The Shadow Dragons - James A. Owen [137]
The differences between those who were chosen and those who washed out became the core of this book. It was less often a matter of good versus evil as it was a differing of philosophies— and sometimes it was a difference of degree only. This realization is what prompted me to create a subset of the Caretakers: the apprentices. I wanted to be able to examine more formally the characters who were in that position of deciding what they really believed. I wanted to have them face situations that were morally and ethically cloudy, so that when their choices were made, it would be with full knowledge of the decision, and with full responsibility for the results.
All of this was to help refine what I believe is a Thing That Is True: that it is less important to become a Great man than it is to be a Good man who aspires to serve a Great cause.
This book was also much more complex, due in part to the time travel aspects. The real-life counterparts of John and Jack wrote time-travel stories that are more obscure than their greater fantasy works; and Wells and Twain were well known for theirs. So it was inevitable—and a lot of fun, to boot. But, as was underlined by Charles’s discovery near the end of the book, time does pass; people do grow older (mostly). And my Caretakers are aging. So the next most ardent questions are these: Who are the Caretakers that follow John, Jack, and Charles? And are there Caretakers today who look after the Geographica?
To these, I can only answer that I’ve already dropped hints about other modern-day Caretakers: men and women with names like Ray, and Madeleine, and Lloyd, and Arthur. The apprentices, and the new status of the ICS, are also markers of where things might go; and the prominence of Rose Dyson in this book should not be underestimated. At some point in every story, real and imagined, the students become the teachers as the torch is passed on to a new generation. In a manner of speaking, everyone who reads these books and shares these stories has become an apprentice Caretaker, in spirit if not yet in fact. And as for the Principal Caretakers themselves, I’ve already written how they can be identified: They carry the silver watches with the red Chinese dragon on the case. . . .
Just like mine.
James A. Owen
Silvertown, USA
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part One: Inklings and Mysteries
Chapter One: Ransom
Chapter Two: The Inn of the Flying Dragon
Chapter Three: Pursuit of the Un-Men
Chapter Four: The Pieces of Time
Part Two: Abandoned Houses
Chapter Five: The Spanish Prisoner
Chapter Six: The Last Map
Chapter Seven: The Grotto
Chapter Eight: The Nameless Isles
Part Three: The League of Poets
Chapter Nine: The House of Tamerlane
Chapter Ten: The Cuckoo
Chapter Eleven: The Master
Chapter Twelve: The Adversary
Part Four: The Town That Wasn’t There
Chapter Thirteen: The Legendarium
Chapter Fourteen: Abaton
Chapter Fifteen: The Construct
Chapter Sixteen: The Broken Sword
Part Five: Beyond the Edge of the World
Chapter Seventeen: Strategies of War
Chapter Eighteen: The Descent
Chapter Nineteen: The Ruined City
Chapter Twenty: The Bargain
Part Six: Reign of Shadows
Chapter Twenty-one: The Return
Chapter Twenty-two: Pax Terra
Chapter Twenty-three: Justice and Mercy
Chapter Twenty-four: The Notion Club
Epilogue
Author’s Note