The Dragon Slayer with a Heavy Heart
Marcia Powers
Wilshire Books
Fiction, Fantasy/Spirituality
Themes: Avians, Cross-Genre, Dragons, Fables, New Age
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Description
Duke, the best dragon slayer in the land, has a problem with his heart. It started when his wife kicked him out of the castle, accusing him of never communicating (but why should a manly hero talk about sappy girly things like feelings?). Then, his son refused to follow in his footsteps, preferring books to the family profession (and just where does he get off throwing off generations of tradition, the ungrateful brat!). Finally, his new girlfriend dumps him much like his wife did (are all women so irrational?). As his world falls apart around him and everyone but his dog seems to abandon him, he feels a great weight growing in his chest, sapping his energy and strength. He tries to ignore it, but it grows so bad that it throws his balance off and eventually jeopardizes his career - and his life. After hitting rock-bottom, Duke meets the Wise One, a doctor-trained owl, who diagnoses him with a bad case of Type II heart dis-ease, otherwise known as a heavy heart. Under doctor's orders and with the help of Maxine, the Bluebird of Happiness, the desperate but somewhat dubious dragon slayer sets out on a quest along the Path of Serenity to find the peace and lightheartedness that has eluded him for so long. The journey has many unexpected twists and dangers in store for him, including an encounter with the fiercest dragon in the world.
Review
I suppose, this being a book about a dragon slayer, you may be wondering why I didn't just classify this as Fantasy. Truthfully, it's not really a fantasy at all but a fable, intended to teach a lesson rather than spin a story. Duke, the dragons, and pretty much all other elements of the tale are all incidental. This is a very thinly-veiled allegory which boils down to a novelization of the famous Serenity Prayer. It seems unnecessary, the whole story of Duke and the journey as an excuse to explore the concepts of inner growth, and the symbolism is so forced, silly, and obvious that it makes far less impact (on me, at least) than a well-crafted, more subtle and believable story along similar lines would have. Why not just sit down and write a nice nonfiction self-help book like everybody else, if this was the best she could do at fiction? The message itself isn't bad, but I've heard it from other sources who were better at conveying the information and didn't need to stoop to condescending tricks like singing owls and the Bluebird of Happiness.