Tomkin and the Dragon: A Keeper's Tale

A folk tale from within the Keeper's Chronicle universe, this was fun and heartwarming. The story is told via a ‘Keeper' tale told at an inn (Keepers being bard like characters), so a story within a story. It follows the story of Tomkin, the youngest son of a duke seeking to make a name for himself as something other than a glorified steward, responding to stories that a dragon has appeared on his family's land whilst his father and older brothers are away fighting elsewhere. Expecting the rumours to be false he is surprised to find both a dragon and a very determined young woman trying to use the dragon to escape from her family.

There is a lot of heart to this story, the way the relationship between Tomkin and ‘Mags' develops is done extremely well, from the confrontation at the start to the gradual affection that develops - how each comes to appreciate the other's flaws. The dragon is also well characterised, with its motivations cleverly developed and the ultimate denouement giving a very satisfying conclusion.

The story is humorous and well written. Never outstaying its welcome this was a delightful little read.

I read this as part of the Action Fantasy Book Club

It was fun! Yeah, the only real human villain being a mean girl is, at best, trite, and the main female character being basically perfect other than “too spunky for the times” is boring, but it was still an entertaining peek into a fantasy universe.