Dragon (fantasy series)
Yep had already written several books including the Newbery Honor novel Dragonwings by 1980, when, after undertaking careful research, he decided to adapt Chinese mythology into a fantasy form, something he had always wanted to do since he had sold his first science fiction story at 18.
[2] The "perfect vehicle" he chose was a folktale in which the Monkey King captured a river spirit who had flooded an entire city, which he at first tried to conceive in picture book form.
The story then evolved into one in which the Monkey King pursued Civet into "our reality", resulting in "several normal children from our universe" being taken back into theirs.
This proved to be just the start, as Yep continued to incorporate more material and mythology into the later books based on further research and inspiration.
Thorn joins Shimmer on her quest, which eventually leads to the city of River Glen where they encounter the powerful mage known as Monkey.
Dragon Steel continues with Shimmer transporting Thorn and the captured Civet to the ocean domains of her uncle Sambar XII.
The Lord of the Flowers helps Monkey escape and gives them access to Sambar's vault, where they find Baldy's cauldron, which gets cracked during the ensuing fight.
There, they are attacked by the Butcher's soldiers and end up falling into a river, winding up at a small, remote island with a magical barrier in place.
They also attempt to stop the Boneless King, who has launched a war against the dragons armed with the cauldron and an ancient substance called living fire which can burn in water.
Eventually reunited with her fellow Inland Sea dragons, Shimmer is able to ally and get aid from her uncle Sambar, who faces imminent defeat from the Boneless King as well as a kraken invasion.
As the dragons win a victory over the Boneless King's forces, Pomfret steals the cauldron back using deception and is chased by Shimmer, Indigo and Monkey to the capital, which has risen in revolt.
After they died, Indigo was left to work within the palace of Shimmer's uncle, the High King of the Dragons, Sambar XII, as a kitchen servant in the dungeons.
However she discovers that it was not what she expected, having lived most of her life underwater and finding little to go back to after the Butcher conscripted the people and deforested the land, so she joins Shimmer on her quest.
The dream pearl is a treasure which is capable of creating illusions and changing the forms of its targets, which Shimmer normally keeps under a fold of flesh on her forehead.
She wandered in human form for centuries before encountering Thorn and attempting to restore her homeland after its waters were sealed into a pebble by Civet.
His nickname comes from having been previously apprenticed to a meat seller, but he has lived up to it "by the ruthless slaughter of friends and foes alike".
The Butcher undertook long and careful preparations for his war with the dragons, such as constructing a fleet of warships using trees from the Green Darkness' and conscripting the members of the Kingfisher clan to serve as a labor force.
Left on a small, remote island in an underground river flowing near Egg Mountain with a magical barrier erected to prevent his escape, his sole companion was a large, white dog named Snowgoose.
He eventually left and allied himself with the Butcher, who promised him rule of the ocean in return for his aid in the planned war against the dragons.
[14] It has been described as "a fantasy series starring dragons, magicians, a monkey wizard, and other figures from Chinese folklore, with new adventures and modern dialogue".
[16] Publishers Weekly also stated in its review of Dragon War that "readers new to the series may be confused by the characters' sketchy introductions and the complexity of past events alluded to but never clarified".
[17] However, Kirkus Reviews said of Dragon Cauldron that "writing and images here are powerful enough for this to stand on its own; Yep's strong, earthy characters are notable as individuals even when a reader coming into the middle of the sequence doesn't know their history".
