- Dragon Dance (novel)
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Dragon Dance 
Puffin Books edition, 1986Author(s) John Christopher Country United Kingdom Language English Series Fireball Genre(s) Alternate history Publisher Viking Kestrel Publication date 1986 Media type Print Pages 127 pp ISBN 0140320563 Preceded by New Found Land Dragon Dance is a young adult alternate history novel by John Christopher, the last novel of the Fireball Trilogy. It was first published in 1986.
Plot summary
At the end of New Found Land, Simon and Brad are in North America where they are captured by sailors from the Far East.
When they awaken after losing consciousness during the capture, they find themselves aboard a Chinese junk crossing the Pacific Ocean. The junk is a paddle steamer that sails without human intervention. The crew have apparently put themselves into hibernation, indicating that they are accustomed to the trip and are expecting an uneventful journey.
On their arrival in China they are taken to the Imperial Court, where the boys display their knowledge of modern technology. There, Brad becomes besotted with the Dowager Regent and became estranged from Simon.
Unlike the other civilizations that they have encountered, which remain at a pre-Dark Ages technological level, the Chinese have continued their technological innovations and have come up with new inventions, even though their social development has stagnated.
Simon is sent to the north to serve the general of the powerful Northern Army in charge of resisting nomadic barbarians.
The arrival of the boys catalyses the ongoing court intrigue between the dowager regent and court officials. A series of bad news arrives in the north from the capital this implies that the young emperor is being held incommunicado, or has been secretly deposed and killed by the dowager regent.
The general of the Northern Army, the most powerful army in the empire publicly declares that the dowager regent as a usurper, and mobilises his army to rescue the emperor, whose fate is unknown. He candidly admits to Simon that should the emperor be dead, that he the general would be the most likely to succeed to the throne.
Simon attempts to help the general by the introduction of armoured tanks, but lacks detailed knowledge. Nonetheless Chinese engineers in the service of the general were able to build on the concept to produce some prototypes.
The Chinese themselves use flying kites to give the appearance that dragons are aiding their military.
However, the expedition becomes a disaster at the gates of the capital. Simon discovers that Brad has introduced airplanes to the dowager regent's forces. While the airplanes work, Simon's tanks do not.
Having rid herself of all opposition, the dowager regent callously discards Brad and attempts to have him killed.
The two boys manage to escape once again, only to encounter another fireball similar to the one which brought them into this world.
Though he is given the option to go home, Simon follows Brad when the latter refuses to go home and instead decides to try for better luck in a new realm.
Books by John Christopher The Tripods series The White Mountains (1967) • The City of Gold and Lead (1967) • The Pool of Fire (1968) • When the Tripods Came (1988)Sword of the Spirits trilogy The Prince in Waiting (1970) • Beyond the Burning Lands (1971) • The Sword of the Spirits (1972)The Fireball trilogy Fireball (1981) • New Found Land (1983) • Dragon Dance (1986)Other books The Twenty-Second Century (1954) • The Year of the Comet (1955) • The Death of Grass (1956) • The Caves of Night (1958) • A Scent of White Poppies (1959) • The Long Voyage (1960) • The World in Winter (1962) • Cloud on Silver (1964) • The Possessors (1964) • A Wrinkle in the Skin (1965) • The Little People (1967) • Pendulum (1968) • The Lotus Caves (1969) • The Guardians (1970) • Dom and Va (1973) • Wild Jack (1974) • Empty World (1977) • A Dusk of Demons (1993) • Bad Dream (2003)]
Categories:- 1986 novels
- British young adult novels
- Alternate history novels
- Works published under a pseudonym
- Novels by Samuel Youd
- Novels set in China
- Young adult novel stubs
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