- Dragonkeeper
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For the 2009 book by Robin Hobb, see Dragon Keeper.
Dragonkeeper 
Author(s) Carole Wilkinson Cover artist Blue Boat Design Country Australia Language English Genre(s) Fantasy novel Publisher Black Dog Books Publication date 2003 Media type Paperback Pages 339 pp ISBN 978-1-876372-89-7 OCLC Number 156762942 Followed by Garden of the Purple Dragon Dragonkeeper is a children's fantasy novel by Australian author Carole Wilkinson. It is the first book of the Dragonkeeper trilogy. The second book is Garden of the Purple Dragon, first published in 2005, and the third Dragon Moon, first published in 2007. There is also a prequel to the original Dragonkeeper novel called Dragon Dawn.[1] Dragonkeeper won several Australian awards, including the 2003 Aurealis Award for best young-adult novel.
The novel is set in ancient China, during the Han Dynasty. A slave girl saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon make an epic journey across China carrying a mysterious stone that must be protected. This is a story of a young slave girl who believes she is not worthy of a name but finds within herself that the strength and courage to make this perilous journey, and do what must be done.
Contents
Plot introduction
In the far western mountains of the Han Empire in ancient China, an ageing dragon, his wife (who soon dies), and a young slave girl are used, abused and neglected by the cruel Master Lan. Nameless and alone, the slave girl is without hope and her only friend is her pet rat, Hua. After one of the Imperial Dragons, the mate of the aging one, suddenly dies, the slave girl feels guilty and responsible. She finds herself coming to the aid of the last dragon, Danzi. The two escape, but when the emperor finds out that one of his dragons is dead, Master Lan blames it on her and she finds herself chased by the imperial guards, who believe she is an evil sorceress. A necromancer and a dragon hunter, who are determined to kill the dragon and take the dragon's stone, are chasing her and the dragon. The dragon, Long Danzi (meaning courageous dragon), tells the slave girl her true name: Ping (meaning duckweed). Ping discovers her destiny as Dragon Keeper, but she is unaware that the dragon stone is an egg. Now she and the dragon must go on a dangerous journey across China to Ocean, an apparent magical healing place. She must protect a mysterious stone that is vital to the dragon's legacy. While travelling with Danzi, Ping learns many things that will, in time, help her with her struggles. Ping also learns the value of friendship and courage. After, Danzi and Hua must go over Ocean when they're hurt by Diao, the dragon hunter. The stone (now found to be an egg) hatches, and out of it comes...a purple vegetable. Or at least that is what Ping thinks. Eventually Danzi claims it is a baby dragon. It moves, and just before Danzi leaves, he gives the baby a name: Long Kai Duan. Ping is now left alone with the baby dragon. The last of the first.
Major characters
- Ping - a slave girl who Long Danzi offers the position of the new Dragon Keeper and to journey with him to the ocean .
- Hua - a rat Ping carries around with her. Her only friend before she meets Long Danzi. Danzi disliked Hua until Hua ate a centipede that crawled into Danzi's ear.
- Long Danzi - an ancient green dragon; the last wild imperial dragon in the Han Empire. He travels with Ping to the ocean where he takes a mysterious stone, but he won't explain to Ping what it is. His name means 'courageous dragon'
- Long Kai Duan- a baby dragon- son of Long Danzi and Lu Yu - a dead dragon, who was made into pickle and eaten after she died. The dragon stone is the egg of Kai. His name means 'Beginning'
- Master Lan- Ping's master- a lazy and cruel man - fake Dragon Keeper
- Diao - Dragon Hunter Diao, who hunts Long Danzi throughout the novel for the dragon's body and his stone (the dragon egg).
- Wang Cao - a herbalist who used to be Long Danzi's companion until they were separated by dragon hunters.Wang Cao Wished to be Dragonkeeper
- Jiang Bing - a boat woman secretly working with "The Necromancer".
- "The Necromancer" - Necromancer who had possession of Long Danzi's stone and has an evil desire for it. He acquires it from Diao after Ping and Long Danzi lose it.
- Liu Che - Young Emperor of China and Ping's friend for a short while. His father died after eating the Dragon Pickle of Lu Yu, Danzi's mate who died because of misery like most of the other imperial dragons.
List of awards
Main awards
(Younger Readers) 2004 Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.
- Best Children's Book 2004 Queensland Premier's Literary Award.
- Best Young Adult Book 2003 Aurealis Awards.
- Winner of the 2006 Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA) Older Readers.
- Winner of the 2006 Kalbacher Klapperschlange Award (Germany)
Other awards
Dragonkeeper also was:
- Shortlisted for the 2006 COOL (Canberra's Own Outstanding List) Award.
- Shortlisted for the 2004 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
External links
- Official Dragonkeeper homepage
- Publisher's microsite for the Dragonkeeper series
- Publisher's Dragonkeeper page
- How to be a Dragonkeeper: Inspired by the novel
Notes
Categories:- 2003 novels
- Children's fantasy novels
- Australian fantasy novels
- Australian children's novels
- Novels set in China
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