The book follows three main characters. Robert (his real name is Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, but he’d really prefer Robert, thank you very much) inherits his father’s job as a dragon exterminator. He hates it, especially when he has to kill the beasts, which many consider vermin. He keeps a few dragons secretly in his home and hopes to one day become a prince’s valet. Princess Cerise is trying to find a betrothable prince and has no luck until she encounters a strapping young royal in the woods. She suddenly feels a pressing need to quash the dragon problem in the castle and hires Robert to do so. Finally, Prince Reginald is off in search of adventure, but he’s only doing it to appease his father, King Krije of Corvinia. During his adventures, he encounters and befriends Cerise.
Beagle does a lovely job of setting these stories up. His prose feels at home in this medieval-inspired setting. It has some flowery bits, but it’s not too highfalutin. The dialogue sparkles as though each character has a twinkle in their eye when they speak. Through his prose, Beagle crafts a world that feels like the epitome of classic fantasy with a dash of fairy tale woven in.
The characters are fanciful and interesting enough. They fall into tropey territory—particularly the reluctant prince and the marriage-seeking princess. However, Beagle subverts the tropes as much as he employs them. The result is a cast with depth and a lot to learn. Princess Cerise is a standout here. She ventures into danger with her two companions and holds her own. She eventually reshapes her goals from what her parents want of her to what she wants. She may appear a damsel, but she isn’t in distress by the end of the book.
The plot starts off fairly simple, then spirals into a whirlwind of reveals and magic. As I neared the latter third of the book, it felt like the tightly-knit world started to unravel. Beagle introduces a bevy of ideas in quick succession, and it’s hard to parse them. It’s like admiring a beautiful, artistic watch, then opening it up and panicking when you see the gears turning within. Your eye doesn’t know where to go, and you lose the big picture in the smaller moving pieces. That’s how the ending of I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons feels to me. I would have preferred a more focused tale about the characters discovering themselves. The book has some of those elements, but it evolves into a larger tapestry that didn’t quite keep me warm.
I have a few misgivings about I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, but I enjoyed the book plenty. Despite the flaky ending, I appreciated my time with the characters all the same. It’s a fun fantasy romp worthy of a spot on your shelf.
Rating: I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons – 7.5/10
-Cole
