor of the French... What if he hadn't? Or, what if he had not lost at Waterloo? Alternate history is in my mind today, as I'm reading Harry Turtledove's short story in The Dragon Book.