Here There Be Dragons

I have owned this book by James A. Owens for a few months, but I finally determined this last week that I was going to read it. It is INCREDIBLE!!! I had to write the author last night to thank him for such a delightful story!

The book begins with a murder of a professor. His enemies are looking for something, but he tells them that he has already given it away. Shortly after the murder, three people who knew the professor arrive: John, Jack, and Charles. They are strangers to each other, but are quickly united in a dangerous quest. A short man named Herb arrives and tells John that the professor was training him to be the new Caretaker of the Imaginarium Geographica, a book of maps of the most magical place in the world: the Archipelago of Dreams. This place has been ruled by descendants of King Arthur, until the royal line was recently destroyed by one who calls himself the Winter King. The three men are plunged into an adventure that seems almost over their heads as they learn the meaning of truth and fiction, not in lands only, but also the truth and fiction that lies within the soul.

Former caretakers include Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and other great writers. They all knew of this magical place and wrote of it, each putting their own twist to it. The companions are surprised to meet Captain Nemo, talking badgers, and elves and dwarves. Now they must discover the courage within themselves to protect this new place that is somehow connected with our world. If the Archipelago falls, so will our world. Do these three men from Oxford have what it takes? Read these pages, and they will take you to the ends of the earth on one of the greatest adventures you've ever known!