“I’ll pray to the gods for you, dragon, and ask them to bless you!”
“Stop calling me ‘dragon’ like that, as though I were a dog,” said the dragon. “My name is Hathor. And I don’t believe in your human gods.”
“But you have the name of a goddess,” said Prahotep.
“You mean, she has my name,” replied the dragon. “You humans stole names from us dragons. What’s she goddess of, then?”
“Of love and beauty. It’s very appropriate.” [loc. 467]
First published in two volumes (The Dragon and the Thief and The Land of Gold), this is an historical novel for children set in a fantastical version of ancient Egypt. The 'thief' (though he's not very good at stealing things) is Prahotep, a young fisherman who's nicknamed 'Bad-luck' because that's what he brings; he encounters the dragon, last of her kind, in a cave near the Valley of Queens whilst escaping the gang of quarrying convicts whose overseer he's just injured; we meet Princess Kandaki, who's Nubian, in the second volume.
Prahotep is likeable and wily: he thinks fast and has a talent for making friends and telling stories. ('That's how you kill a lie. You tell another lie, only bigger!') The story is fast-paced and fairly simple, but Bradshaw's gift for historical ambience is always present, from the seventy days Prahotep has to wait until his father can be embalmed and buried, to the civil war raging in Nubia after a traitor assassinates the king and queen. It's light-hearted, exciting and focuses on friendship and loyalty. A charming novel: I wish more of Bradshaw's novels were available for Kindle.
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