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Gwales Review In this collection of four stories, Christie Davies has taken a flight of the imagination to the land of ‘the imaginary real’, the secret state all children and open-minded adults already know exists. Here friendly dragons come to life in countries where individuals will believe in them, grow up to have partners and families and fight enemies such as polluted mutant monsters, evil mechanical dragons and even St George.
Red, anthracite-eating Dragon Dewi lives in Wales with sensible Mair, whose father ‘found Dewi down the pit at Pentrediwaith, and thought he was a fossil’ and with Mei Kamlung, the golden dragon who prefers to eat ginger. Memorable cartoon-like characters brought to life include Professor William Moy Stratten Russell, the Consultant in Imaginary Biology, the Swiss archaeologist Hauptmann Doktor Friedrich Haber, and also Dr Mabel Wong who runs a sanctuary for endangered imaginary species somewhere in Cardiff and her overweight husband Llewelyn who runs a Chinese restaurant.
Younger readers of eight to ten will enjoy the straightforward plots, the typical dragon antics and happy outcomes whilst older children and adults may also respond positively to the eccentric comic-book individuals, the humour and the writer’s flourishes of encyclopaedic knowledge.
The cover illustration by Jac Jones will certainly capture the browser’s attention.
M. Lorna Herbert Egan
It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.
Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.
The following has been provided by the Publisher:
Further Information:
Magic of Swansea inspires Professor
Professor and author Christie Davies has been inspired to write magical tales set in his homeland, based around his home town of Swansea. His stories about a Welsh Dragon called Dewi - the only dragon left in Wales - and young Mair Jenkins from Pentrediwaith are his first incursion into humorous fiction for young people after publishing numerous books about humour.
Christie Davies the author comments, “When I came to write a book for young people as well as older ones, I just had to set it where I had been young – in Swansea. Swansea is still vivid for me, both as it is today and as it once was with the old smelting works and power station. Mair is the girl-friend I would like to have had, Dewi the pet I would like to have had, and Professor Russell (also a central character in the book) the friend I really did have.”
The book called Dewi the Dragon includes four short stories based around these characters and takes the reader into a magical world where Dewi finds a Chinese wife and defeats hijackers in the sky over Gower, monsters in the dangerous swamps of Glamorgan and even St George in a stadium not far from the town!
According to the author: “Swansea is a magic town , just the place for magical transformations to happen, and it has a long history as a centre for science – just the setting for science fiction. Swansea is also a funny and friendly town and all my characters will make you laugh.”
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