What should have been an interesting take on a historical scenario was delivered in a completely uninteresting manner. And in several cases an unbelievable manner. I mean, how would they still have Christian names? ( )

I’ve been picking up books in the Tor essentials imprint lately and just finished The Dragon Waiting by John Ford. A bit clunky at times but it was a real enjoyable alt history / fantasy read. Ford asks a lot of his readers, and it feels like this is one that would really hold up well to a reread.

It also feels like the kind of thing that in a lesser, or at least different, author would turn into a series. ( )

This is an alternate 15th century Europe, brought to us by the brilliant John M. Ford.

Instead of Julian the Apostate, who only briefly interrupted the spread of Christianity in Europe, in this alternate history there was Julian the Wise, who lived long enough to prevent any faith from being banned, and any faith from becoming dominant over the others and being able to ban them. The eastern empire, its capital at Byzantium, remains strong and vibrant--and in the 15th century, is working to expand into western Europe. It controls about half of France, and parts of Italy, and wants more.

In other ways, this Europe is very familiar. Edward IV is King of England, Lorenzo de' Medici is a powerful banker and de facto ruler of Florence. Galeazzo Sforza is Duke of Milan, though in this world he's in the pay of Byzantium, and also a vampire.

We follow a wizard, Hywel Peredur, nephew of Owain Glyn Dwr; a mercenary named Dimitrios Ducas; a young woman doctor from Florence, Cynthia Ricci; and Gregory von Bayern, natural scientist, engineer, and vampire. Vampirism is a disease, and it can be spread, and that turns out to matter, quite a lot.

The story revolves around people with very different original goals, coming together to achieve something perhaps none of them had originally intended. We travel through the beliefs and the ritual and cultural practices that didn't get suppressed by the rise of Christianity, but Christianity is also here, in several different flavors.

This is a rich, lived-in world, and has special riches to offer to those interested in Renaissance Italy, the Wars of the Roses in England, and other absorbing bits of 15th century Europe.

And it's really difficult to say more than that, because this is such a rich, layered world and story.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book. ( )

This is an interesting read. John M. Ford reminds me somewhat of Neal Stephenson but maybe a little less didactic. For a complex alt history tale this felt like a well-paced read. As others who have reviewed this book, there were parts of the novel that wandered a bit - but it is well worth the journey.
I find it interesting that this book was written well before some current trends - strong female leads, LGBTQ characters both appear to be well represented in the Dr. Ricci and Dimi characters. This book can be said to have been well ahead of its time- perhaps even timeless in the classic sense.
This book is going onto my re-read shelf. ( )

I finished the book. I got confused in the middle because I am not that familiar with English history of the period and what the book was about. I started it thinking it was a book about the survival and expansion of the Byzantine empire and various people trying to fight against it. The book was really about giving reasons for how Richard III acted. I was vaguely aware that Richard killed off all the possible rivals to the throne including two young nephews. This book explains that he was doing it to fight against various plots of the Byzantines. The main characters and the Byzantines were there just to explain that story. The book was well written and the characters were well done. People would probably enjoy the book more if they read Shakespeare's Richard III play and maybe Wikipedia. ( )