The Saint of Dragons   by Jason Hightman Harpercollins, 2004, 349 pages, ISBN 0007159064

How easy was it to get stuck into this book?
This book follows Simon St George, a young boy who has been enrolled in an expensive private school since he can remember, and has no recollection of his parentage. Soon after the book starts Simon is plunged into a wild adventure with a strange man who claims to be his father, and the pair hurtle round the globe in pursuit of mythical beasts.

Who are the main characters?
The main character is Simon St George, who has been in the Lighthouse School for Boys for as long as he can remember. Then suddenly he is spirited off by a ragged and unshaven man who claims to be his father, and goes by the name of Aldric St George. Other important characters in the book are Alaythia, an artist from New York who the pair save from a Dragonman (one of a race of creatures disguised as humans who live all over the world and cause almost all the bad feelings associated with human life), Fenwick, who is a fox owned by Aldric, and a whole range of the Dragonmen, or Pyrothraxes as they are called, who inhabit the Earth all over the globe.

What's the storyline?
Aldric later explains to Simon that he is his father and that they are descended from a long line of Dragonslayers. These are the knights who hunt down the evil dragons mentioned above. He needs Simon's help in order to destroy what he thinks is the last of these creatures, but together the pair soon find a huge gathering of Dragons are plotting an unthinkably disastrous experiment. They are planning to resurrect the Queen of Dragons, banished by Egyptians many thousands of years ago and allow her to wreak havoc on the world. Simon and Aldric must stopped them before it is too late.

How's it written?
The book is probably best suited for younger and middling readers.

Other books by the same author that Tim knows about?
None

The overall verdict is
Really good stuff

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