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The ''Dragon series'' is a tetralogy of fantasy novels by Chinese American author Laurence Yep. Yep had already written several books including the Newbery Honor novel ''Dragonwings'' by 1980, when, after undertaking careful research, he decided to adapt Chinese mythology into a fantasy form, something he had always wanted to do since he had sold his first science fiction story at 18. He "tried to stay true to the spirit" of these myths, but did not try "to keep their exact details". The "perfect vehicle" he chose was a folktale in which the Monkey King captured a river spirit who had flooded an entire city, which he at first tried to conceive in picture book form. However, he kept questioning the motivations of the river spirit, whom he had renamed Civet. This resulted in the realization, as his outline ballooned exponentially from eight to 800 pages, that he would need a series as opposed to just one book to tell her story. The story then evolved into one in which the Monkey King pursued Civet into "our reality", resulting in "several normal children from our universe" being taken back into theirs.〔Johnson-Feelings, Dianne (1995). ''Presenting Laurence Yep''. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, 110. ISBN 0-8057-8201-X〕 Yep had completed several drafts of this version when "toward the end of that version there was a special pair - a dragon and her boy - who stole the scene whenever they were on stage".〔(Interview with Laurence Yep by Leonard Marcus ) Retrieved on November 29, 2007.〕 He realized that he had to nearly start over, this time structuring the story around these two, who became Shimmer and Thorn. This proved to be just the start, as Yep continued to incorporate more material and mythology into the later books based on further research and inspiration. Part of the process involved changing the narration from Shimmer to the Monkey King with the third book, ''Dragon Cauldron''. Yep has said of Shimmer that he had "never written about a character quite so independent, even demanding".〔 Yep wrote the series over a twelve-year period. It is likely that he wrote each book at the same time he was writing others including his autobiography, as he frequently writes several books simultaneously, but in different genres as he often gets writer's block. ''Dragon of the Lost Sea'' for example, was written at the same time that he wrote ''The Mark Twain Murders''.〔 During this time, Yep's being able to settle into his characters such as Shimmer, who has been described as "opinionated, arrogant, and has a quick temper that sometimes makes it very difficult to be her friend", created some strain with his wife, fellow author Joanne Ryder, as at times the "dragon" in him would emerge. ==Synopsis== The tetralogy reads in sequence, with each successive book picking where the previous one left off. ''Dragon of the Lost Sea'' begins with the dragon princess Shimmer, who had been wandering for hundreds of years in exile after stealing the dream pearl, a treasure with the power to cast illusions and change its user's form, which her mother had willed to her but her brother Pomfret had tried to claim. After picking up the trail of Civet, the witch who had sealed the Inland Sea in a pebble, she encounters the orphaned young kitchen servant Thorn, who amazes her with his kindness and who she eventually saves from an assassination attempt by Civet. Thorn joins Shimmer on her quest, which eventually leads to the city of River Glen where they encounter the powerful mage known as Monkey. Monkey fails to capture Civet after she destroys the pebble and floods River Glen. Shimmer and Thorn track Civet to her lair, where after some trickery on Thorn's part, they manage to capture Civet. Shimmer decides to spare Civet after hearing her story and understanding her, and she and Thorn acknowledge their partnership. ''Dragon Steel'' continues with Shimmer transporting Thorn and the captured Civet to the ocean domains of her uncle Sambar XII. She finds that the Inland Sea dragons who had sought refuge with him have been forced to work under difficult conditions, and she and Thorn get thrown into the dungeons after Thorn tries to prevent Shimmer from handing over an illusionary dream pearl. They are reunited with Monkey, who was captured trying to steal the magical Baldy's cauldron to boil away the Inland Sea. Assisted by a young kitchen servant named Indigo who is from a nearby forest called the Green Darkness, Shimmer and Thorn escape, taking Indigo with them. They manage to make their way to where the Inland Sea dragons now reside, forging dragon steel and garrisoning frontier outposts. Shimmer is able to convince her fellow dragons to relinquish the last strands of a flower that once grew abundantly by the Inland Sea for Monkey to summon the Lord of the Flowers, a powerful ancient being. They nearly fail in getting him the flower, but his summons is successful. The Lord of the Flowers helps Monkey escape and gives them access to Sambar's vault, where they find Baldy's cauldron, which gets cracked during the ensuing fight. Monkey's powerful weapon, his magical size-changing rod, and Civet are also retrieved. On Indigo's request they are transported to the Green Darkness, but find it devastated by the tyrannical human king known as the Butcher. Indigo decides to go with Shimmer and Thorn, along with a repentant Civet. ''Dragon Cauldron'' begins with Shimmer and her companions having to flee the Green Darkness from the Butcher's soldiers. Camping by a lake, Civet is drawn to a mysterious door on the lake bed as all her magic has been used up, and becomes possessed by an ancient spirit. She is rescued, but not before prophesizing certain events. The group then journeys into the Desolate Mountains in search of the Smith and the Snail Woman, the only two beings capable of restoring the cauldron. There, they are attacked by the Butcher's soldiers and end up falling into a river, winding up at a small, remote island with a magical barrier in place. It takes some time before Thorn is able to figure out a means of escape. Although successful, he also unwittingly helps set free the Nameless One, a powerful ancient king and wizard who could not be killed and was stripped of his powers and imprisoned on the island. The Nameless One adopts the name of the Boneless King and succeeds in possessing the body of the Butcher, who it turns out had been conducting an excavation on the Nameless One's tomb nearby. Civet sacrifices herself to help Shimmer and her companions escape, shortly after which they encounter the Smith and the Snail Woman. After the previously imprisoned soul within it escapes, Thorn decides to place his soul into that of the cauldron to replace it. Shimmer, Monkey and Indigo return to River Glen with the cauldron/Thorn to boil away the Inland Sea, but are captured by the Boneless King with the aid of Shimmer's brother Pomfret, who has allied with the Butcher. ''Dragon War'' sees the successful escape of Monkey, Shimmer and Indigo and their attempts to rescue Thorn. They also attempt to stop the Boneless King, who has launched a war against the dragons armed with the cauldron and an ancient substance called living fire which can burn in water. They make two rescue attempts which end in failure and near death, but escape each time. Eventually reunited with her fellow Inland Sea dragons, Shimmer is able to ally and get aid from her uncle Sambar, who faces imminent defeat from the Boneless King as well as a kraken invasion. Shimmer uses the dream pearl to cast a massive illusion of the dragon army, distracting the Boneless King while Monkey steals back the cauldron and the Inland Sea dragons sink the fleet of warships and infiltrate the human forts to dispose of the living fire. As the dragons win a victory over the Boneless King's forces, Pomfret steals the cauldron back using deception and is chased by Shimmer, Indigo and Monkey to the capital, which has risen in revolt. In the palace, they confront the Boneless King one last time, who tries to cast them into the void that is before time to permanently be rid of them. However Pomfret has a change of heart after realizing the magnitude of his actions and throws himself and the Boneless King into the summoned portal. With the threat now gone, Thorn is revealed to be the missing crown prince. The Inland Sea is boiled away from River Glen and restored. With the aid of Monkey's master the Old Boy, who had left an infant Thorn with his innkeeper master years ago, the Smith and Snail Woman are able to restore Thorn to human form, although he remains part-cauldron. Indigo decides to join the Inland Sea dragons, becoming permanently turned into one, while Shimmer assumes the leadership of her people. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dragon (fantasy series)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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