Two of my favorite books as a child were a
huge illustrated book of world mythology and an equally huge anthology of fairy
tales. I read those stories over and over despite the fact that many of them
were rather gruesome with less than happy endings. (Hmmm … That just might be
the source of my penchant for happily-ever-afters in my own writing.) So it
shouldn’t be surprising that fantastical creatures have always run rampant in
my imagination.
This doesn’t sound problematic until in an
undisciplined moment that corner of my imagination broke away from its usual
confines and ran straight into a regency manor house. I was a little horrified
and tried to corral everyone back into their own corners, but my inner Elizabeth
Bennet was not nearly so troubled. She reminded me that English mythology is full of dragons: the Lambton Worm, the Dragon of Mordiford, the
Dragon of Unsworth, the Dragon of Wantly, the Dragon of Longwitton, the Dragon of Loschy Hill, the Bisterne
Dragon just to name a few. Even the father of fabled King Arthur has a dragon
connection. King Uther Pendragon was said to have seen a dragon shaped comet
that inspired the dragons that graced the standards he carried. Oh, and there’s
Beowulf of course, and the tale of St. George and the Dragon…
Jane Austen herself could easily have been
familiar with many of these dragon legends. So maybe, just a few of these
mythological denizens actually belonged in Regency England.
But how? For that, I had to take another
dive into the mythology book.
One of the fascinating—and crazy
making—aspects of mythology is the number of different accounts of the same
story. Since, until the early modern era, tales relied on oral tradition for
transmission, each teller would craft a slightly different version of the
story, making finding the ‘real’ story nearly impossible. While there were
moments that made me want to beat my head against the wall, it did provide an
interesting line of thinking: What if…. (A word of caution, when a writer says
“what if”, it might be a good time to politely excuse yourself…)
So, what if Uther Pendragon saw a real
dragon, not a comet as most stories suggested? Would not others have seen it too?
Wait, no—what if the dragons had a way of hiding in plain sight that only a
select few people could see (or rather hear)
through and Uther was one of those…
Suddenly I saw a world, hundreds of years
removed from medieval England, where mankind and dragonkind could coexist,
governed by the Blue Order, an organization founded by Uther Pendragon himself,
on human and dragon partnership, dedicated to protecting the safety and
interests of both species while keeping the dragons secret from the very large
segment of the human population with hearing insufficient to detect dragon
voices.
The world was so clear and vivid, my inner
Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy just couldn’t stay away. Before I knew
it, Pride
and Prejudice became the context for an urgent crisis amongst the
dragons of the Blue Order, a new series: Jane Austen’s Dragons, now complete
with the release of Netherfield: Rogue Dragon.
So I present for you, what Pride
and Prejudice might have been had Jane Austen known about the Blue
Order.
If you’re not totally hooked by now, here’s
a preview of Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s Dragon, to give you a taste of this world: http://randombitsoffascination.com/2016/10/03/pemberley-mr-darcys-dragon-ch-1/
What do you think about dragons and Jane
Austen? Leave me a comment below for a chance to win your choice of e-books
from this series.
Book Blurbs
#3
Netherfield Rogue Dragon
Elizabeth Bennet
thought she was prepared to do anything to make the Dragon Conclave accept her
beloved young dragon, Pemberley, into the Blue Order, but she had not
anticipated it would leave her banished from her ancestral home and betrothed
to none other than Mr. Darcy. But before Elizabeth and Darcy wed, they must
find a dangerous rogue dragon before it provokes a war amongst the dragons and
brings the fragile peace between dragons and mankind to a catastrophic end.
Nothing written in
the annals of dragon lore has prepared Elizabeth to manage a dragon not
governed by the Blue Order. Dragons have always loved her, but this one finds
her arrogant, selfish and insensitive to others. With only her instincts to guide
her, she must convince the rogue of her good intentions before the Blue Order
loses patience and decides on more drastic measures.
Called away to the
other side of the kingdom, trying to settle the dragons' unrest, Darcy learns
the nature of the force poisoning the rogue dragon against Elizabeth. One nearer and dearer than
they could have imagined.
Can Elizabeth
and Darcy convince with rogue dragon to
cooperate before darker forces turn it against them, without destroying the
fragile bonds uniting the couple?
#2
Longbourn: Dragon Entail
Her father and the family estate dragon insist she marry
the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to wed. Will the
help of her minor dragon friends be enough for her to she escape the fate of
the dragon entail?
_________________________
Darcy thought his problems were over when Pemberley
hatched and successfully imprinted on humans. But baby dragons prove far more
difficult than any dragon lore prepared him for. Only Elizabeth Bennet's notes offer him any help.
When his imperious Aunt Catherine takes matters into her own hands, things take
a turn for the worse and Pemberley’s life hangs in the balance. He desperately
needs more of Elizabeth’s help, but she ignores all of his requests.
Elizabeth, though, has problems of her own. After the
Bennet family dragon sent Pemberley away, life at Longbourn was supposed to
return to normal and Elizabeth get on with the all-important business of
marrying the heir to her father’s estate. Except that he is the last man in the
world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry—a bumbling, addle-pated
dragon-hater who demands she gives up the dragons she lives for.
Can she, with the help of her dragon friends, find her
way back to Pemberley before they both suffer their fate from the Dragon
Entail?
#1
Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s Dragon
England is overrun
by dragons of all shapes and sizes. Most people are blissfully unaware of them and the Pendragon
Treaty that keeps the peace between human and dragon kind. Only those
born with preternatural hearing, like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet
are able to hear and converse with dragonkind.
When the
first firedrake egg laid in a century is stolen from Pemberley, the fragile dragon peace teeters on collapse.
Darcy has no choice but to chase down the thief, a journey that leads him to
quaint market town of Meryton and fellow Dragon Keeper, Elizabeth
Bennet.
Elizabeth
shares a unique bond with dragons, stronger than anything Darcy has ever
experienced. More than that, her vast experience and knowledge of dragon lore
may be the key to uncovering the lost egg.
But Elizabeth can’t stand Darcy’s arrogance and doesn’t trust him to
care properly for a precious baby firedrake. After all, he already lost the egg
once. What’s to prevent it from happening again?
Universal Buy Links:
About the
Author
Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten
years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely
to see the light of day again. After penning five file-drawer novels in high
school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate
in Educational Psychology. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned
to her first love, fiction writing.
She has one husband and one grandson, two graduate degrees and
two black belts, three sons, four undergraduate majors, five nieces, is has
blogged six years on Random Bits of
Fascination, has built seven websites, attended eight English country
dance balls, sewn nine Regency era costumes, and shared her life with ten cats.
7 comments:
I think the idea is fantastic, and have loved the first two books! Also your covers are gorgeous. I must admit, I connect dragons more with Anne McCaffrey than with ancient myths, but your books give a great mix!
This series is just wonderful and I urge anyone who's hesitating to try it. It's amazing how well the dragon aspect fits so well into the story we all know and love so much.
I have read dozens and dozens of JAFF; however, I only vaguely remember reading one, or perhaps just a story, about a dragon that Elizabeth was keeping. Unfortunately I can't remember the title or author or where it was that I read it! Guess that made a big impression, right? Oh well, I am branching out my voracious reading into other genres anyway, so I'm willing to do the same with JAFF! I'd love to win one of your books!
I read lots of JAFF, and have been a fan of Anne McCaffrey's dragon series. A combination of P&P & dragons sounds intriguing!
I love this theme!
These books look like a lot of fun; I think it’s a great idea to bring Pride and Prejudice into the mythic realm. Dragons and Jane Austen sound a lot better than zombies!
Thanks for offering the giveaway!
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