avalon mists / fanfiction reviews / the dragon keeper
The Dragonkeeper article by: Stephen R. Sobotka Jr. issue date: 9/2/03 print friendly / pdf file .......................................................................................................... "The Dragon Keeper" by Kellie Fay It's not often you find someone that can take the canon cast of our favorite show - Gargoyles, naturally - and can craft a great story with them. It's even rarer to find a person that can do the same with both the canon AND fan-made characters, and mate them with a story so original, so fantastic, you almost wish it was a part of the actual show. That's what I thought when I read the first installment of Kellie Fay's "Dragon Keeper" trilogy. Set in the canon universe of Gargoyles, the story however brings in the addition of a trio of characters from master storyteller Dylan Blacquerie - namely his Newfoundland Gargoyles: Carbonear, Bonevista and Whitborne. The primary focus is on Bonevista, who becomes by way of some choice positioning - by way of his birthday in the Chinese Zodiac - the impromptu keeper of a legendary dragon spirit: The Sun Racer. Thanks to being merged with this spirit, Bonevista is suddenly resistant to heat and fire, and can also not be affected by deep cold or ice; a fact which his fellow clan mates find alarming at first. The true story behind this spirit is that the Sun Racer has a spiritual mate, a female dragon called The Star Dancer. According to an old legend, both dragon spirits are kept in safe holding with two people, both born in the year of the Dragon (as per the Chinese Zodiac). Every so often - several hundred years or so - the two people are drawn together, so that on the night of the eve of the Chinese New Year, the two Spirits can be released to join with one another. When they do so, they pass down their ownership to two more people, to continue the cycle until the next time they are to meet. The trouble is, a gangster has designs to entrap both dragons to gain control of their powers. And this involves not just the Gargoyles - who are trying to work out what's happened to Bonevista - but also the New York crime boss Tony Dracon, who happens to know the other person that holds the Star Dancer. This first chapter of the trilogy illustrates a great story, told by a fine story teller that his Kellie Fay. She weaves some great visuals, along with some keen insights into Chinese Mythology (which she researched to create the legend of the two dragons). The sequences where Bonevista is first sought out by the former keeper of the dragon spirit, and his subsequent bonding ceremony are very top-notch. Plus the twist later with Dracon's involvement is priceless. Part 2 of this story is posted along with the first on the Gargoyles-fans.org fanfic archive, and Part 3 will be released soon. If you're looking for a good read with some neat backstory and twists, then "Dragon Keeper" is just what you need to check out. .......................................................................................................... Images credits & copyright: Amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com) - August 4, 2003 Stankewitz, Daniel. Gargoyles-fans.de. (http://www.gargoyles-fans.de) - July, 2003 Toon Disney. (http://www.toondisney.com) - August 4, 2003