James A. Owen, The Search for the Red Dragon (Simon & Schuster, 2008)
The Search for the Red Dragon is the sequel to Here There Be Dragons. It begins nine years after John, Jack and Charles, Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, left the Archipelago of Dreams and returned to an England in the grip of World War I. The war is over, partly thanks to their work in the Archipelago, and they are establishing their careers. They have only met occasionally since, preferring to keep their close acquaintance secret in order to protect the Imaginarium and the Archipelago.
Then, in the best tradition of the books and the lands they love, they are mysteriously summoned to save the world again. Off they go in a much-altered Indigo Dragon on another glorious romp through cultures ancient and modern. Only by righting an ancient wrong can they bring peace to the Archipelago and to several tortured souls. They meet old friends and new, and manage to shed light on many a mystery.
I enjoyed The Search for the Red Dragon just as much as its predecessor. I think it was very sensible of Owen to separate the two stories by nine years. After all, we know that in our reality the main characters did not have long mysterious periods of absence. They are, after all, real people, and their lives are catalogued in minute detail in many other sources. It also gives opportunity for them to have matured a little, and to be presumed to have matured a little, without requiring exposition from the author.
Indeed, The Search for the Red Dragon is a worthy successor to Here There Be Dragons.
The Web site for the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica is here.
