I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons

By- Peter S. Beagle

    I found this book while perusing at my local bookstore, I had an itch to purchase a new book, a common feeling for me. They say to not judge a book by its cover but with one look at the cover and I said its got dragons, and after reading the title I had to laugh. I am a huge fan of dragon books and between the cover and title I had to buy it without ever reading what the book was about and hope to not be disappointed.

    Robert is a dragon exterminator, a profession he inherited from his deceased father. The job is not as prestigious as it sounds, in this world  there are not many large dragons but there are small dragons that infest homes and barns, like rats. His job is considered very low and looked down on by people. Robert is very good at his job however he despises it because he loves dragons and keeps a few as pets in his own home. He has a great relationship with them and is able to talk and communicate with them and they listen to him. The local princess, Cerise, is in the process of being courted by a large company of princes for her hand in marriage. A process that she is becoming very frustrated with, being that none of them stick out as a contender for her hand in marriage. Crown Prince Reginald from a neighboring kingdom is on a quest from his father who is disappointed in what kind of man he is. The prince and his valet, Mortmain, decide to take a break on their quest and find the Princess teaching herself to read in secret by a tree. Cerise immediately falls head over heels for the prince who looks like a perfect prince, and invites him to the castle. Cerise arrives at the castle to tell her parents, the king and queen, that the prince is coming and realizes the condition of their castle. The castle is overrun with dragons in an attempt to impress the prince they hire Robert to help them exterminate the dragons, Robert performs his duty with a heavy heart as he kills thousands. Robert impresses Mortmain and is hired to go on a quest with them that will change everyone's life as well as both kingdoms.

    I enjoyed reading this book, an adult fairy tale that I can share with my own children and not worry about anything being too graphic or adult. There is no bad language or love scenes, it was a very clean story. The story itself in some parts fell in line with popular fairy tales with details that made it unique, such as the dragons being small and infesting like rats. I am not familiar with the work of Petter S. Beagle but after reading his work I plan on checking out other books he has written. I did have one issue with his novel toward the end of the story there are some twists and turns in the story which in most cases make the story better however, there are too many in short time. In real life if you take too many turns you find yourself going in circles and that was the feeling I had when reading toward the end. If I was to change the stories I would keep them in the story but spread them out and put some plot in the story to separate them. Overall I recommend this novel to anyone and may even be a great family read.